The Con Artist

May 15, 2018
A roving comic-book artist loses his mentor, his nemesis, and his hope for a love life over the course of one Comic-Con, which threatens the loss of his freedom as well.Michael "Mike M" Miller thinks nothing of it when his comic-book character Violent Violet picks him up from the San Diego airport. After all, he's in town for Comic-Con, a celebration of comic books, where costumes are an essential part of the experience. It's a shame when Violet gives Mike the news that his longtime mentor and friend Benjamin Kurtz, aka Ben K, the creator of Mister Mystery, has died too suddenly to give Mike a chance to say goodbye. The news definitely makes Mike reflect on his own lifestyle. Since a breakup with his wife, Christine Black, a few years ago, Mike has become a nomad, traveling to different cities' Comic-Cons, drawing some custom illustrations for fans, and then shuffling off to the next venue. Even the people around Mike don't change from city to city. Though he hasn't been pleased to learn that Christine was supposed to be in San Diego, he especially hopes to avoid Danny Lieber, one of Atlas Entertainment's biggest hacks. Mike has never gotten over Christine's cheating on him with Danny, which added insult to injury after Danny tried to cut Mike's per-page rate. But Mike's hopes for reconciliation seem to be dashed by the news that Christine has moved on to another winner in current it writer Sebastian Mod. Christine's choice of partner may make Sebastian Mike's biggest enemy. But when Danny is murdered at the con, Mike becomes the obvious suspect anyway. If Mike didn't kill Danny, who did? Unless the cops find a more likely suspect, Mike may finally put down roots in a San Diego prison.Despite his signature fast pace and multifaceted, visually striking characters, Van Lente (Ten Dead Comedians, 2017) merges mystery and comics culture with mixed results and perhaps too many subplots. Tom Fowler's accompanying illustrations are accomplished, but the book format doesn't display them to best advantage.

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May 28, 2018
Van Lente follows 2017’s Ten Dead Comedians, a send-up of Agatha Christie, with a madcap mystery spoof set at Comic-Con. Comic book artist Mike Miller is on his way to San Diego, Calif., when he learns that his mentor, Ben K, to whom he was slated to present an award, has died. He’s devastated, but goes about setting up his table at Artists’ Alley. That night, after one too many drinks around the hotel pool, he spots his nemesis and former editor, Atlas Entertainment exec Danny Lieber, who stole his ex-wife, Christine. Mike attempts to punch Danny in the face, an act that makes him a suspect in Danny’s subsequent shooting death, which he finds out about the next morning via two obnoxious, wisecracking cops. News that Ben K’s studio was ransacked and that he had a lawsuit with Atlas leads Mike to suspect the two deaths might be connected. Mike’s efforts to prove his innocence keep the pages turning all the way to the surprising ending. Through the wryly amusing Mike, Van Lente offers an insider’s look into the gloriously geeky world of cons. Agent: Jason Yarn, Jason Yarn Literary Agency.

June 1, 2018
Since his less-than-amicable separation from his wife, comic-book artist Mike Miller lives a peripatetic life traveling from comic-con to comic-con. He's at the big one (San Diego, for those not in the know) when his nemesis and former editor ends up dead in spectacular fashion. Naturally, Mike is the primary suspect, and, in between drawing fan commissions and manning his table in Artists' Alley, he tries not only to track down his alibi but also to find the real murderer, and what he uncovers is far more insidious than he could have imagined. Van Lente, a veteran comic-book writer, leans on plenty of classic detective-story tropes and fills his novel with all the twists, turns, and red herrings you'd expect. The comic-con setting is jam-packed with insider details and commentary on geek and comics culture, with a lively combination of real people, companies, and media properties as well as fictional ones. Occasionally the setting overwhelms the plot, but comic-con devotees should get a kick out of the many, many Easter eggs Van Lente hides here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)