The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott, Reviewed
How about a super stylised dissection of the creatives self-worth, and the artistic process while touching on themes of human nature? Well, Zoe Thorogood will tug on your heartstrings like an octopus limbed harpist with The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott.
Avery Hill Publishing has stood out from the pack by curating a catalogue of remarkable, powerful creators. Now they introduce us to Zoe Thorogood with her debut graphic novel which explores art, its process, its psychology and human nature, announcing Zoe as another genius creator in the house of Avery Hill.
The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott fully explores every facet of the life of an artist and creator while offering a reading experience chock full of real emotion and a strong rallying call against procrastination. The art of entertainment in any media is the ability to offer the audience a place to express and explore emotions in a controlled manner, with a safe environment. Life comes inherently with strong emotional reactions, times like these emphasise this even more. Yet throughout this year Avery Hill have parcelled up powerful packages capable of dealing head-on with life's bigger ebbs and flows. 2020 will not be looked at historically as anything better than a turd sandwich wrapped in the corpse of hope, sat on top a dumpster fire careering into a black hole of what the fuckery. However we are surviving and to help process or distract, publishers like Avery Hill and their respective talent pools keep us ticking over with healthy emotional outlets. Just like Charlot Kristensen's What We Don't Talk About. Zoe Thorogoods The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott is another great example of an emotional rollercoaster strongly voiced storytelling and art with an impactful reading experience. I F@✴#ING LOVE COMICS!
So, let's start with the art. Zoe Thorogood presents some beautifully interesting pop style art. Really, for me at least, it's art holds very classical pop art aspects but presents them with a very punk or junk rat style. The clothing for the characters, in particular, are extensions of the expressive looks, that seems to give an overall raw edge like aesthetic to the comic. It's gritty, edgy, stylised. It's also very pretty and delicate. It's impactful and pleasing to behold. Allover captivating really. Every panel feels well worth studying. Zoe approaches the backgrounds with detailed rich studies. These settings feel busy but not confusing. Busy, but lived in. A great expression of the story whether the cluttered room of an artist, the hustle and bustle of the city, or the strange calm of an alleyway. These settings are wonderfully portrayed. I felt there was real quality in the imperfections of these set pieces. Everything is a little bit crooked, a little bit askew. It makes the world of Billie Scott seem more real while also maybe being a reflection of Billie's psyche. Zoe Thorogood has created a stunning, quirky world, rich in detail. An idealistic base which Zoe then fills with sublime characters, that truly elevate this comic.
The characters are full of great detail with Zoe's style adding real personality to each character. The emotions depicted in face and body feel like technical studies. So expertly readable and recognisable that they leap off the page. From the detail of Billies freckles to the heavy detail of each character's clothing. Zoe's art really comes alive in a beguiling way, depicting very individualistic characters. Zoe also manages to create an interesting view for the more abstract moments. Whether the black and white spirals of Billie's realisation or the super style of Rachel's music manifesting in an almost physical form and It's Zoes colour palette that really cements this with her use of oranges, yellows and blues. Zoe creates a total package of comic art.
Okay, Zoe has created very unique art that demands a strong story and here again, Zoe really shines. The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott as a title is a very straight forward indicator for this story. Our main heroine is the young Billie Scott - an aspiring artist with big dreams of vindication for an isolated lifestyle where art rules all. Billie's mysterious existence is emphasised by the fact that the people she shares a house with have never actually met her, and that only some miss-delivered post has even confirmed her existence. Her post is very important. It is in fact the vindication she has always wanted. Billie has been accepted by London New Arts to be exhibited as 2020 New Artist Of The Year. The only stipulation is to deliver ten completely new and original paintings. A daunting task for an artist obsessed with recognition, emphasised by the letters question - what does Billie Scott want to say? With the pressure of a timeline and that of discovering a theme, Billie heads to the streets in search of inspiration. Unfortunately for Billie you really can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. A terrible confrontation leads to a head injury. Billie discovers her entire life and identity will change dramatically. The months she had to complete her submissions have a radical shift in the schedule as now Billie has less than two weeks before she will go completely blind. A hasty, whisky fuelled, plan is formulated with the aim of engaging the world to create ten portraits before her vision is lost. This is a fantastically interesting plot starter that Zoe breathes powerful life to.
What follows is an all-encompassing and deeply emotional dissection of the life and psyche of artists and creatives. Through truly interesting characters the trials of human existence are beautifully depicted while simultaneously, Zoe manages to deliver a powerful rallying call in the fight against procrastination. Parts of this story feel like an honest letter about the complicated internal dialogue that can plague, I imagine, the majority of us. Zoe provides poetic and lyrical dialogue to convey these deep-seated wants, needs and aspirations. There is a brutal honesty in Billie's self-reflection. There are literal lyrical anthems of hope with Rachel's songs. There's an engrossing journey from doubt to confidence. Zoe explores this self-worth with, for me, an interesting thought experiment. Does an artist question their self-worth because of their process or mental health, or perhaps because ultimately creatives and artists are living a deeply selfish existence. To pursue your dreams is certainly a selfish act especially if taken at a disregard for all else, which inherently comes with guilt. So of course this mindset must come with hard introspective views of self-worth. The balance is in justification. Zoe also touches on the turmoil of trying to survive in the world while doing what you love. Personally, I really felt through Billie a tangible realisation of the angst, anxiety and existential crises that I imagine great artists battle with. I'd also hope that if any of those doubts existed in Zoe before this stunning comics publication that now those doubts are sat very far back and very quietly in the corners of her mind after such an accomplished creation. Although I would hazard to guess that it's that doubt that helps with the freedom of creation despite its terrible side effect of paralyzing fear and procrastination. This comic has real moments of inspiration for the creatives in all of us and completes a superb reading experience.
Zoe Thorogoods The Impending Blindness Of Billie Scott is a frighteningly brilliant debut. Exploring and dissecting an artist, adversary and procrastination, while delivering strong emotional studies of self-worth and ending with a powerful hope. I haven't shared any detail of the catalogue of wonderful characters Billie encounters as you really should meet them for yourselves. So to do this get over to www.averyhillpublishing.bigcartel.com or to your favourite comic book outlet and get your copy of this exceptional story. Once you've secured yours I'd recommend finding Zoe on twitter @zoethorogood to keep an eye on what comes next.
Rating: 5/5
