Commentary by Dan W.
Less a ‘back issue’ in the traditional sense this time, and more an overlooked graphic novel that you need to read. Should we rename this column for its next quarterly appearance? Let us know in the comments!*
One of the comic shopkeeper’s laments is when people pass on your recommendation in favor of Spawn or something. I mean, we do this for a living, maybe we know what the good reads are? No problem though, for every person that passed on Murder Falcon, or Lake of Fire, or Meltdown, or Scion, or Meridian, or Detective Comics #747, or Low, or Last Days of American Crime, or Love: The Tiger, or ‘A Mile in My Moccasins,’ or Batgirl: Year One, or Superman: American Alien, or Black Monday Murders, or Punisher: The End, or Planetary, or Transmetropolitan, or Gun Machine, or Paper Girls, or Ex Machina, or Fables, or ‘Unthinkable,’ or Lone Wolf and Cub, or JLA: Heaven’s Ladder, or Hot Lunch Special, or The Undertaking of Lily Chen, or This One Summer, another reader gave that book a chance and enjoyed it.
We’re not salty about it all.
So, The Sculptor. Thanks to a deal with death, David, the titular sculptor, can create any sculpture he can dream of, the caveat being that he now has only 200 days to live. Exploring questions of mortality, legacy, and what we are willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of art and love, The Sculptor is welcome introspection into the human condition in a medium usually filled with cataclysmic superhero battles and sci-fi weirdness. Author Scott McCloud is most widely known for his seminal Understanding Comics, a graphic novel thesis on the mechanics how comics “work.” The time between panels, representative imagery, flow of the page, etc. His knowledge of the form shows on every blue-toned page, pulling the reader along on David’s journey.
The Sculptor is highly recommended. Alternatively, the new issue of Spawn arrives May 29th.
*There is no comment section.
