Like All Great Mixtapes, Sci-Fu Blends Genres Beautifully

Author: Yehudi Mercado/ Oni Press Yo, cue the music. Let’s talk about Sci-Fu. THIS IS A JOURNEY INTO SOUND. If you read that in the booming voice that preludes action sequences and music videos, there is a very good chance that you’re going to be enamored with Yehudi Mercado’s Sci-Fu, a young adult graphic novel and love letter to hip-hop, kung fu, and science fiction. A great title for all ages, Sci-Fu is colorful, clever, and all-around solid coming-of-age story. Lookin’ back, well look at that / Black boy, joy in the face / Born and raised to never know my place / Make it suitable enough to hold me space. -P.O.S., Heater Season by Shredders

After aspiring disc jockey Wax struggles to craft the ultimate-love-song-confessional for his girl-not-quite-next-door, he goes back to his turntables and drops the beat so hard that some aliens who happen to pick up on the frequency figure that his electric tracks are an invitation for abduction because clearly whoever has music that good is asking for a fight. Under some circumstances that might actually be the case, but even if poor Wax was itching to spin, it was probably his vinyl records and not his entire body as he engages in Sci-Fu with a giant robot. It’s the exact type of ridiculous premise that endears the reader to Sci-Fu and Mercado backs up the premise with a wonderfully animated art style and clever writing that is unrelenting in the comedic and serious beats. Sci-Fi takes cues from the traditional mixtape and feature s…