It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

July 17, 2023 5:03 PM

“I’m not expecting to win any of these bastards, but just to be nominated means the world.” - Zoe Thorogood, 24-year-old from Bradford, UK, has scooped the most nominations for this years Eisner Awards
posted by Artw (17 comments total)

...huh. Amazon has recommended her two GNs recently, and the algorithm might be right on the money for once.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:34 PM on July 17, 2023

She really is that good. Like shockingly good. I read The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott and was impressed. A good friend sent me It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth and said "you have to read this" -- he was right to.

I'm not super great at describing artistic style but she pulls off things that remind me of Bill Sienkiewicz's early stuff on New Mutants in its ambition. Only, y'know, fewer mutants.
posted by feckless at 7:00 PM on July 17, 2023 [8 favorites]

I LOVED the New Mutants. High Praise.
posted by garbhoch at 7:55 PM on July 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

“Apparently on the way to the pub I called her the future of comics. I probably shouldn’t have, as it’s the sort of thing that gets under someone’s skin. In my defence, I was right – at least then. Now, Zoe’s not the future of comics. She’s the present of comics, and people need to catch up.”

QFT
posted by chavenet at 11:59 PM on July 17, 2023 [3 favorites]

I see the review describes her work as "raw and powerful". I'd go for "clear and elegant". She's got a very strong line. It's hard for me to describe what she's doing right, but maybe raw describes the emotional level.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:29 AM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Relatable
posted by Phanx at 1:17 AM on July 18, 2023

Just ordered It's Lonely... Looking forward to reading it.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:19 AM on July 18, 2023

Ordered both her books immediately after reading this article. I hadn't heard of her before. Thank you!
posted by Inkoate at 3:37 AM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

She should win an award just for the pun "auto-bio-graphic novel"
posted by jacquilynne at 6:18 AM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I bought myself a copy of ILatCotE but ended up gifting it immediately to my artsy niece when it arrived. Dangit I guess I need to get another copy for myself.
posted by joelhunt at 6:28 AM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ordered both her books immediately after reading this article. I hadn't heard of her before. Thank you!

Same, same. Can't wait to read 'em.
posted by AgentRocket at 7:18 AM on July 18, 2023

When it says she designed a Spiderman-UK character for Marvel, are they referring to Hobie?
posted by Morpeth at 7:24 AM on July 18, 2023

Morpeth, not Hobie Brown, but she's also Black and full of attitude, at least in terms of hair & costume.
posted by obsoletefuture at 8:47 AM on July 18, 2023

I read It’s Lonely a couple months ago and it was very good. I’ve been reading a lot of autobio graphic novels and that was in the top tier. Met her at the Heroes Con in NC last month. I just spent a few minutes talking to her, thanked her for her work and bought a copy of Impending Blindness from her. She was nice. When I mentioned the book was a tough read, she said it was a period in her life and her life isn’t like that anymore.

To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable meeting her after reading such a raw and emotional book by her. I was just thinking to myself “I feel like I know more about you than I should.” But of course, reading her book, or any book about anybody, doesn’t even scratch the surface of actually knowing anyone.
posted by marxchivist at 6:47 PM on July 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

And the winners of the 2023 Eisner Awards are...

Ah well. Up against some strong competition there.
posted by Artw at 11:25 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

She did win the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award.
posted by kyrademon at 10:13 AM on July 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh that’s good - I somehow missed that.
posted by Artw at 10:19 AM on July 23, 2023