La inevitable ceguera de Billie Scott

by Zoe Thorogood, Juan Naranjo (Translator)

Billie Scott is an artist.

Her debut gallery exhibition opens in a few months.

Within a fortnight she'll be completely blind.

As Billie struggles to deal with her impending blindness, she sets off on a journey from Middlesbrough to London; into a world of post-austerity Britain and the problems facing those left behind. Her quest is to find ten people to paint for her exhibition, as well as the inspiration to continue with her art, and the strength to move on with her life.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT, Queer, Young Adult

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2020

About the author

Zoe Thorogood is an English cartoonist. While studying video game art at university, Thorogood began working as a freelance comic book artist. She achieved notoriety with her graphic novels The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott (2020, Avery Hill Publishing) and It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (2022, Image Comics).

Reviews

[Maggie Stiefvater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billie Scott is an artist who just got her big break— right before finding out she'll be blind in two weeks.

This debut graphic novel by a young new artist is a lot like its protagonist; it shyly but surely wins the reader's heart by being just . . . human. It's less about the future blindness of a young artist's eyes and more about the present blindness of a young artist's heart, which helps keep the tone gentle and hopeful. As an artist who rapidly lost a good bit of her sight at a very young age and still has a condition that requires constant monitoring of vision, I thought it was a clever, fragile exploration an artist's fear. I'll be picking up whatever she works on next.

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott is a Must-Read
Did I stay up way too late reading this in one sitting as I could not put it down? YEP. Is Zoe Thorogood the future of comics? Yea, probably? Weird question, sorry, why would I ask that. Oh, it’s because everything Thorogood does is so goddamn engrossing that I just want to shout about it to everyone. Which I have been doing at the bookstore anytime someone so much as glances at the graphic novel section. But for real, The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott from Zoe Thorogood is a delight. We follow runaway artist Billie who, on the cusp of their big break with a gallery showing, is the victim of random violence that leaves her going blind. With only weeks before her eyesight is gone, she sets out to make 10 portraits and keep her artistic dreams alive, facing the cruelty of living on the streets but having meaningful conversations and making lasting friends along the way. This is a moving story, with lots of ups and downs and emotional grit that really sinks its claws into you. Like the way a cat will climb up your leg and you think “ow!” but then “aw” because it snuggles up in your lap and you love cats. This book is like if that cat was art, all brought to life through Thorogood’s incredible artwork and humor.

There is so much to love here. The characters are so endearing, and not just the socially anxious artist Billie who is so easy to love and empathize with, but this features some fantastic side characters like Arthur, determined to embrace the failures of his past and directing it towards help others, and of course Rachel West, unhoused but determined to become a music star and buy back the coffee shop her deceased dad once owned. I really appreciated the empathetic approach to unhoused people. This is a really empowering story with a lot of lovely things to say about art, determination, that your ‘work does not define you,’ and it is also a beautiful plea to keep creating. It is a moving look at the power of art juxtaposed with the hardships of life and a reminder that kindness and support helps those around you flourish. It also has such a cute story of friendship that blossoms into something more. Yay!

The cast of characters via Billie Scott’s artwork

But we need to talk about Thorogood’s art, because it is extraordinary. I love the muted palette here, with highlights of just dull reds, yellow and blue on ink drawings that have a really gritty vibe and brings the urban settings to life. Her character designs are wonderful, which is key for a book about painting portraits. I mean, this feels so much like existing in an artist’s mind and works, something you feel very aware of at all times in a good way. Thorogood has great dialogue too, and for a book that can have fairly text-heavy panels, it never feels like too much and larger, full-page cells make dynamic use of the space, directing your eyes to swirl down the page following the dialogue in a really creative and engaging way. It is also very self-conscious in a way that is effective and charming—this book has so much personality. I love the publication as an oversized book, it really lets you plunge into the artwork and just feels cool as hell to hold. Like, hell yes I’m reading this amazing graphic novel, and you should too. Plus she can break into some excellent surreal nightmares here, something that she captures quite well in her later book, It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth .

