One Peace Books, 96 pages, paperback, $14.88
Kurt Cobain is one of the most polarizing figures in music. For some, he was an innovator who single-handedly revived music and gave a powerful voice to the feelings of an entire deracinated generation. On the other hand, many consider him a mediocre musician who simply cashed in on the fact that angry youngsters tend to react positively to cultural products that reflect their frustration and echo their rage. In the graphic novel When I Was an Alien, author Danilo Deninotti and illustrator Toni Bruno, two up-and-coming figures in Italian comics, decided to eschew both sides of the spectrum and instead deliver a heartfelt look at Cobain’s life from early childhood to the brink of stardom.
When he was growing up, Cobain was convinced that he was a member of an alien race and that his parents on Earth were not his real parents. He also thought that his time on this planet would come to and end because others of his race would come and take him away back to wherever he came from so he could live amongst his own kind. In his mind, this return home meant he would stop feeling alone. While the aliens never came to get him, Cobain eventually found a few like-minded individuals who helped him feel part of a group, and they started the band that would eventually be known worldwide as Nirvana.
What people are usually interested in when it comes to Cobain and Nirvana is the fame and turmoil of their years in the spotlight. However, by looking instead at everything that came before the fame, Deninotti and Bruno managed to tell a story about a youngster who, like most others, felt out of place and struggled to find his niche in the world. This way, more than a narrative about rock and roll debauchery, When I Was an Alien is a tale about friendship, the power of music, and the way common interests can bring outcasts together and unknowingly create strong support groups.
Perhaps the best thing about When I Was an Alien is that, despite being entertaining and telling a compelling narrative, it’s a piece of nonfiction. Sure, it may feel like a great coming-of-age story, but this graphic novel offers an honest look into Cobain’s life and the major problems that haunted him from his childhood all the way to that moment in which his band were standing on the edge of stardom. He is not presented as a messiah or a genius, but as just a troubled young man who wanted to make music with some friends, and that’s probably the perfect center of the troublesome spectrum I mentioned in the opening paragraph.
Nevermind is a record whose impact is still being discussed today, and Cobain, for a plethora of reasons, is still regarded as a crucial figure in music. When I Was an Alien is a book that, with detailed, monochromatic light blue squares, shows readers how all of that came to be. If you dig Nirvana, this one belongs in your shelves.
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Gabino Iglesias is writer, journalist, and book reviewer living in Austin, TX. He’s the author of Gutmouth and a few other things no one will ever read. You can find him on Twitter at @Gabino_Iglesias.