The Sculptor

When an artist makes a deal with death to have incredible power of his art medium in exchange he only has 200 days to live. An incredible and emotional journey about his artistic struggles and his day to day life. This book can get pretty sad as the character becomes desperate. Be prepared this can be an emotional read. ~Ashley

Holy shit. Tears were running down my face. I can't remember when a book did that to me.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this graphic novel, from its art to its storytelling, but the characters kept me from ever fully connecting with the story. David is every self-insert tortured artist I've ever read about, and I just found him unpleasant above all else. Meg is the manic pixie dream girl archetype that exists to “fix” the male lead, which is especially disappointing considering the potential she had to be an interesting character. Some of the supporting cast is interesting, but this story isn't about them. The Sculptor feels like the work of an excellent visual storyteller through and through, and that's the only reason I didn't dislike this book as much as I could have.

Hmm... I know a lot of people really loved this one, but I felt kind of like... I saw this when it was called Garden State?

The art is beautiful, and I enjoyed reading it, but it felt a little... melodramatic. Honestly, since so many people I know loved this one, I've kind of been overanalyzing it, like “is it supposed to be a satire of a manic pixie dream girl? Is it supposed to be a parody?” but I don't... think it is?

¯_(ツ)_/¯

This was a pretty heavy graphic novel, and by that I don't just mean that this is the longest one I've read so far. Although, that is absolutely true. This thing is a tome. What's inside it though, is a story with a lot of emotion. The Sculptor doesn't take itself lightly and, if this is on your reading list, you'll want to be prepared.

David Smith, a man with a name that could get lost in a crowd of similarly named people, simply wants to show his art to the world. There's a lot of good stuff in here about creating art, who it is created for, and whether it matters how much of an impact it makes on the world. This is the portrait of an artist who feels he has failed. Who knows that he has the capability, and wants his shot so badly that he's willing to give up everything. Even his life.

Cue our female lead, and the reason that David's whole planned out deal falls into disarray. Meg is the exact opposite of David. Compulsive, carefree, and living life with her whole heart on her sleeve. What ends up happening between them isn't always pretty. It's real life, and that's why it's so important to see that on a page. We love romance, we love happy endings, but sometimes we forget the things that happen in between all of that,

These panels are perfection, too. The art that David creates comes to life on the page. His city, the one filled with thousands of nameless people, stretches across full page spreads and looms over everything. I admit I'm pretty biased, because I love Scott McCloud, but that doesn't change the fact that this graphic novel is excellent.

The man who literally wrote the book on comics and graphic novels ([b:Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels 60113 Making Comics Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427577266s/60113.jpg 58487], [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art 102920 Understanding Comics The Invisible Art Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328408101s/102920.jpg 2415847], and [b:Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form 60116 Reinventing Comics How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440618749s/60116.jpg 154633]) has proven, if there had been a shred of doubt, that he can also just as literally simply write a very good book. Poor David Smith–no, not that David Smith; the other David Smith–has had a life I wouldn't wish on an enemy. Death, stolen success, and failure have been his story, and, since our secular culture can think of nothing worse and no better way to measure failure, he is also a vir.... a vvvvr.... virg... sorry, I can't even bring myself to type the word, it seems to be so dreadful a condition. In the very depth of his misery he is given a gift beyond compare, but his use of that gift is up to him. We watch him succeed, only to have that success snatched away. We watch him fail. Mostly, we watch a man who wants, who yearns so mightily, whose inner artist screams for release, but who doesn't know quite what it is he wants. His failure is legitimate; it is not just because bitter hacks refuse to acknowledge his greatness. Their criticisms are right: he is unfocused, immature, insubstantial. His salvation--by way of true love--could have been as gagging as a finger down the throat, but it did not feel that way. It seemed to me honest and realistic. And the fore-ordained end--his death and his true love's death--was a relief. I dreaded a last minute reprieve, a gooey sop thrown to the sentimentality of the reader, but McCloud didn't do that. God bless him. David died; Meg died; I'm going to die (maybe today, who knows?). I am so grateful I took my co-workers suggestion and read this book.

This was just ok. Great illustrations, great concept, but the story was very, very thin.