I decided to take a run at it several years ago, and in the end, it took five years to finish.

I shied away from it a bit, because I've been trying to move away from power fantasy stories, and this is almost like a superhero story, because there's a sort of superpower, but I liked the story and it kept tugging at me. What took so long for it to come to fruition?Ī: The basic idea I had for decades. Q: I read you had the idea for 'The Sculptor' for a long time. I'd like people to discover the joy of reading with my story. Above all, I'd like it to be a good story. Q: What message are you hoping to convey in 'The Sculptor?'Ī: With my books, people usually discuss the big themes of the book and what it has to say about art and life and death and love, but the message I would really like to get out is that my first job - the most important when I started tackling this thing - is to make it a good page-turner. 'He's a legend in the industry, and with this being his first graphic novel, it's a huge deal in the comics world,' she said.Īhead of the gig, McCloud chatted with the LSJ about the evolution of 'The Sculptor,' the power of social media and what he hopes people take away from his latest work. 'I am beyond geeked for this event, because I used Scott's books 'Understanding Comics' and 'Reinventing Comics' as sources for my dissertation,' said Whitney Spotts, who is the author events coordinator at Schuler and also has a master's degree in 20th century literature from Goldsmiths, University of London. McCloud makes a stop on his book tour Monday at Schuler Books & Music in the Eastwood Towne Center. As anyone from Michigan knows, if you're going to tell someone where you're from, the hand comes in handy. 'Also, there's a repeating hand motif in the book. 'I liked the idea of him coming from a university town,' McCloud told the LSJ. He says having Smith come from mid-Michigan 'just felt right.' No, McCloud doesn't have any Lansing ties. The story takes place in New York, but Smith comes from the Lansing area. However, on the flip side of that, he will only have 200 days to live. The book's protagonist, David Smith, is given the power to sculpt anything he wants with his hands by the grim reaper. McCloud's new graphic novel, 'The Sculptor,' is a striking read about love, death and sacrifices made in the pursuit of great art. It helped explain why comics have such a loyal, passionate following. 'Understanding Comics,' his work of graphic non-fiction, offered a friendly breakdown of the complexity veiled in simple comic strips. Scott McCloud changed the comic book world forever in 1994.

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