More Options Than Those Shown in "The Sculptor"

            The graphic novelist Scott McCloud has created a bunch of work that I have enjoyed. He’s probably most famous for his book “Understanding Comics,” which deals with the history and influence of the medium. McCloud also wrote his own take on the superhero genre called “Zot!” which is a pretty fun series in my opinion. Along with creating good stories and bringing forth information in a fun and accessible way, he has a good art style. So back in 2015, when his latest graphic novel “The Sculptor” came out, I was looking forward to it. When I picked it up from the local library I was excited to read it.

            I think it could have been better.

Spoiler Alert

            The idea for the story itself is actually pretty intriguing. The graphic novel tells the tale of a man in his twenties named David Smith who is an aspiring sculptor. He’s struggling to not only get his career on the map, but also to survive and thrive financially in New York City. His work isn’t selling or even getting noticed and he has to deal with a thug of a landlord in his apartment.

            As if that wasn’t enough, David Smith is the only surviving member of his immediate family. His father died in a plane accident. His mother died of cancer. And his sister was sick her entire life and died as well. As far as David is concerned, the only thing he has that is worth living for is his art.

            One day David Smith meets a man who looks just like his late uncle (and also like comic book legend Stan Lee in my opinion). It turns out that this is the personification of Death. Death suggests that maybe he should move upstate, start a family, and have a more stable career. The very idea of leading such an ordinary existence is too much to bear for our young hero. He’s also haunted by his late father’s lack of success as a writer, and is afraid of following in his footsteps. So Death makes him an offer. He will have the power to sculpt anything he wants magically, with as much skill as possible, but in exchange he will die in two hundred days (not even a year!). Seeing nothing else to live for, David takes the deal.

            David Smith finds himself magically able to turn materials around him, from bricks to concrete to whatever else happens to be in his vicinity, into amazing statues and sculptures. While this should be a dream come true for our protagonist, it’s not. He shows off his amazing new works of art to his best friend and art gallery assistant Ollie; while he’s impressed by his sculptures, he points out why they wouldn’t be commercial in the art world. He’s also violently kicked out of his apartment by his thug of a landlord.

            After being both homeless and hopeless for a few days, David Smith is taken in by an actress/bicycle courier named Meg (he had meet her earlier in the book). One thing leads to another, and they fall in love. While David Smith continues to make sculptures with magic, he begins to question his deal with Death. After awhile, Meg reveals that she’s pregnant with David’s child, and when she suggests moving upstate to the suburbs together, it doesn’t sound like such a bad deal anymore.

            Before David Smith is scheduled to die, his new love and his unborn child get hit by a truck while crossing the street, and instantly die. On the last day of his life on Earth, David Smith enters a construction site, and uses the last of his cursed powers. He creates a giant nude statue of his love holding a baby, and then dies in front of a crowd of hundreds.

            Here’s my main issue with the story. I’m not against tragedies at all. As much as I love a happy ending, I understand that some stories just need to be tragic; there are some stories out there that would feel off if they had a sudden happy ending. But I felt that “The Sculptor” was needlessly tragic.

            I think I can understand why David Smith would feel like he had nothing else to live for but his art. His entire immediate family has died. It can be tough enough for a person to deal with one person in their family dying. He’s also seen firsthand his own father not quite making it as an artist.

            But I feel like he was looking at his options in life in a very binary way. Death said earlier (I’m paraphrasing), “Well you can either go upstate and start a family in the suburbs, or stay here in New York City and be a struggling, starving artist.” At this point in the tale, David Smith didn’t want to resign himself to what he considered to be the boring old suburbs. I feel that there had to be another option for this man.
            David Smith is a man who is working towards a career in the arts, which requires a ton of imagination. And yet our main character has practically no imagination when it comes to what to actually do with his own life. He feels that his only options are being a starving artist (and hopefully making it), moving to a dull life in the suburbs of upstate New York (the idea of living in the suburbs of another state doesn't even cross his mind), or death.

            If David Smith didn’t want to live in upstate New York, perhaps he could have at least moved out of New York City, which is pretty expensive from my understanding. I get that there’s a major art scene there, but maybe he could have found someplace else to continue to do his art. Maybe someplace that would not only be a lot less expensive, but also could perhaps inspire his art in new ways.

            Maybe David Smith could have also gone abroad. Maybe he could have, say, earned his TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certificate and gotten a job teaching English abroad (which is what I’ve been lucky enough to have done). Maybe he continues to work on his art when he’s not either working or traveling, and gets new perspectives for it. Maybe he meets local artists and learns from them, picking up new techniques and skills. And maybe he learns to expand his life in new ways beyond his art.

            I just feel like a much different and better resolution could have been made, something other than both him and his newfound love dying needlessly. Maybe David Smith could have still made the deal with Death, but somehow found a way to get out of it, like perhaps a new deal, or some sort of loophole. Again, I feel like David Smith was looking at the choices in his life in a very limited and binary way. While I think the author of the book was trying to give a message of the value of life, I feel like he could have done a better job by showing David Smith discovering more options for his life.

Note: If you'd like to check out my fantasy novel "The Princess of Infinite Tomorrows," you can currently do so at https://princessofinfinitetomorrows.blogspot.com/.