Home truths
Theo Parish’s Homebody is a celebratory graphic novel that explores what it means to be comfortable with who you are. Beginning life as a poem, Homebody demonstrates that while each person has their own experiences, there is a universality to life that binds us all together. Here Theo talks to Jake Hope.
THEO Parish is the author and illustrator of Homebody, a remarkably life-affirming debut graphic novel which explores ideas of identity and the ways society and our sense of self can help to shape this.
Reflecting on the book and their writing and illustration, Theo describes how many of their interests haven’t changed since childhood, saying: “I’ve always been deeply interested in stories, particularly fantasy as an escape from reality. Many of my interests revolve around storytelling in different forms: dungeons and dragons, video games, films and comic books.”
Theo has been an avid reader since a young age and remembers spending a great deal of time immersed in reading or drawing. Theo’s dad read them The Hobbit and it’s from here that their love of fantasy grew.
“I also read a lot of Terry Pratchett as a child and although I probably didn’t quite understand all the jokes, I absolutely loved the world building and characters. In fact the adaptation of The Colour of Magic may have been the first proper graphic novel I read.”
Thinking more about graphic novels that have influenced them, Theo recalls Tank Girl, by Alan Martin and illustrated by Jamie Hewlett. “I remember being totally in awe of Hewlett’s dynamic and inimitable style. I’ve always admired artists whose work you can look at and instantly recognise as theirs and that also instantly communicate a sense of personality or feeling. Those are definitely things I have tried to work towards in my own illustration.”
Autumn-Winter 2024
The sense of feeling which Theo describes is something which comes across incredibly powerfully and poignantly in Homebody. From an early age, Theo always had a sense of their own creativity, revealing: “I think I always wanted to pursue something creative, but having so many different interests and influences, it took me a while to pinpoint exactly what it would look like.” Theo’s debut, Homebody, began life as a poem, evolving into a short comic that explored the relationship Theo felt towards their body. This helped form the idea for a central motif for the book which whilst specific and personal to Theo’s experiences, also has a universality. “The metaphor for the book is the difference between a house and a home and the importance of finding a sense of home in yourself. This metaphor gave me a clear framework for the book as I began to expand from a short comic to a full graphic novel.” Discussing its creation, Theo describes how they are “a very visual person so I carried around a sketchbook with me and would scribble down any ideas for images or parts of my experience I wanted to include and then later wrestled all of these into a storyboard. From this point, I worked digitally inking and colouring the pages.” Homebody is crafted using a very limited colour palette which contributes to its intimate feel. “I really enjoy working in a limited colour palette, I find that although you are placing more restrictions on yourself that it actually allows opportunity for thinking creatively within those limitations. I chose to work in pink and blue which are colours of the trans pride flag,
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