David Smith is giving hi life for his art-literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought. And discovering the love of his life at the eleventh hour isn’t making it any easier.

An instant classic and utter masterpiece Scott McCloud‘s The Sculptor is an amazing read that reflects on life, love, creativity, and death. The writing is almost poetic, and if you you’re not choked up by the end you have no heart.

With The Sculptor its clear McCloud has something important to say, and the story comes from his heart and personal experiences. From front to end, it reads like an intimate work.

The graphic novel is about realizing a dream, but also living life to the fullest. David is so focused on becoming a world famous sculptor, he overlooks the joy that’s in front of him during his final days on Earth. His choice is to decide how to leave a legacy, and it’s only too late before he realizes that fame might not be the right way to go about that.

The graphic novel is about obsession, and being too focused on something. I guarantee though, that once you pick up the graphic novel, you’ll quickly become obsessed with it, and not want to pick it down. While the graphic novel might be thick, it’s a breezy read, that’s beautiful art, a beautiful story, and a stand out already in the world of comics’ 2015 releases.

Story and Art: Scott McCloud
Story: 9.5 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review