Panel - There is a poor-looking woman throwing up her arms. The fabric of her dress is flowing behind with the motion of her arms. A rooster sits atop a sphere in the bottom left corner. there are what look to be eggs in front of the woman and a body lying behind her.
Panel 2- A women (possibly from the first panel) is lying dead or unconscious on an operating table. there is person standing above the woman with some sort of tool. they are in a lab or study. the rooster is still at the bottom.
Panel 3- There is some kind of ritual burying of a women. there are two rooster-looking men standing on either side of the grave and a naked woman dancing with fabric at the end of the grave.
Panel 4- Further ritual seems to be taking place with two rooster men that seem to be discussing something and two bodies. there is ventricle or tree sprouting from the grave.
Panel 5- The ritual killing seems to have gone aery. Two roosters appear to have murdered a woman in her room and a rooster man is very upset to see this.
Panel 6- Two women are standing in a fire-lit room, one woman is either dancing or pushing against a dresser/wardrobe that is blocking a door that a rooster man is trying to get through.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Arrival
My first impression of this story is that it is beautifully illustrated, designed, and composed. I found it to be a very immersive reading experience, emotionally grabbing me and guiding me smoothly between panels.
I can see that Shaun Tan put a lot of care into not only showing what it was like to be an immigrant but also using tools to pull every reader into the protagonist's shoes and making them feel what it's like to be in a completely foreign world. His tools of no dialog, alien symbols, and fantasy environments and creatures worked to convey that idea in addition to making it more accessible to anyone of any age. Once the viewers are drawn in, Tan was then able to use the fantasy elements to represent a lot of serious tones and ideas without being off-putting.
Shaun Tan certainly achieved a lot by expressing a whole story without words, just as when a writer conveys mental images without the use of illustrations. However I hope that people don't get the impression that things like The Arrival are meant to eliminate the need for writers altogether because writing and illustrations have so many unique qualities and capabilities and neither could singlehandedly do all that the other can. This is why I believe that comics and graphic novels are such a great medium for story-telling because they can both come together to create a fully immersive experience in made up worlds.
I can see that Shaun Tan put a lot of care into not only showing what it was like to be an immigrant but also using tools to pull every reader into the protagonist's shoes and making them feel what it's like to be in a completely foreign world. His tools of no dialog, alien symbols, and fantasy environments and creatures worked to convey that idea in addition to making it more accessible to anyone of any age. Once the viewers are drawn in, Tan was then able to use the fantasy elements to represent a lot of serious tones and ideas without being off-putting.
Shaun Tan certainly achieved a lot by expressing a whole story without words, just as when a writer conveys mental images without the use of illustrations. However I hope that people don't get the impression that things like The Arrival are meant to eliminate the need for writers altogether because writing and illustrations have so many unique qualities and capabilities and neither could singlehandedly do all that the other can. This is why I believe that comics and graphic novels are such a great medium for story-telling because they can both come together to create a fully immersive experience in made up worlds.
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