Creepy cool

I can’t recommend The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott enough and was very impressed and moved by it. Sure, there’s probably some criticism to make but fuck that because this is just too great. I also highly recommend It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth , which feels like a more matured art direction but not in a way where this doesn’t feel mature, that book just does magic with visual storytelling. Thorogood is spot of with pacing, the use of frames really pushes the story along but gives it room to breathe, and it is just a visual extravaganza. Read all the Thorogood, I’m very excited to follow her career. And, as Billie says ‘just create, never stop creating.’

5/5

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billie Scott has been a bit of a hermit, locked up in her room, practicing her art. The rare time the shut-in steps outside, she is struck in a manner that leaves her with detached retinas and only a couple weeks of eyesight remaining to produce the ten paintings she needs for her first art gallery show.

The introvert hits the road, meeting colorful characters and really trying to get to know them before painting their portraits. And, as the cliche goes, she might just learn about herself too. It's all a little too on the nose, and I was slow to warm to it, but the characters, art, and dialogue won me over by the end. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Zoe Thorogood does next.

Side note: I do find it funny that a story about losing your vision strained my eyes with some of the smallest lettering I have seen in a graphic novel. Microscopic! Was this meant to be published at an album size originally?

[Sucre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to reading this for a while, so finally picking it up only to be put off by several elements of the story was a disappointment.

Billie staying at a homeless shelter and later living with houseless people felt... Bad. Billie comes from a place of privilege and before a drunken night out was living in an apartment (that she paid for how? did she have a job? was it savings? her family seems quite well off but she isn't in contact with them) that she could have returned to, but instead chooses to remain in London because Art. This felt like yet another story about art that fetishizes homelessness and the people living in that situation.

The houseless people we do meet are mostly extremely kind souls with several of them seeming to live on the streets... By choice? By the end of the comic one of them is somehow in uni, another has published three books, and yet another has bought a business and is now gathering huge crowds of customers.

The Angry One ends up being a thief involved in a "black market ring" and steals from the community. Don't worry though, Billie is going to turn her into the cops! I'm sure the police will treat her with respect and Justice Will Be Served :) It's not like people in the streets are routinely abused or murdered by cops or anything! She obviously deserves it for... stealing some clothes and reselling them so she can afford basic necessities. Yeah.

Billie is called out one time for the privilege she holds, and responds with "..." and. That's it. Great job tackling this obvious issue in the story!

There's also the tricky element of Billie falling into the white savior trope by convincing the bartender to finally let Rachel play and this leading to Rachel buying back her dad's old business. Rachel, who is black, tried for years to get her shot, but it only takes a few texts from Billie in one night to make all of Rachel's dreams come true.

I really, really wanted to like this. It showed how disability isn't the end of the world, and a good (sometimes better!) life can be lived after acquiring disabilities. The art really worked for me and the final illustrations that "Billie" made were gorgeous. But I can't get over big portions of this story that felt icky to read.

[Steve Stivaktis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm honestly only taking away a star because of the painfully tiny lettering that could easily be used to blind the reader, and which made me think that the creator wanted the audience's eyes to feel uncomfortable, given the subject. But I have no proof of that, so let's get to the good stuff.
I have been pumped about this release for a while. I was extremely surprised when I realised the fact that this is the artist's first graphic novel, at age 21 no less.
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott is a deeply existential novel, full of questions that hit hard. While story-wise, a few parts towards the end felt a little bit naive, overall it was a very powerful experience. It's a solid story with unique artworks, complex characters and relationships, and moving moments that deserve their own epic soundtrack, and it touches themes and feelings that people with double the creator's years would have hardly managed to explore so wonderfully.
Overall, a damn good work. Worth the wait!

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute drawing style. Millennial humor. I enjoyed it! Didn't feel like I had enough time to get to know characters though, before we were rushed on to the next character.

