The Arrival

Shaun Tan’s “The Arrival” is a great example of visual storytelling, using absolutely no words to tell a complicated and engrossing story. The main character is an immigrant freshly arriving in a strange and fantastic land, full of bizarre creatures and devices that are just as alien to us as they are to him. The sepia-tone visuals and “tattered-photo” look of the panels give a very vintage, 1930’s feel to the presentation. As the protagonist discovers the different facets of the setting, so do we, and it reinforces our suspension of disbelief to see a character just as confused and fascinated as we are a new development.
The overall theme is clearly immigration in general, with the protagonist at one point meeting a fellow immigrant who tells him of their story, drawing parallels to fleeing from war as giants with hoses suck up people in the streets. Throughout the story, the main character sends letters to his family as he waits for them to eventually arrive as well, and there is a great cyclical moment as his daughter then greets another new and confused arrival and shows them around, just as a stranger had done for him at the beginning, with his family now being in the position of experience.
"The Arrival" proves that you don’t need words or exposition to tell a cohesive story with complex themes, and this is driven by its fantastic and imaginative landscape and designs, extremely realistic rendering, and comparative real-world basis.