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Posted 20 hours ago

The Con Artists: Luke Healey

£8.495£16.99Clearance
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This was an interesting concept and the simple art style was nice, but it just didn’t quite do it for me.

But perhaps that is more accurate to a certain experience of life, where one is saying one thing and feeling so, so much of another thing.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. Healy’s bittersweet portrayal of a troubled friendship is full of finely observed detail and deadpan humour, but it’s also a deeply felt exploration of happiness, trust and the lies we tell our friends and ourselves.

Frank (the standup comedian who is the book’s narrator) and Giorgio were friends as children, and on paper they’re very similar: both Irish in London, both gay and both single. The most enjoyable aspect of this book for me were Healy's illustrations, which were really charming.

A lot of the story made me feel uncomfortable, which isn't a bad thing in a story about a toxic relationship and dealing with mental health issues. I also enjoyed witnessing Frank and Giorgio's dynamic which felt like an accurate portrayal of how people like Frank are manipulated by people like Giorgio.

The con here goes both ways, one rather obvious to whomever is not the main character, and one much subtler, revealed awkwardly in one panel. Frank only wanted three things this year- to perform stand-up comedy, go to therapy, and to keep his house plants alive.Healy's depiction of toxic and manipulative relationships and how those relationships end is familiar and as we know relationships even mostly onesided ones often don't end in a way we find satisfying. As Frank moves in with Giorgio to help him recover, he begins to suspect that the perfect life Giorgio has been sharing online may be nothing more than a web of lies and scams.

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