Between the Panels

Closure in comics can be achieved in several different ways. Scott McCloud categorizes six methods in his book, 'Understanding Comics.' They are: moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, aspect-to-aspect, and non-sequitur. These different methods help control the pacing of the story and how much closure the reader must provide.

The first method listed requires very little closure. It is barely used in Western comic books, making only slight appearances. By far the most popular transition is action-to-action, usually taking up a minimum of 50% of all panel transitions in a single comic book. They require the reader to fill in a bit of information between the panels. Action-to-action transitions can convey the same amount of information as moment-to-moment in far less cells. They make appropriate jumps that the reader can easily follow. Subject-to-subject transitions make slightly bigger jumps while scene-to-scene can either cover very long periods of time or show another scenario happening simultaneously in a different location. Aspect-to-aspect transitions show snippets or varied angles of one scene, such as a party, kitchen, or campground for example. They focus heavily on the environment and are popular in Japanese comics. The last method, non-sequitur, is almost never used. There is absolutely no logical relationship between panels with this transition. The underlying meaning between cells requires a lot of searching.

Sequential art must be looked at as a complete work, with an overriding identity that the reader can understand. The gutter continuously connects the panels and is responsible for the flow of the story just as much as what is depicted in the cells is. It is very important to find the right balance of deciding how much of the story to show. Editing out panels changes the pace as well as the mood.

The arrangement of panels is also crucial as to how the story will read. The author assumes which direction his or her audience reads and bases the placement from there. Sometimes the flow of stacked panels becomes muddled, or the artist intentionally wants an ambiguous interpretation. Closure doesn't have to come mostly from the gutter. It can also be played with by only showing a segment of the whole picture within a cell.

Shaun Tan's 'The Arrival'

There is great care that goes into the chosen illustrations. These drawings are the entire story and must have the right emotional weight and pacing for the reader to understand what’s happening. The spot illustration pages with several cells on them carry most of the movement. They are beautifully drawn and paced wonderfully. It did take me two readings to understand the demon shadows as the embodiment of war.

One of my favorite pages is the one covered in cells of just cloud drawings to show the passage of several days. Through just the illustrations the reader knows that our main character and his family was driven from their home unwillingly and he must set out to a “new world.” This new place has so many foreign and strange things in it for the protagonist. The language barrier is shown in a simple and relatable way. He meets others who are dealing with the same hardships and must find work to bring their family over for a shot at a better life. He slowly makes friends in the city.

I just really love how Shaun Tan depicts war as these scary robotic looking beings or as a faceless scaly demon. Also how strange everything is in the other country they have fled to. It makes sense that someone would be uncomfortable or confused in a completely different society, and he pulls this off by making it look like its own unique architecture and agriculture that doesn’t exist here. Using fantasy elements, Tan makes his story remarkably realistic.

The story is monochromatic, but there are slight color tones that differentiate the moods. A cool, dark gray tone is used to show sad memories or war scenes and a yellow or more sepia color is presented in the hopeful scenes.

The passage of time is again shown beautifully through the sprouting and death of what we can recognize as a flower. He is finally reunited with his family and must help them adjust to this bizarre environment.

The family photo was a large motivator for the protagonist during the story and is shown on another spot page that resembles the one shown at the beginning of the story. This symbolizing his official new home now that his family has arrived. The ending illustrations portray his daughter helping out someone who has just come to this new place as well.

Words are completely unnecessary for this story. The feelings of the characters are expressed through the drawings better than what words could do.