[Sterre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Update: Book club made me do it. One star it is…

This was NOT my kind of book I guess.. Currently giving it two stars, because I find it physically hurting to give one, but honestly? I might still change this rating in the end.

The author definitely has artistic skills, and does a wonderful job at drawing (even though the style was absolutely not something I loved or even liked - tbh, I hated the drawing style). But.. SHE. IS. NOT. A. WRITER. and it shows. There isn't much of a story going on, and the one she was trying to tell didn't come across at all. I got so annoyed so often about how extremely unrealistic everything was, from the poorly explained impending blindness to (mostly) the contact between Billie and her 'friends' (quotation marks on purpose, because how the ** can Billie develop these so-called friendships every time after, like, a minute or so of conversation and then a lot of crap contact).

In general, our (the readers) contact with characters was so brief, that every time they mention a name of a previous character, I was absolutely clueless as to who that name was referring to again. Seriously, did anyone edit this book?

Also, nothing of the stuff that supposedly helps 'build the story' actually did that.. Like why was Billie living off the streets all of a sudden? I thought she had just become besties with her roommates (who didn't know she existed until a minute before that). Oh wait, it was (kind of) explained close to the end of the graphic novel, but I guess I just stopped buying whatever the author was selling at that point.

I fail to understand the high ratings for this one, but I guess that's on me. For now, we'll see if the second star I gave it for now will stand the test of time.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman with severe social anxiety has been accepted at a gallery, only while she’s making the paintings, she’s mugged, with the result being impending blindness. The main journey is her struggle to figure out if she wants to, or if it’s viable to complete the gallery showing beforehand.

The book itself is oversized, with the binding being quite tight. It’s a bit of a pain but worth it for the format, I think. I never crack my spines either, maybe it does open up a lot more than I had it, though it seemed strained opening it to where I could read it. With the text being small, it can be a bit annoying.

The artwork is really great, as is the paneling. It’s a pretty unique premise, and feels like the story is a great debut, with some pacing issues and prescriptive messaging the reader could take away without it being explicit. Overall, a pretty amazing debut work. I can see why it’s been lauded!

[Madeline Elsinga · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story jumps around a lot and we move onto new characters before we get to know anyone. It felt very surface level with the relationships and I wish we spent more time on a small cast of characters as opposed to being rapidly introduced to a larger cast of new ones.

I also wasn’t a fan of the drawing style-hurts my eyes and the letters are so tiny (ironically). But that’s more of a personal preference. There were no page numbers which was a personal pet peeve too.

I hated and misunderstood why Billie is choosing to be homeless? Like she has an apartment and made friends with her housemates but then she just leaves and lives on the street when she doesn’t have to. It felt like it was meant to be quirky, and it was unnecessary.

The story was enjoyable enough but I didn’t love it compared to other graphic novels!

[Vera · Rating 1 out of 5]

It really says something that I wanted to DNF this graphic novel very very badly. Usually with graphic novels, while they might be boring they are enjoyable enough for me by means of the art to get through. But this one really frustrated me.
While there were many things to criticize that just didn’t make sense (eg “oh let me step out for ~inspiration~ as a scrawny girl in a sketchy neighborhood and draw the dumpster dude!” or “lol good luck going blind, should have come in 2 days sooner”) the most annoying thing about this was the pretentious artist vibe of “oh I’m going through something, let me suffer even more and create art unrelated to it (portraits… srsly??) and then earn money and preach”. Having been to art school myself, I just recognized this all too well. It infuriates me that Billie eg takes a bed that could be used by a person that ACTUALLY is homeless or eats the beans of people that are ACTUALLY struggling to even get some food for the sake of her art journey - nevermind that she was comfortable letting Rachel pay for her Sushi!
It is also clear that the author is an illustrator and not a writer. The dialogue felt cheesy, like some postcard life lessons for aspiring art students. And lastly, while the art definitely has potential, it could have been used so much smarter - even something basic like for example slowly starting to blotch the pages or start with color and end im b/w. I could go on ranting about this, but I think this about sums it up. Altogether, sadly, a very frustrating experience.

