History ComicBook / TheSculptor

* [[invoked]]NamesTheSame:
** The first chapter is called "The Other David Smith". David gets confused with the ''other'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Smith_%28sculptor%29 David Smith]], RealLife Abstract Expressionist sculptor, and becomes quite irate with a waitress who mistakes him for the real-life David Smith, who ''also'' shares his name with her cousin.
** During David's darkest hour, he looks up his name in a phone book and sees ''dozens'' of David Smiths, making himself feel even more insignificant.
** After the protagonist becomes wanted by the law, the detective assigned to the case is... Detective David Smith. He admits that he was put on this case as a joke by his coworkers.
*** [[spoiler: This becomes poignant at the very end, as CNN accidentally report that the detective has fallen to his death. The last line of the book is Detective Smith's wife saying "David! Oh, thank god...[[MeaningfulEcho you're alive]]." This mirrors what Meg said after feeling David's heartbeat earlier in the book after they both almost fall to their deaths.]]

* PlotArmor: Averted; David can die before his 200 day deadline arrives; having a death clock doesn't make him immortal until time's up. [[spoiler:He dies on day 195 after being shot by an NYPD cop]]. No one else is safe either, [[spoiler:not even Meg.]]

* ExperimentedInCollege: A lame joke from David accidentally reveals that Meg's roommate Sam had a lesbian experience with her. Sam is still bitter that it was only a one night stand, Meg apologizing that she was just very drunk that night.

* InformedJudaism: Both David are Meg are secular Jews. It doesn't affect their lives much, except that they celebrate Passover and Hanukkah.

* ShoutOut: A banner outside the art museum reads [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants "Meet James Ensor"]].

* AffablyEvil: Death, who is both friendly and comforting to David even though he's a (mostly) unfeeling force, and probably the closest to the story's BigBad.

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* ReallyGetsAround: Meg's roommates chuckle at one point that she's slept with all of them at some point. David quips that Sam (a girl) is probably not among that group, only to find Meg tapped her too. However, while Meg's guy friends are more amused by her history, Sam is resentful about it.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Death appears as David's great-uncle Harry, as he took over his life when he died in a war and lived a mortal life through him. When he shows David non-existence, however, this falters and his [[GlamourFailure real, skeletal hand can be seen.]]

* EverybodysDeadDave: David lost his entire family before the beginning of the story.

* MagicallyBindingContract: David can bend any material with his bare hands and sculpt whatever he can imagine, but on two conditions; firstly, he has no more than 200 days left to live; and secondly, [[spoiler:every time he tells someone about the deal, he loses a further three days of his life.]]

* ReallyGetsAround: Meg's roommates chuckle at one point that she's slept with all of them at some point. David quips that Sam (a girl) is probably not among that group, only to find Meg tapped her too. However, while Meg's guy friends are more amused by her history, Sam is resentful about it.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:If you think Death qualifies as a "[[BlueAndOrangeMorality bad guy]]".]]
* TheLastDJ: David refuses to filter himself or his art to make it more appealing to critics and investors. However, this results in constant poverty and a lack of recognition.

* AnAesop: When you die, you're gone forever, but that doesn't mean life is meaningless. No matter how mediocre or average your life is, that doesn't matter as long as you live it.

* CessationOfExistence: Death shows David this, represented as two pages of blank white paper. David is horrified by the vision, but all he saw was nothing, as his mortal mind can't comprehend itself the absence of itself.

** A streetcrosser David and Death spot early on day dies when a scaffolding falls on him.

* PlotArmor: Averted; David can die before his 200 day deadline is up; having a death clock doesn't make him immortal until time's up. [[spoiler:He dies on day 195 after being shot by an NYPD cop]]. No one else is safe either, [[spoiler:not even Meg.]]

** Much of Meg's traits that resemble MPDG quirks [[https://twitter.com/ivyratafia/status/567548867109867521 are actually are based on traits of McCloud's own wife Ivy]]. He also responded to the criticism in several interviews, mirroring Nathan Rabin's response that the problem isn't quirky female characters, it's female characters who are nothing but quirks.

* MagicallyBindingContract: David can bend any material with his bare hands and sculpt whatever he can imagine, but on two conditions; firstly, he has no more than 200 days left to live; and secondly, [[spoiler:every time he tells someone about the deal, he loses a further three days off the deal.]]

But just as things are at their darkest, David (inadvertently at first) makes a deal with Death itself: to have the ability to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. Of course, such a deal comes with a price: namely, David will die in exactly 200 days.

* DyingDream: InUniverse, Death indulges that when he has to kill a person, he learns everything there is to know about the soon-to-be-deceased. This operates both ways, giving the dying person a [[MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes full, final look through their life]]

* {{Gayngst}}: [[spoiler:Ollie, who admits he doesn't care Finn is using him to further his career because he finds the alternative is DyingAlone.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: Whenever someone is about to die, Death receives detailed information about the person's life. That way, they can see their life flash before their eyes before they die.
* ChessWithDeath: {{Subverted}} - Death's "vessel", David's late uncle Harry, liked chess, but Death isn't a fan. He's still pretty good at it, though, and beats David in every game, [[spoiler:except for their last.]]

'''Death''': [[BeatPanel (beat)]] What would you give for your art, David?\\
'''David''': (beat) I'd give my life.

* InformedJudaism: Both David are Meg are secular Jews. It doesn't effect their lives much, except that they celebrate Passover and Hanukkah.