Space Battle Lunchtime, Vol. 1: Lights, Camera, Snacktion!

Peony knows her way around a kitchen, especially where baked goods are concerned, but her experience might not be enough to help her when she’s conscripted to participate in an extraterrestrial reality TV show, Space Battle Lunchtime. Now, she’s making friends and whipping up desserts with foods she’s never encountered (and machines she can’t even turn on), but enemies are conspiring against her with deadly plans. Riess, creator of the Snarlbear webcomic, makes a highly promising print debut with a comic that will delight SF diehards and cooking show devotees alike. It has all the hallmarks of reality cooking competitions (“Time may be an illusion, but yours is up,” announces Zorp, the floating polyhedron that hosts the show) while balancing laughs, quirky characters, and plot developments, including a potential romance with one of Peony’s competitors, Neptunia. Riess uses a vivid palette to emphasize the unfamiliarity of the alien environment Peony finds herself in, keeping readers as off-balance as she is. Part Top Chef, part Doctor Who, it’s a thoroughly entertaining start to this space drama, and the dire cliffhanger ending will have readers eagerly awaiting volume two. Ages 8–up. (Oct.)