Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics broke down comics into the most basic aspects. When reading comics I don't usually think of the ideas that were talked about in the reading. Ideas such as how we interpret the meaning of two image sequences based on how they could relate, as well as how well we really can understand such basic elements into a human form. By telling the reader how to understand comics in a comic book, it made it a lot easier to read and understand. It also helps to get used to reading a story in comic book form, so you can follow the frames in the correct sequence, among other things.

The Rooster

1. The person standing on one leg is making fun of the person on the floor.
2. The rooster is at a funeral of the person who was on the floor.
3. The roosters and the woman are preforming a ritual on the girl.
4. The woman who was with the roosters has fallen to the ground, maybe dead or just asleep.
5. The rooster is hiding her, and is maybe upset or happy.
6. The rooster returns to try again on different people.

The Arrival

     Telling stories is done in a number of ways. The one way people don't think of as often is by using just pictures, such as in The Arrival. As it has been said many times before, no matter what language you speak, pictures don't need a translation and are universal. By showing a series of images in sequence you can make the reader or viewer infer what's happening based on, in The Arrival's case, showing important, personal items being packaged up, you can infer that the person is moving. Tan does a good job of explaining why, while continuing the story line as well. As the main character is shown leaving the city it shows what looks to be an evil dragon tail within the dark city, which makes it seem like a bad, scary place. When he arrives at the new place, he goes through a sort of immigration process, and is assigned living quarters. I could tell this based on the check-ups he went through, the paper work he was given, and my general knowledge of how new immigrants could be admitted into a new country. He goes through a hard time transitioning into this new way of life, including getting a job. You can see this from the multiple panels of him talking to people in different parts of town, who all have somewhat sad and apologetic facial expressions. After he starts to settle in he mails his family but doesn't hear from them for a couple years. By showing a leaf in different each of the different seasons in progression, you could then infer that it has been a while until anything happens. When he gets the letter he runs out of the door to meet his loved ones who join him in this new, better city. Based on all the visual clues and hints, Shaun Tan made the story easy to understand and follow. Being able to tell a story without words is an interesting and effective way of engaging a reader in a story and making them get more connected to the characters.