The Arrival

This comic to me was absolutely amazing. I had never read a comic before that did not have words accompanying it and thought it would be a little hard to decipher and follow. Shaun Tan proved me completely wrong. The was he moves you through the panels is almost seamless. It took me into another world and another dimension and perception of reality. Totally immersed I found myself caught not wanting to put it down for even a moment. Shaun Tan just simply seems to put you in the protagonists shoes and carries you through an amazing adventure. You feel what he feels and you almost seem to go along with everything around him.

To be able to express a full story in with full meaning and feeling is quite a feet without any dialog. Shaun Tan completely captivates you and immerses you in with the creatures, environments, and symbols to pull you along without even the slightest need for speech and verbal presence. The creatures by far were my favorite, especially since I absolutely love to come up with other worldly characters that are not apart of this reality. They just held so much character and personality within them. Which is something I want to convey with my own character designed creatures.

Simply stated, this sequence of panels totally opened up my eyes to what I perceived to a comic book to be. It was not the general super hero comic where you are put in a situation and told exactly what was going in. Shaun Tan lures you in and carries you through an adventure where you imagination gets to roam freely. To contemplate what is going to happen next and never wanting it to end.