Week 1, The Arrival

My first impressions of the graphic novel The Arrival by Shaun Tan was that I liked the fact that there weren't words such as speech bubble or paragraphs so I could interact with the illustrations more and let them tell the story. The illustrations were outstanding and they tell the story very well. They keep on track of what they are telling and I don't get lost, plus I like the fact that the illustrations are realistic and not too cartoony or have that comic book feel to it. The artist's style is to imitate old photographs that had that brown-ish hue. I like the arrangement of the panels. For example, some pages have 1 big image, but other pages have up to 12 smaller images. I like the detail in the smaller images such as the hands holding the paper crane. But my favorite is the double-page spread with the crowd of more modern-day looking people looking out at the city skyline. However, he inserts two giant ancient figures who look like they come from a folk tale.

What really carries this story well and actually has it make scenes is the way the illustrator is conveying the emotions and the body language. For example, the despair on the man's face in the first part of the story is heartbreaking even though no words are being told what's happening, you can see it in his face. But later on, he meets a new family and his emotion starts to change for the better. The best part of all is that he makes enough money to bring his family to him. The author gives a satisfying ending when the daughter gives help to another new immigrant