Arriving with The Arrival

I think this piece was a great way to start the semester off because it was light, fun, interesting, and a bit different.

What I was wondering though was the difference between a picture book versus a graphic novel or comic. The Arrival seemed more like a picture book at first because it mainly consists of pictures. I found it genius how Tan uses symbols on signs and such instead of using words.

I wasn't really expecting a wordless book since the only comics that I've read have words and deal with superheroes, or a little boy that needs to go to Slumberland to defeat the Nightmare King. I've never followed any comics or graphic novels religiously like so many of my friends do, but if I find one that catches my interest I have no problem sitting down and reading one. It usually takes me longer to read these than an actual novel, which I think is odd. I'm not sure why but that's just the way it's always been for me.



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In-Class Ernst Story
Translation of Panels

Panel 1

Elements: rooster, sphere, woman on one leg, bowl of eggs
Seems like the woman is doing some sort of bird-like pose or dance in the street with some odd-shaped lump in the background. The rooster on the sphere seems unimpressed or mocking

Panel 2
Elements: man (either a winged creature or in a costume), woman laying on a table, rooster
The weird man is looming over the woman who appears either dead or asleep. The rooster watches on

Panel 3
Elements: men with rooster heads, woman in a coffin, naked woman in background (still holding dress), upside-down cross
The rooster-headed man on the left has wings that look mechanical, which they both loom over a woman in a coffin in the ground. The rooster present in every panel is not just a rooster anymore, but rather growing in size and importance


Panel 4
Elements: reclining woman on a slab with a skull and crossbones, another reclining woman in background on an alter-like surface, naked man on pillar, rooster man, rooster woman?
There are way more figures now than in the previous panels. There are naked women reclining and now even a naked man that's high in the frame with no head showing. The rooster people in the middle (can't tell if one's a female or not), seem like they're in conversation

Panel 5
Elements: bedroom scene, rooster man in door way (yay! pose), dead woman on floor with blood pool, rooster on bed and rooster on floor
This looks like a murder scene but you're thrown off by the present of roosters in the bedroom. What were they doing there? Did THEY kill the woman? The man seems to be cheering or excited by the pose so I assume that he's happy about her death.

Panel 6
Elements: rooster, fireplace?, clothed woman, clothed man
The man in the piece is at an awkward angle like he's been hung by his arm. The woman is looking on, very uncaring. The rooster is not as noticeable in this piece as the others since it's half hidden along the wall.

Overall
I found it interesting how in most of the panels, the roosters appear to be with someone who is either dead or sleeping. Especially since roosters are traditionally used to wake people up.

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