I love this concept!! The art was well done, but there were some parts of the story that could've been written better. Like why is it 200 days? Why not a year? ( )

One of the best graphic novels I've ever read. McCloud shows mastery of two forms in this volume - graphic storytelling and tragedy.

Aesthetically, The Sculptor is really masterful, and I enjoyed it the more for having read McCloud's comics treatise, Understanding Comics. I loved how he used the city landscape to depict David's emotional landscape. There have been so many stories about artists set in New York City, but rarely do they evoke the city as completely as McCloud does - bringing it alive through the eyes of a tortured outsider. His character design is also incredibly excellent - he has a particular gift for spot-on facial expressions.

As an unflinching tragic fable about life and art and our pained, ill-advised, inspired attempts to make meaning out of them, this book was very moving. Tragedy doesn't always work for a modern reader - we get cranky about the characters' tragic flaws and wish they would only problem-solve their way out of the abyss. McCloud's characters, however, were too carefully drawn and his story too profound for me to read David Smith's story with anything but a sense of doomed inevitability.

This is a big, big story about art and existentialism. It is probably Scott McCloud's masterpiece - but it's the first work of his fiction I've read, so I look forward to reading his backlog and what he creates next. ( )

Trite, superficial and mawkish. Disappointing. A young artist, on the brink of failure, is (kinda) saved by a pixie dream girl and a mysterious uncle figure. There were some opportunities to explore the nature of art, the drive to create it, the tensions between art and commerce, etc., etc., but McCloud did nothing interesting with them. I guess this should come as no surprise to anyone who's read the 'Art' chapter in Understanding Comics. On a side note, the fictional works of art depicted in the book looked ludicrous — I realise it is difficult to create items which are meant to be art in a visual work (if they were convincing they would be works of art in their own right), but those on show in this book were particularly unconvincing. The side swipes at Dean Koontz are a little embarrassing in context. That said, the actual art on the page was good and very effective in places. And I have no idea what Neil Gaiman could have been reading to describe this as the best graphic novel he's read in years. Oh well, rant over. ( )

Fantastic. A masterpiece of work.

Randomly my mind was comparing the protagonist, Mr. Smith with the Agent Smith of Matrix. Both the Smith’s wants to be seen and recognised. Both of the can morph things magically. Both of them want relief and escape from the mundane. But Mr. Smith is more endearing and charming than Agent Smith.

I loved the art work. It’s gorgeous and mesmerising. It’s from Scott McCloud, who is an OG of the graphic novel art form. No wonder I had such an awesome and high feeling reading this. If you are graphic novel lover, I highly recommend this book. You will thank me later. ( )

Sculptor David Smith was once a prodigy and a darling of the New York art scene. Now people have lost interest in his work, his abrasive nature has alienated the people that used to champion him, and he is incapable of producing anything.


At his lowest ebb, he encounters an old man at a diner, who turns out to be the devil. He is asked what would he give to have his art back and he responds "my life". He makes a deal; the devil gives him the ability to sculpt anything he wants with his bare hands, but he only has 200 days left to live.


David frenetically seeks to take advantage of this gift and make a name for himself before his time is up. This proves to be less than straightforward; while he can create things that nobody else can, the art world is still dismissive of the results. Complicating matters is that he meets the love of his life, the fragile aspiring actress Meg, and is torn over starting a relationship that he knows can only bring her grief.


This is a sad and beautiful graphic novel. It's quite a clever variation of the Faustian bargain plot, with just a little bit of the Pygmalion myth thrown in. Highly recommended. ( )