Review: The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

I first came across this book just shortly after it's release. I was processing it to be put on the shelves at the college library I work in. I had glanced at this book more than a few times, and it piqued my interest.  I had not heard of the author at the time, and now realize that he is the writer of Understanding Comics. I now wonder if he took what he learned while writing that and applied it to this work.  Of course a few months had gone by before I finally decided to pick it up and read it.

My first impression upon delving into its pages I was thinking that it might be just another overly hyped book that everyone is raving about but not really worthy of the high ratings that everyone seemed to give it.  The artwork is not that impressive, and is minimally colored in Shades of blues and greys. The scenes are almost cinematic in the way they are laid out and the story is quite fast paced.  Even though the beginning was slow, and it had some silly parts I decided to push on just so I could see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't till I got about halfway when the main character meets Meg that I started to see just why this book had charmed so many.

This book made me feel a variety of emotions upon reading it. I will admit that it is very emotionally charged, and can see why so many have become speechless by the power of this book. It is a read that is intended for mature audiences, and I would not recommend children viewing it, as it does contain graphic scenes, and ideas. A song by the Rolling Stones seemed to some up a theme that I got from this graphic novel, and I will link the video below. This is a very poweful story about the hunger, and drive of a struggling artist, and how he wants more than anything to be remembered and to make his mark in the world. I did get the feeling that  the author was writing about himself and people in his life( if you read the afterword it reveals how some of the characters were developed). I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and if you want to read a thought provoking and emotional story then this is the one for you.  Even if you don't usually read graphic novels, and don't let the size of this intimidate you I read it rather quickly in just a few days.