The Arrival by Shaun Tan is a pantomime comic, meaning there are no words. It is a beautiful silent comic. For pantomime comics to be successful, good storytelling skills are a necessity. The square frame, high attention to detail, and well thought out storyline helps the reader easily understand and enjoy the comic.
The drawings themselves are aesthetically pleasing. The realistic drawing of this fantasy world is intriguing because it looks like it could be believable. It must have taken Tan a good long while to complete the comic because of the amount of detail. Essentially, the frames in the comic are illustrations themselves, which is another plus. You could quite literally pluck out one of the images, frame it, hang it on a wall, and say it's done.
Personally, I find black and white illustrations or limited color images more appealing than anything else. The fact that Tan chose to keep his comic black and white in sepia tones adds a pleasing quality. The vintage or antique look allows the reader's eye to move comfortably and flow easily from frame to frame. It also allows the eyes to take in more information and appreciate his time spent on detail. Pictures of the past aren't normally in color, so the black and white illustrations are appropriate to the subject matter and storyline. They almost certainly done purposefully.
The storyline is clear and easy to understand, which is another reason why the comic is awesome and very successful. It doesn't just describe the story frame per frame but also leaves room for imagination in between the frames. The comic is all about immigration and learning how how to settle in a new world. A man travels to a new world, meets other immigrants like himself, adjusts to the lifestyle, then reunites with his family, and they all live happily ever after in the new world.
Overall, very good comic and I would highly recommend it.
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