The Lie and How We Told It

The Lie and How We Told It is a 2018 graphic novel by Australian comic artist Tommi Parrish. Set in an unnamed city during the mid-2000s, it tracks the relationship of two old friends, Cleary and Tim, who reconnect after falling out of contact for years. As they tell each other about what has happened since, both of them find that their stories are subtly different from the truth. Both friends struggle with their queerness and other aspects of their identities, which complicate their attempts to get to know each other (and themselves). The graphic novel’s title is a reference to a song by the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. Through his characters, Parrish conveys the frustration people develop when they feel unable to fully express who they are.

At the beginning of The Lie and How We Told It, Cleary and Tim run into each other at a grocery store. With some unexpressed reservations, they agree to go to a bar to catch up. Their meeting feels forced, but Cleary and Tim make the most of it by encouraging each other to open up. After a few drinks, both express that they are somewhat dissatisfied with their lives. Their exact problems are not fully explained; their dialogue suggests that they might not really know the problems themselves.

The graphic novel’s illustrations complement its subjects’ moods and atmosphere of unreliability. The primary mode of illustration Parrish uses evokes street art: it makes use of vivid color, flattens scenes, and sometimes looks haphazard, like graffiti. The characters’ heads are tiny, but their limbs and body language are highly exaggerated, highlighting their attempts to explain themselves implicitly, through suggestion and gesture. In many scenes, the characters are drawn lightly and blended into their surroundings, giving the impression that they are part of a larger whole.



In other scenes, Parrish uses sharp, precise lines of ink to contrast Cleary and Tim’s worlds from reality. This style is prominent when Cleary finds a book titled One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand in a bush. Here, the plot breaks off from Cleary and Tim, telling the story of a person who develops a pathological resistance to self-expression. At the end of the story, the character has forgotten what it is like to feel strong emotion, observing others going about their emotional lives with resentment. One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand is an unsparing criticism of a state of mind that Cleary and Tim are hurtling toward, whether they know it or not. As its protagonist states, “These things are always funny until they’re not.” Whether Cleary and Tim absorb the story’s message is unclear. On the other hand, Parrish suggests that we all have to learn this lesson eventually. The Lie and How We Told It comprises a hopeful intervention in the way modern people talk to each other, championing our many small, individual attempts to understand ourselves and each other.