My Summer Lair Chapter #8: Who Is The Sculptor?
“I measure books in how much they inconvenience people.” Scott McCloud reveals his charming metric for success: basically a book butterfly effect or as he eloquently chuckles: “a widening radius of disaster.” Which is the infectious irony of The Sculptor.
You stay up way past your bedtime to read a graphic novel about a sculptor whose time is limited…he’s only got 200 days of life left and you’ve got only so many hours to get a decent night’s sleep. Something to think about next time somebody is cranky at work: maybe they didn’t get enough sleep because they’re enthralled with a page turner.
As Scott attests in our conversation The Sculptor is a story about an Artist terrified about being forgotten. This Artistic life is such an immense privilege…not only do we get to create but we’re granted the opportunity to contribute to a medium we love and possibly–if it all works out well–get recognized, valued and remembered for our significant contributions.
Lots of people make music but there’s only 1 Prince, yeah? Lots of people write novels but there’s only 1 Neil Gaiman. So what happens to the dreaded rest…so many novels are published each month; sadly most of them are binned. Was that always their fate?
And yet with the internet will any of us be forgotten or will we always exist in some form?
Just like a superhero Scott’s optimism appears out of nowhere. He sees potential and possibilities while admitting there’s a morbid quality to promise.
We conclude our conversation with Scott’s simple but not easy edict: “Make great comics.”
Scott McCloud @ W • T • F
Host & Photography Sammy Younan
Recorded: Friday May 8, 2015 at 1:30pm
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