''Space Battle Lunchtime'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

created by

Natalie Riess Natalie Riess (born December 7) is an American artist, illustrator, and webcomic creator. She gained public recognition after her comic ''Space Battle Lunchtime'' was published by Oni Press in 2016. Her webcomic ''Dungeon Critters'' created with ...

and published through

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's merger with Lion Forge Comics. The merged company, Oni–Lion Forge Publishing Grou ...

. The first issue of the eight-issue monthly

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

was released May 4, 2016. The story is about Peony, a young

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

who is chosen to participate in an interstellar cooking competition.

Publication history

Riess, creator of the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

Snarlbear ''Snarlbear'' is a 2012 webcomic by Natalie Riess. It follows the adventures of a teenage girl who is transported to a fantasy world, where she becomes a monster hunter. Synopsis ''Snarlbear'' follows a teenage grocery store employee named Daisy ...

'', originally planned to pitch ''Space Battle Lunchtime'' to webcomic

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

Hiveworks, but it was too short. Instead, she was one of 2,500 creators who sent a proposal to Oni Press during their 2015 open submission window.Johanna (May 4, 2016),
Space Battle Lunchtime #1
, ''Comics Worth Reading''. Retrieved September 23, 2016Sava, Oliver (August 16, 2016),
Space Battle Lunchtime capitalizes on the fun of cooking reality shows
, ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 Her pitch used the

log line A log line or logline is a brief (usually one-sentence) summary of a television program, film, short film, or book that states the central conflict of the story, often providing both a synopsis of the story's plot, and an emotional "hook" to stimu ...

: "''Space Battle Lunchtime'' is a comic about a young pastry chef from Earth who enters an intergalactic TV cooking competition. Think of it as a delicious combo of goofy

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

and

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

". When it was accepted by Oni editor Robin Herrera, who had specifically requested a food comic from applicants, it became the first contracted project from the submission pool. ''Space Battle Lunchtime'' was a

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

, but Riess never thought of a good replacement. After publication, she said she wished she had chosen something shorter. She began with a "flexible idea" of how the space world would work and decided on the details as the story progressed.Brooke, David (July 22, 2016),
Natalie Reiss Talks Her Oni Press Original Series, World Building, And Batman
, ''Adventures in Poor Taste''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 The initial plan was to tell the story in a short

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, but it was changed to be an eight-issue miniseries.Zainab (November 9, 2015),
Oni Press present first title from open submissions: 'Space Battle Lunchtime' by Natalie Riess – exclusive
, ''

Comics & Cola Comics & Cola was a comics website focusing on small-press, independent, and self-published comics. It featuring previews, interviews, reviews and news. Owned and written by Zainab Akhtar, the site was nominated in 2014 for an Eisner Award. His ...

''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 Riess researched Food Network shows, magazine photos, and animation from

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...

movies for the steps involved in making dishes and how they look at each stage of the process. The extraterrestrial food gave her many opportunities to draw different substances and textures, which is one of her interests. The first issue was released May 4, 2016. It had four variant covers: two by Riess, one by

Leila del Duca Leila may refer to: *Leila (name), a female given name, including a list of people with the name and its variants Film and television * ''Leila'' (1997 film), an Iranian film * ''Leïla'' (2001 film), a Danish film * ''Leila'' (TV series), a ...

, and one by

Carey Pietsch Caroline Elizabeth Pietsch (born November 11, 1988), known professionally as Carey Pietsch, is an American cartoonist, illustrator and artist. She is best known for her work on several webcomics and on ''The Adventure Zone'' series of graphic nove ...

. Sales were estimated just below 5000 copies. The series has been collected into two

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

. A new edition of the first issue was released at a discounted retail price to coincide with the release of the second collection. A third trade paperback was released on October 6, 2020.

Critical reception

The art received mostly positive reviews, although some critics said the plot was slow or thin. The first issue received an average score of 7.4 out of 10 based on 9 critical reviews as

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website Comic Book Roundup.Space Battle Lunchtime #1
, ''

Comic Book Roundup a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 It received attention for its focus on food preparation, a subject largely ignored in American comics. Although some reviewers found the plot thin or slow,Garcia, Matthew (May 9, 2016),
Wrapping Wednesday
, ''

Multiversity Comics ''The Multiversity'' is a two-issue limited series combined with seven interrelated one-shots set in the DC Multiverse in The New 52, a collection of universes seen in publications by DC Comics. The one-shots in the series were written by Grant M ...

''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 the art received mostly positive comments. Multiversity Comics called it "dynamic" and Comics Worth Reading described it as "purposely unpolished". Adventures in Poor Taste reviewer David Brooke liked the creative panel layouts, and Jon Erik Christianson praised Riess' use of color to convey emotion in his review for Panels.net.Brooke, David (August 10, 2016),
Space Battle Lunchtime #4 Review
, ''Adventures in Poor Taste''. Retrieved September 23, 2016Christianson, Jon Erik (August 12, 2016),
The Best-Space Scenario In Space Battle Lunchtime
, ''Panels''. Retrieved September 23, 2016 Oliver Sava, a reviewer for

, said ''Space Battle Lunchtime'' "features a strong, confident, and creative vision that is extremely impressive considering Riess’ youth".

References

External links

* * {{Grand Comics Database, seriesid=100706, title=Space Battle Lunchtime Works about cooking Comic book limited series