‘Parrish’s bodies dominate the room (and the page), and yet their sheer expanse seems to accentuate their vulnerability as much as their power. They are inescapable, and inescapably exposed … Even the quietest moments have a wildness lurking within them, a sense of things being on the verge of going to pieces or bursting into life.’
Gabriel Winslow-Yost, The New York Review of Books
‘I urge you to try Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish, the most visually dazzling graphic novel I’ve read this year. While most stick to pen and ink, here every frame is a painting; the use of colour and line reminds me of Cat With Red Fish-era Matisse … A young Australian, Parrish worked up to 15 hours a day on this novel for three years without a break. With unflinching psychological realism, it tells the story of a struggling single mother and performance poet who forms an unhealthily close friendship with a fan, in a tale that builds to a harrowing heart-in-mouth climax.’
Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph
‘Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish, renders the messiness of modern life into vivid, gorgeous art. A single parent and a sex worker strike up an intimate friendship in this singular story, told through bold figures and atmospheric splashes.’
Katie Goh, i-D Magazine
‘Men I Trust sees Parrish perfectly capture the vulnerability, tension and flux of navigating relationships — romantic, familial, self-fulfilment — under the pressures of capitalism … [T]here’s something about the graphic form here that enduringly captivates … Parrish depicts all this with intelligence, heart and a trust in the reader that can only be adequately rendered on the page with the intricate power of their visual language.’
Oliver Reeson, The Saturday Paper
‘Lambda Award–winner Parrish (The Lie and How We Told It) delivers an unflinching examination of two women as they tentatively form a friendship while coping with messy personal circumstances … Parrish’s gift for nuanced characterisations and dialogue juxtapose with their distinctive, highly stylised art, in which characters sport exaggeratedly bulky, awkward bodies and small heads. This humane, insightful tale should further burnish Parrish’s reputation as a first-rate artist and storyteller.’
Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘Parrish’s tactile paintwork conjures humans with hulking bodies and baseball heads, all of them wondering whether the messes they're in are the result of mistakes they've made or some kind of perverse destiny they were always bound for.’
Vulture
‘Parrish … relentlessly interrogates issues of gender and sexuality, pointing out that strict binaries are mostly jerry-built and easily broken.’
PEN
‘With each hand-painted panel, author Tommi Parrish communicates an intense atmosphere and delves thoughtfully into the themes of queer desire, masculinity, fear, and the fading of past relationships.’
Eyes on Design
‘With the palette of Simon Hanselmann and the emotional heft of Adrian Tomine, Parrish paints a realistic and intimate portrait of queer friendship, the colourful, genderless characters avatars for anyone grappling with how to live a meaningful life under capitalism. Parrish’s trademark painted figures animate a nuanced and highly relatable depiction of anxiety, depression and complicated relationships, the characters of Eliza and Sasha alive with humour, personality and astutely observed thoughts and feelings … Parrish’s work continues to reclaim brightness and boldness in the service of rendering real human lives. Men I Trust is a beautiful and honest work from an artist deserving of all of the home-country recognition that will no doubt finally come their way.’
Kelsey Oldham, Books+Publishing
‘Tommi Parrish's graphic novel is an intimate look at how relationships function and dysfunction under precarity … Men I Trust paints a nuanced story of trying to find connection in an isolated, capitalist world. Parrish is an observant storyteller, lingering on uncomfortable moments, dedicating whole panels to an awkward pause in conversation or a sigh. The dialogue is astute; at times witty and heartbreaking in the same breath. Parrish's visual style is lush, with colours and textures as complex as the characters in this story, and a rich humanity coming from the entirely hand-drawn and painted work. Colours bleed from the panels onto the margins, pencil sketches peek through the layers of paint on top of them. In a book pulsing with alienation, Parrish's masterly hand feels like a gift.’
Selina Moir-Wilson, The Big Issue
‘In Men I Trust the art is brimming with wincing, raw abandon.’
Bernard Calleo, Australian Book Review
‘Men I Trust follows 20-something Sasha and 30-something Eliza as they strike up an unlikely friendship and invites you to consider how far you would go to find intimacy. With their bold, distinctive style you may be familiar with from The Lie and How We Told It and Perfect Hair, this work is completely hand-painted, taking over three years to create.’
Melbourne Writers Festival
‘If you’re after a gorgeous graphic novel about millennial ennui and unlikely friendships in murky waters, Men I Trust is the book for you … Men I Trust is a beautiful book — the illustrations are rendered to perfection in full colour, making it feel more like an art book than a graphic novel. Reviewers who know more about art and graphic novels than I do have sung its praises … a moving and intense story, one that might have you staring off into the distance in a while after you’ve finished.’
Keeping Up With the Penguins
Praise for The Lie and How We Told It:
‘Even in these golden years for Australian comics, Tommi Parrish stands out for their insight and talent. Their work takes weighty topics like gender, work, and friends and examines them through focusing on individual experiences, interior moment … Here Parrish is exhibiting both trust in the reader and juxtaposition skill. The found text could line up with the main story in a number of ways; working out how is up to you.’
Ronnie Scott, Australian Book Review
Praise for The Lie and How We Told It:
‘This orchestration and interplay of refined visual language is never overworked. Lovers of fine art comics will delight in this worthy discovery.’
Publishers Weekly
Praise for The Lie and How We Told It:
‘A gorgeous graphic novel … It’s one of the most strikingly executed books I’ve seen in years, and Parrish’s talents are impossible to ignore. It’s pretty annoying that we still have to remind people that comics are a visual medium, but here, the distinction is as vital as it is needed.’
Leonard Pierce, The Comics Journal
