Alien Beings
Comic Zine, Laura Keninš, 24pgs, laurakenins.com, $7
Memories of childhood are strange creatures sitting in the dark. In Alien Beings, by Laura Keninš, she delves into a recollection with the brightest light she remembers. Quasi-science fiction, with generous X-Files influence, Laura tries to give reason to her parents divorce. Alien Beings is a colourful zine, boasting numerous colour-pencilled images with thorough illustrations and clear text. Upon first examination, you could see this comic being just another alien encounter zine with the typical mind abduction result. However, it’s the nuance of childhood memories that help give this zine much more depth. As children, we experienced our day to day with dreams and imagination. When something, such as a divorce, splits like a lightening bolt through this daze there must be an answer. The answer is not always logical. We all have created memories that may not exist, what psychology calls false memory, that have covered parts of our lives which may have been traumatic. Alien Beings confronts this idea at the very last page of the comic, questioning what was so long believed. Did Mulder and Scully have more of an influence than she thought? What were those lights that only reside in Laura’s memory? The zine brings up that long asked question; does life exist outside of planet earth in extra-terrestrial form, or is it merely life’s cruel road that eventually divides us? Is the truth really out there? (KK Taylor)