Best book of 2009: Shaun Tan 's The Arrival

(note: books are eligible for this designation the year i the indie snob first read them; publication is irrelevant)

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Man.

This was the first comic I read last year and I knew then it had a good chance at being the best of the year. And so it was.

I know, I know, I know. The book came out a few years ago so everyone and their parakeet has already sung its praises, but this book really can't be praised too much.

One observation I do want to make in passing is something I learned at Comic Con:

Comics without words have an easier time getting accepted as Respectable. And as The Arrival meets that category I feel I should comment.

(First, let me insist I have nothing against worded comics --- although last year's winner of this prize was also wordless. And so while I might seem to be knocking worded comics, I assure you I am not.)

Wordless comics more purely explore the strengths of the comics medium. Words --- they're not baggage, but --- they are not inherent to What Comics Is. Comics Are Pictures Ordered.

And so, I think, when outsiders view a wordless comic, they can finally see just What Comics Is.

That explains them.

But I also rejoice in the purity of a perfectly crafted comic that can stand without words.

But The Arrival is more than that. It's story makes the lack of words thematically significant. If we understood the characters' words, that would eat into our empathy. Which is remarkable, when you think about it. Yet here, in this book, it is absolutely true.

Well done, Mr Tan.

Best Comic of the Year
2008: The Blot by Tom Neely
2009: The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Comic of the Year 2008: The Blot by Tom Neely

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This post may be way overdue and this book technically came out in 2007 but, but the beautiful nightmare that is The Blot is by far the best comic I read in 2008. I just sat down to reread it and it is truly astonishing, technically and artistically.

The Blot is a master's course in the art of comics. Someone who had never seen any other work of comics could, after studying this book sufficiently long, be expert enough to create great art. Neely's brilliant use of layout and the way he manipulates appearance and his mastery of human form make the book a technical marvel.

But the story, opaque as it is, is the true treasure here.

Bringing an antiquated cartoon style into a horrific tale of men and gods only heightens the unsettling sense of uncertainty and confusion. As disaster builds upon disaster and pleasure leads to rejection and pain leads to redemption, this starkly unreal tale digs deeper and deeper into my soul.

This book's accomplishments are difficult to quantify because I simply don't know what to compare it to.

When I've written about this book before (here), and I am no closer now to arriving at conclusions.

But this read --- I read so slowly, examining each image closely. Chris Ware (in a recent introduction) (he sure does write a lot of introductions, doesn't he?) said the comics creator probably, on average, spends 1000 times on a comic compared to the time a reader spends.

If the time I spend on The Blot grows longer at this pace every time I read it, and if I keep returning to it as I anticipate, I may well end up spending more time on it than Neely has himself. Who can say.

Certainly this work deserves that kind of attention.

This book is a masterpiece.