It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth
2022
- comics & graphic novels, nonfiction, general
- comics & graphic novels, nonfiction, biography & memoir
The story
Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records 6 months of her own life as it falls apart in a desperate attempt to put it back together again in the only way she knows how. IT’S LONELY AT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH is an intimate and metanarrative look into the life of a selfish artist who must create for her own survival.
What it’s like
Loose, hand-inked comic panels with a raw, scratchy line, pages that shift between tidy grids and sprawling, half-finished sketches, and plenty of white space where the feelings sit. The mood is confessional and wry, a sort of rueful self-examination that stays close to the bone without wallowing, with the occasional sharp joke puncturing a heavy moment. It reads best slowly, in one long sitting on a grey afternoon or during a restless late night when you want company in your own unravelling, and it works well as a quiet solo read rather than something to skim. The arc follows an artist who keeps turning her own collapse into work, moving from self-absorption toward a hard-won, provisional steadiness. Emotional register runs from anxious and frank to tender. Intensity is low: there is no violence or gore, and the distress is psychological, with frank talk about depression, anxiety and a breakdown that can sting. It suits readers who value honesty about mental health, admirers of autobiographical comics and creative process, and anyone who wants to feel less alone with their own mess.
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