The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

The Sculptor
by Scott McCloud

Synopsis from Goodreads:

David Smith is giving his life for his art—literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought, and discovering the love of his life at the 11th hour isn't making it any easier!

This is a story of desire taken to the edge of reason and beyond; of the frantic, clumsy dance steps of young love; and a gorgeous, street-level portrait of the world's greatest city. It's about the small, warm, human moments of everyday life…and the great surging forces that lie just under the surface. Scott McCloud wrote the book on how comics work; now he vaults into great fiction with a breathtaking, funny, and unforgettable new work.

The Review

5/5 Stars

I LOVED this!


The story was tragic, beautiful, heartbreaking, humorous, hopeful


It made me think of times that I have said or I have heard other says “ I’d give my life to… or to be able to….. “ Would we really give our lives for something? David gives his life to be able to sculpt anything from anything. He’s completely down on his luck and he gets his wish and gets 200 hundred days to live. Even if that seems ideal what happens if your work still doesn’t get you the reputation you want to be known for? Unless he makes a reputation for himself to him he is just another David Smith… “ No not that one.” It also had me thinking about what people are taking out of their lives are we enjoying what we should be? Am I enjoying what I should be? We are all selfish in someway but in the end how will we feel about the choices that we made? Do we take enough time away from the work and our passions maybe to spend time with those that we love? Yet, will we achieve something that will make us memorable? Not just another name? Is there a balance that can be achieved? Might just be me but thats what I kept thinking about when I read it and even after I read it.

At first I was hoping he’d make this amazing art and make this huge name for himself and everyone would love him and he’d meet interesting people along the way and have a great 200 days but then he met Meg and I got to watch there romance unfold. For him it was instant when they finally got to be together we find out she has some demons. He of course stays with her and he seems to be good for her although he still couldn’t convince her to go on her meds. But he also wasn’t the best for her the more he got obsessive about his work the more she seemed to dive downward. At that point his days were becoming severely numbered and I just wished and hoped he’d focus on this relationship that he wanted so badly instead of pushing her aside for his work. I would like to think that if my days were numbered the people I love in my life would be my main focal point and not making a name for myself.


I found Meg and David to be flawed but wonderful characters that I enjoyed reading about. Even if their relationship was a work of fiction it was interesting, joyous and heartbreaking. The sculptors that David created I thought were wonderfully done and emotionally filled.



The ending was heartbreaking… beautifully heartbreaking.



The artwork with the blue, black and white tones I thought was eye capturing and pleasing and helped move the story along and backed up the emotions of the story ( does that make sense? It just all felt like it went together well).



I haven’t read many graphic novels or comics usually when I think of them I think of superheroes and action. This was an amazingly beautiful heart wrenching tragic story with well done artwork. If I had to recommend it to anyone it would be to anyone who enjoyed a beautiful story with flawed characters and wonderful artwork. You do not have to be a fan of graphic novels to enjoy this book.