[Dina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was so mediocre and silly it didn’t even make me feel anything especially negative, or feel at all. I have seen really profound original things created by young people these days, so I can’t take the age and inexperience as an excuse.

This comic started like a generic sitcom where you hear constant laughter on the background but don’t know what part was supposed to be funny (except the salmonella joke, that cracked me up).

The ridiculous premise was built on the impossible fact that the doctor didn’t offer any of the multiple possible treatments for retinal detachment and just said good luck going blind.

Then, we are offered the characters who kept trying to sell the idea that being an arrogant artist and having experienced something bad in life relieves you from the responsibility to be a functioning adult and actually working for your own food and living. Can you imagine someone without any diploma or experience going each night to a hospital saying “hey just let me do this cardiosurgery this one time, I promised I’m good, YOU WON’T REGRET THIS”.

A few cheesy unoriginal passages about how life doesn’t stop at your hobby and that people can be interesting on a series of cute drawings, and this boring (and thankfully short) story is done.

I think the author has a lot of potential to bringing to life her images, but without a backbone of a good message it sadly doesn’t work for me. I can believe the later comics are better.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have already read It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, you may be disappointed with this debut work, which is very different, dark, and harder to relate to, but still a good quality work.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zoe Thorogood's first graphic novel is spectacular. Her art has sophisticated echoes of Egon Schiele and Æon Flux/Peter Chung, with incredibly grounded storytelling. It's the mix of the two that makes this book so engaging. I devoured it in one sitting.

The story is literally character driven: Billie has to find 10 interesting faces to capture in portraiture for her inaugural (and possibly last) gallery show before she loses her eyesight completely (the result of a violent street attack). By being completely open, she discovers the joy and pain of the vast world outside the self-imposed exile of her bedroom. The characters she meets along the way enrich her life, and her once-friendless existence is enriched so much her cup runneth over.

I don't consider any of this spoilers, since it's the journey that we go on with Billie that is the true pleasure. Zoe Thorogood is a talent to watch. Avery Hill Publishing has done it again by finding a rising star.

[Mariana Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel managed to both fill and break my heart. A beautiful portrait of why art matters - to the audience, to the artists, to the world it slowly changes.

[Andi Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le pondría 5 estrellas porque es muy original, pero me parece algo demasiado denso lo que sucede con la protagonista de esta historia. Tiene muy buen desenlace pero aún así es triste.

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly great, would have gained another star if the book allowed more time to get to know each character. As much as I liked the story and message, both were pretty much exactly what I expected from the start.

[Vicky Sp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recensione sulla mia pagina Bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CfVuI9CMh...

Bille Scott amava dipingere.
A conti fatti era l’unica cosa che le interessava fare, era sola al mondo e giacché era anche senza soldi non usciva molto.
Ma quando tutto sembrava ormai statico e piatto giunse alla sua porta una bella notizia: la famosa galleria New Arts l’aveva ingaggiata per realizzare dei dipinti.
A Billie non sembrava vero!
Finalmente le cose sarebbero andate per il verso giusto e un nuovo percorso artistico sarebbe iniziato.

Ma il destino, beffardo, era già pronto ad accanirsi nuovamente su di lei.

🖋️Si tratta di una lettura a fumetti molto carina, con personaggi freschi e ben delineati. E che dire delle illustrazioni, sono fantastiche


*Ringrazio la CE per la copia cartacea

[pajama_plants_221015 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too predictable. Good, but like not as good as it’s lonely at the center of the earth -zoe thorogood

I am a pro at reviews

[Audrey A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so there are things that I could criticize about this book but I don’t want to and I won’t because it is so so so cool to make a comic book and this one is just fun and pretty and very cheesy and lovely

[kaitlphere · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Never stop creating. Art will change the world."

This book started slow, but picked up quick and I couldn't put it down. Love the two-color and three-color artwork. Very strong story with a whole lot of character development.

