LIGHTS, CAMERA, SNACKTION!

An Earth pâtissière is beamed up to an intergalactic cooking competition reminiscent of Iron Chef.

With oversized glasses, light skin, and a hairstyle reminiscent of Lucy’s from “Peanuts,” Peony spends her days whipping up culinary delights at the bakery where she works. However, one fateful day, she is visited by a bespectacled frog who invites her to participate in a competition to find "the greatest chef in the galaxy." Suddenly, Peony finds herself on Space Battle Lunchtime, a televised show staged in an out-of-this-world kitchen with alien ingredients (literally) and odd appliances unlike anything she’s ever seen. Undaunted by her exotic surroundings, Peony finds that her relentless optimism and cooking know-how help her persevere and woo the extraterrestrial judges. Threatened by her success, her ET opponents are not above sabotage, and Peony soon discovers the lengths some of them would go to ensure she does not win. Will Peony survive, or is this just the way her cookie crumbles? Riess' series opener is highly imaginative and enjoyable, with strong worldbuilding working joyfully alongside bright and humorous illustrations. An odd yet well-spun mixture of food fiction and space tales, with a dash of pop culture, this unusual charmer defies genre conventions and seems to revel in its own sheer individuality and campy wonder.

Delicious fun that’s out of this world.