Tom Fowler pointlessly contributes some scratchy art that added nothing. None of the subplots went anywhere - the rickshaw driver was a half-assed attempt at romance, the uber-fan who might’ve done it, the two Aryan Brotherhood bikers who came out of nowhere - nor are any of the characters at all memorable or interesting. Pointless, contrived, dull, uninspired writing. Then nothing further happens until the final act when Mike happens to stumble across the actual murderer, who conveniently exposits enough to fill in all the necessary blanks just in time for the ending. There are no clues for the reader themselves to try and figure it out. There’s zero tension as you already know our protagonist - comics artist Mike - didn’t do it, and the cops don’t really think he did either. I could’ve forgiven some of that if the murder mystery was any good - and it wasn’t.
Also, as a lifelong comics fan myself, I’ve heard a lot of this ranting before so it came off as inane, repetitive and unoriginal. There’s definitely some weight behind it all as Van Lente has been a comics writer for many years, having written everything from his creator-owned indies to the heavyweight IPs of Marvel, but he focuses way too much on that aspect of the story to the point where it supplants it entirely. How creators back in the day got screwed, toxic fandoms, how underappreciated comics pros are, the crass commercialisation of San Diego Comic Con, blah blah blah. The book is less about the murder mystery as it is about Van Lente droning on about the comics industry. The real question is: who cares? Because Fred Van Lente’s novel The Con Artist is utter rubbish - a failed attempt at a nerd-flavoured murder mystery that only ever bores.
Some comics professional got murdered at San Diego Comic Con - whodunit?
0 kommentar(er)
