Gods' Man: A Novel in Woodcuts #[nn]
In "I. The Brush," Lynd Ward’s haunting woodcut narrative unfolds with quiet intimacy: a father and child share a life of simple joy, their bond deepened by a shared love of painting. When a mysterious stranger returns with a magical brush, the artist is drawn into a fateful portrait session—only to confront a chilling truth as the mask slips and the cost of artistic ambition becomes horrifyingly clear. The story, rendered entirely in Ward’s masterful woodcuts, is a stark, silent meditation on creation, temptation, and the price of genius.
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The family lives happily together; father and child both paint. At length the artist is thrilled to see his old friend, the mysterious stranger who provided him with that marvelous brush. The artist cheerfully leaves his family and paints the stranger's portrait. But as the artist paints, the stranger removes a mask. The stricken artist plunges into the abyss while the stranger retrieves his brush, finally revealing that his true face is a death's head.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).