Rockstar Scientists Review

Rockstar Scientists

writer- Kenny Jeffery

art- George Zapata & Jordan Cutler

Take your favorite rockstars, pluck them out of their entire music careers, and make them groundbreaking scientists who are the ultimate masters of their field. This is what writer, Kenny Jeffery has done with Rockstar Scientists. Its a fascinating new book and it has all the wonder of science, all the color of an LSD trip from the sixties and all the charm of the Beatles, The Doors, and maybe a little Who and Elvis tossed in for good measure. Without a doubt, Kenny Jefferey and his artists, George Zapata and Jordan Cutler have created a dream come true for science and music geeks alike.

The book is broken into two parts. The first story, “Lucy In The Sky,” is kind of a psychedelic trip through science and music history. It's about a girl named El who is extraordinary in every way. She's touted by brilliant minds in the field of science and criticized by those who fear change. We get to see some of El's accomplishments and are then tossed back in time to a flashback from when she was a child of nine.

There are some great cameos in this story, including a very familiar group of entomologists studying actual beetles. All of them praise El for what she's brought to the world, and everyone agrees that before El, there was nothing. Kenny Jefferey's writing is intelligent. He tells a story about adventurers in a world some people would generally find dull and clinical. There's nothing dull about it. He's managed to blend enjoyable speculative fiction, a good taste in music, and Aldous Huxley's Doors of Perception to get a finished product that should very well go down in history with the icons he pays homage to. When I first read Kenny Jefferey's work, it was in Tarnished, an anthology from Broken Souls Press. I was immediately interested in reading more of his work. In my review for that book, I was disappointed that his segment was too short. I didn't feel there was enough story to enjoy. In Rockstar Scientists, “Lucy In The Sky” is enough story to make me want to read more of it. I enjoyed it thoroughly and this particular story is the reason I'm suggesting it to comic geeks, science geeks, music enthusiasts, and pretty much everyone I know.

The art in this story is very appropriate. George Zapata gives us the kind of art we'd expect to see on psychedelic black light posters of the day. With floating “Peace” symbols and flying hearts, you almost don't notice the green wings and leaves sprouting from the chemist's head, or the yellow elephant, the strange rabbit, or the humming bird suckling from the roses that grow out of the top of the television. If what I'm describing sounds surreal, it's because Zapata has done his job well.

The second story in the book is called “Quarks 'N Quavers Starring Professor Peaks.” It's essentially a lecture on how music is made. I have to hand it to Jefferey on this story as well. It's three pages long, but he gets the job done. The wording is clever and accurate and the character of Professor Peaks is fun. In this little segment, Professor Peaks explains music to a rock concert sized crowd. He does so by playing a guitar and using diagrams that remind me of those Disney educational shorts we used to see in health or science class in the fourth grade.

Jordan Cutler's art in this is whimsical. It's well illustrated, and his Professor Peaks almost reminds me of Pete Townsend from forty years ago. I'm definitely looking forward to another installment with him in issue #2.

There are a couple of other artists involved in this book. Scott Nichols and Sandeep Ravi contribute to the Rockstar Scientists poster collection with an Elvis holding a skull in true Shakespearean fashion and a portrait of four entomological lads from Liverpool comprising data over a large hovering beetle. I'm

hoping this is a feature the creators of this book keep. We want more Rockstar Scientist pin-ups.

So keep your eyes open for this book. Rockstar Scientists is fun and sort of educational, but don't let the educational part chase you off. It's not rocket science. And if my review doesn't give you cause to pick it up, let me quote the second issue teaser on the last page. “Who is the astronaut? What is an earworm? Cats vs. Apes. Why?! When and where? Soon in Rockstar Scientists.”