The Arrival by Shaun Tan

When I first read the Comic The Arrival by Shaun Tan, I was confused and amazed at the same time. I confused because this is my first time reading the whole comic book without any text at all. This type of comic is very different than any other comic or manga that I have been reading all my life. At the same time, I was amazed, because as I progressed reading this book, I began to understand the story in this comic, even without words, I can clearly see what is going on and follow the story quite well. It really shows how one picture worth thousands words. 

Although to be honest, some of the pictures are quite nondescript like these sequential images of sky. At first I didn’t really understand on what are these sequential images because it was small and the shape was quite abstract, later I realized that those are the images of the clouds and sky. I guess it shows how time flew by? If that was the case, it is pretty interesting how the artist decided to draw a bunch of different sky instead of the calendar or any other object to give more specific information maybe?

However other than that, some of the panels are easy to follow like this panel at the bottom. It is really easy to read as if I'm watching a movie. Here in this page we can see the action are depicted step by step as the protagonist landed on the new land, he open the door, and go out to the new land. Even the action of him looking around the new land, really make us immerse in the characteristic of the protagonist and be sympathetic on him. 

Another point that really intrigues me is the environments that are depicted in this comic. Comic without a word is already a challenge by itself, the artist take it to a whole level by introducing a whimsical set of environment that really makes it a challenge to explain that without words. However, Shaun Tan approaches the challenge with a step by step action, which makes it becomes so much clear on what is going on. And because of that, it makes us even believe that the protagonist really struggle living in a new environment with all of the new gadgets that he has never seen.

Reading this comic has been a pleasant ride, the story and the art is really interesting and beautiful. Not only that, the sequential drawing throughout the comic makes it really an easy read. I can’t wait to see another comic with this style.