[Saoirse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Affected me strongly for very deep down personal reasons. Made me want to call all my friends immediately.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the journey this book takes you on. Impending blindness sounds like it might be the name of a local punk band, but in the case of this book, it’s a diagnosis for the main character. Because of this, Billie Scott takes a journey to discover meaning in life, her legacy, her value, her perception of those around her, and her art. Inside the context of this story, those things are really great to read, but where this story really got me was that I was easily able to imagine myself in the characters shoes and ponder what I may have done in her situation. I definitely put the book down a few times just to reflect on the situation that was unfolding before me and I think I’ll continue to think about this one for a bit. Great story and art!

[Yaroslav Chernovol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Неминуча сліпота Біллі Скотт. Дебютна робота від Зої Тороґуд. 


Біллі Скотт художниця, яке живе відлюдником. Їх надходить лист з пропозицією намалювати 10 картин для її виставки. Внаслідок одного інциденту, лікар повідомляє, що вона втрачає зір. І у неї є приблизно 2 тижні перш ніж вона стане сліпою. 


Ідея Біллі намалювати 10 портретів різних людей. З цього починається веселий шлях, який приведе її в різні місця і познайомить з різними цікавими людьми. Співмешканці Біллі, наречена після дівич-вечора, безхатьки, невідома рок-гітаристка. Настрій коміксу грає по синусоїді - тут смієшся, тут плачеш, тут розчулений, тут плачеш.


Але все ж найнеймовірніше це малюнок. Цікава палітра, дуже прикольні малюнки, іноді прям дуже химерні. Сторінки зі скетчами, описами.

Загалом комікс залишає дуже приємний посмак.

[Katerina Koureta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice artwork. The story felt rushed though, and that did not help me connect with it.

[Fátima Embark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billie no solo es pintora, también es una chica perdida dentro de su propio mundo interior. Billie, además, acaba de recibir la noticia de que se está quedando ciega. Cuenta con apenas quince días antes de que su mundo se convierta en sombras. Pero antes de que eso suceda quiere exponer su obra al mundo.
Para ello necesita diez cuadros. Diez cuadros que cuenten una historia, que representen ese viaje interno al que está a punto de embarcarse para encontrar lo que de verdad importa. Y es que a veces necesitas ver más allá de lo que muestran tus ojos para comprender la belleza del mundo.

Visitaremos las calles de Londres, conoceremos a personajes que tendrán una relevancia importante para Billie y viajaremos por sus anhelos más profundos.

Me ha encantado el mensaje, las reflexiones y el cariño que le pone la autora. La importancia del arte y cómo lo usa como recurso para entender las fases internas por las que pasa Billie, utilizando técnicas de dibujo refrescantes, composición de viñetas bien elegidas y un uso del color que cambia de tonalidad según el momento.
El fascinante mundo de crear, en todos los sentidos de la palabra. Sobre todo, la magia de crearse a uno mismo.

Es cierto que es una primera obra, que peca de optimista a la hora de contarnos cómo es la vida en las calles, pero aun así lo he disfrutado una barbaridad y me ha tocado la patata.

Deseando leer las obras más recientes de la autora ❤️

[Lenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet and moving story. Billie Scott has finally gotten her big break in the art world: 10 original paintings for her own gallery in two weeks. But tragically, she soon learns she is going blind. Billie leaves the comfort of her apartment in search of ten portraits and of course who she meets along the way will change her too.

This is a very impressive debut by Zoe Thorogood at only 21 years old. The artwork has crisp lines and often is accompanied only by one accent color at a time, as we follow Billie and the interesting folks she meets, and who impact her in different ways, as she travels around London. The bittersweet message about the power of creating art - creating something new - no matter what, along with the positive messaging about not letting one's disability hamper one's life, is a powerful one and uniquely told in this story. Admittedly, it was a little bit on the nose at the end, but it worked overall. The reveal of the 10 paintings at the end had great payoff.

