A comiXologist Recommends

Space Battle Lunchtime #2

By Natalie Riess @gearfish

Oni Press @onipress

Are you a fan of cooking shows?  Are you a fan of intensely dramatic science fiction?  Are you up for a good laugh?  If you answered “yes” or even an “I guess” to any of the questions in the opening interrogation then you should probably be reading “Space Battle Lunchtime.”  Now is an all too perfect time to jump in. Issue #2 opens with the intergalactic cooking competition kicking off!

In the style of such reality cooking shows as “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Iron Chef” a number of alien species are proud to present to you “Space Battle Lunchtime!”  The finest chefs are pulled together from around the galaxy to test their skills in the finest cooking competition ever conceived.  It’s a cooking competition reality show in space and there are aliens as contestants.

In this issue we are reintroduced to our contestants, including our protagonist Peony.  Peony has been taken from Earth to compete in this gauntlet of champions and she is uncertain of what she can expect.  Her position is completely understandable considering she is in space with aliens.  Competing against Peony is a cast of creatures each one more wild than the last. The one to watch out for though is Melonhead, who is a bipedal humanoid with a watermelon…for a head!  With devious shenanigans and goings-on’s around the competition floor things are really gonna heat up!  

My attempt at cooking show copywriting aside, Natalie Riess has really put together an enjoyable book here.  The concept is simple and fun.  Science fiction can be too heady to the point of losing a wide readership.  This book has the great zany tropes of a wild science fiction epic but applied to one of the most understandable settings anyone today can follow: The reality show. With the competition well underway in this issue, readers should jump in now while it is still early!  Just like with a real reality show!

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology. He wants to watch some BBC period dramas and maybe have as many meals in a day as a hobbit would.  If he doesn’t regret eating that much, he might just decide to live that way.