Graphic Novelist Scott McCloud Will Debut 'The Sculptor' at Chicago Humanities Festival, 2/13

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) presents leading comics theorist, cartoonist, and author Scott McCloud on Friday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium (230 S Columbus Dr). The author of Understanding Comics and Making Comics comes to Chicago to discuss his first full length graphic novel, The Sculptor, with Co-Editor of Chicks Dig Comics Lynne Thomas. The program will include an opening performance by Chicago cartoonist and filmmaker Lyra Hill, with a book signing following the discussion. Tickets range from $5-15 and are currently on sale at chicagohumanities.org or via the CHF Box Office at 312-494-9509.

Scott McCloud comes to CHF to speak about his first full length graphic novel: The Sculptor (Feb. 3), an emotionally dense and visually magnificent graphic novel that deals with life, love, and the price of artistic greatness. A washed-up artist by the age of 25, David Smith makes a deal with death to fulfill his childhood wish--the ability to create anything he imagines with his bare hands. Now with only 200 days to live, David struggles with what to create as his final piece and discovering his true love at the eleventh hour does not make it any easier. Author Neil Gaiman hails The Sculptor as, "The best graphic novel I've read in years. It's about art, love, and why we keep on trying. It will break your heart."

An award-winning author and internationally recognized authority on comics and visual communication, McCloud's non-fiction book Understanding Comics won three Harvey Awards and gave insight into the history, meaning, and art of comics. In addition to his success of his non-fiction books and comic series Zot!, McCloud has shared his knowledge and hosted visual lectures at such respected locations such as Google, MIT, and Harvard.

McCloud's Feb. 13 program will be moderated by Lynne M. Thomas. Thomas is co-editor in chief and publisher of Uncanny Magazine. She co-edited the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords as well as Whedonistas and Chicks Dig Comics. She moderates the Hugo Award-winning SF Squeecast, a monthly science fiction/fantasy podcast, and contributes to the Verity! podcast. In her day job, she is the Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, where she is responsible for the papers of over 60 science fiction/fantasy authors.

"Like many other readers, I first truly understood comics as a unique storytelling medium through Understanding Comics," said Thomas. "It opened up a whole new world of sequential art to me. I'm absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to Scott about The Scupltor and the rest of his work for the Chicago Humanities Festival."

Lyra Hill will provide the opening entertainment for this program. A cartoonist, filmmaker, and performer, Hill created and organized the performative comics reading series Brain Frame between 2011 and 2014. Her 16mm films have screened locally and internationally, and her comics have appeared in alternative publications including Lumpen, Happiness, Chromazoid, and The Ladydrawers. Hill works as an educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and continues to project and perform her film and comics work around the country.

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