As others have mentioned, the small text made Billie's narration and the dialogue difficult to read; even though it was probably intentional, it did at times affect my enjoyment of the book. Ironically, I also wonder about that from an accessibility standpoint.

The story reminded me of a contestant on, of all things, Netflix's glassblowing competition Blown Away. Cat Burns suffers from a degenerative eye disease - and the conditions of glassblowing exacerbate her condition. But this doesn't stop her from pursuing an art form that she loves.

I think a lot of us, myself included, can get hung up on not being "good enough" to pursue art, even if it's just for fun. Billie Scott and the supporting cast, along with real-life examples like Cat Burns, remind us that it's the love and process of creating, the creating itself, rather than the final result, that's important. It's an inspiring message.

[spurthiscool · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was so obnoxiously pretentious it pissed me tf off. i hate reading books where rich depressed people pretend to be poor to learn the meaning of life. pls dont piss me off like this ever again.

i was interested in her journey and seeing all the people she was gonna meet, but she literally just became homeless and stayed in one place and drew all the people there, and its like if u were just gonna stay in one place anyway why didnt u just stay at home. like u really dont have to become homeless. idk the way the author wrote about the homeless aspect was soooo insensitive it pissed me off and lowkey made me hate the author. like this one homeless girls steals the main characters stuff and sells them (bc shes homeless and poor) and the main character’s pissed and she’s like ‘how dare she imma tell the police🤬🤬’ and its like girl shes literally homeless like bffr. u have a place to live and ur the one pretending to be poor for funsies, so take the repercussions that come with it. it’s your fault u were a trusting idiot. the homeless girl was just tryna survive and get basic food, and telling the police actually pissed me off.

main character is stupid and makes it everyone else’s problem. go be stupid in ur house that u have and stop doing poor people cosplay and victimizing urself.

the romance was unearned and the moral and the end of the story also felt pretentious and unearned, like when a richo starts preaching to you about life even though they know nothing because they’ve always been rich.

the paintings in the end and art in general were beautiful but the story was so pretentious and out of touch that i can’t believe i spent weeks waiting for this on libby.

2 stars for art none for story (though interesting premise saur disappointing.)

[Ina Korsgaard Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billie Scott is a socially awkward girl who shies away from people so that she focus on her art only, but when her art is accepted for an exhibition at a gallery, she’s experiencing a bit of an artist’s block. After an incident she’s also faced with the fact that she is going blind quickly, and only has a few weeks left with her eyesight. She’s defeated and scared, but ends up on a journey through Britain to find enough interesting people to inspire her to reach her art goal.

I like that this story is raw and honest, yet feels optimistic. It’s sort of a coming-of-age-story about coming to terms with the things you can’t do anything about, and to fight for the things that that matter and you absolutely can affect if you try. I wish the format was larger so the bubbles would be easier to read (am I getting old?) and the details would pop more. Interesting take on the color aesthetics with rarely more than one or two colors on each panel, and about five colors in total throughout the book.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billie Scott was a shut-in who figured she could live her life after she became a successful artist, but once her big break happens she finds out she's going blind. So now she's off to live her last weeks of sighted life and try to do something with her big art show as she questions what direction the rest of her life is going to take. It's wholesome, it's sad, it's happy, it's even inspiring! Finishing it makes you want to go out and create some art of your own with whatever passion you have.

My only complaint about this book is the lettering, the font was pretty small and difficult to read. It felt like I was squinting and pushing the book closer to my face in order to read it properly, which was tiresome and took away from many of the scenes.

[Hayley Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Maybe closer to a 3.5?) I loved the art style and premise but felt it was a touch cliché in its overall message. I think I was hoping for more nuance after reading some rave reviews. That said, the creator was only 21 when it was published so I think for readers of a similar age the message could still feel quite relatable. The eclectic cast of characters feel really well observed, complex and human, and there is a real sense of place conveyed through excellent location drawings. The depictions of queerness and disability both felt honest and believable too. Well worth a read and I’m excited to see what the creator does next!