The Con Artists: Luke Healey

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The spare art style suited the story well, and while this wasn't as hilarious as I was expecting, it was a good character study with some pretty funny moments. It’s worried Frank, not Giorgio, who asks this question, but almost immediately he begins to regret the offer. A funny, bittersweet story about Frank, a stand-up comedian with anxiety, who gets caught up in taking care of an estranged friend, Giorgio, while he recovers after being hit by a bus. The Con Artists is a graphic novel about mental health and friendship, with the backdrop of a comedy club - literally.

But I never found myself much caring about what happened to anyone - and I particularly didn't care for the higher concepts Luke Healy seemed determined to introduce. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it, but I did want a little more happening on a visual and emotionally expressive level.

The story is about Frank, who is trying (and failing) to make it as a stand-up comedian, a friend of Giorgio, who early on gets hit by a bus and needs support.

This is a much quieter, introspective story than a lot of Healy’s previous work, but it definitely has emotional layers that encourage further reflection after reading.Healy gives the characters space to breathe, to allow the reader the space to sit and think with them. Luke Healy's declaration in the beginning and the interruption later are thought-provoking and funny. It wants to be twisty, but its just a typical take on the stick in the mud being yanked out and waved about by a person with mysterious motives, dubious schemes, and/or mental health issues. Moving in with and caring for his estranged childhood friend quickly starts to chip away at Frank’s sense of self, as well as Giogio’s carefully curated online persona.