Shaun Tan

The Arrival; a story about immigration told entirely through drawings, no words, dialogue or any typography whatsoever involved in the telling of one man's journey away from his family, across the ocean to a brand new country.
Shaun Tan uses a realistic style but creates a new world populated by weird and wonderful creatures, landscapes and cultures.

The story is inspired by stories told by immigrants including Tan's own father.
There are hints of war, holocaust, poverty and slavery in the stories told by the protagonists fellow immigrants.

The book is immensely useful for studying how close-cropping, framing, perspective, tone and expression can be used to great effect to tell a story without resorting to words.