Rutu Modan
Encyclopedia
Rutu Modan is an Israel
i illustrator and comic book artist.
, Israel, in 1966. Her father was Prof. Baruch Modan
, a cancer researcher who served as director general of the Israeli Health Ministry in the 1980s. Her mother was Prof. Michaela Modan, an epidemiologist specializing in diabetes research. Her sister is Dana Modan, an actress and writer. The family moved to Afeka
in north Tel Aviv
when she was ten.
After graduating with distinction from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
in Jerusalem, she edited the Hebrew edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together they founded the Actus Tragicus comics group in 1995. Modan received the Young Artist of the Year award in 1997 and the Best Illustrated Children's Book award from the Youth Department of the Israel Museum
in 1998. In 2005, she was chosen as an outstanding artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation
.
. Franco's mundane everyday life is interrupted when a female soldier approaches him, claiming his estranged father was killed by a suicide bomber at a train station. He and the young woman begin searching for clues to see if Franco's father, whom the soldier was romantically involved with, is dead or alive.
The book has received praise from comic book artist Joe Sacco
, author of Palestine
, who called it "a profound, richly textured, humane, and unsentimental look at societal malaise and human relationships and that uneasy place where they sometimes intersect."Writing in The New York Times, Douglas Wolk compared her style to that of Herge's
Tintin
books, "her characters’ body language and facial expressions, rendered in the gestural “clear line” style of Hergé’s Tintin books, are so precisely observed, they practically tell the story by themselves".
Time
magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #8. It also won the 2008 Eisner Award
for Best New Graphic Novel.
and fled to Israel after the German occupation of Poland, with Rutu’s father and uncle in tow.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i illustrator and comic book artist.
Biography
Rutu Modan was born in Tel HashomerTel HaShomer
Tel HaShomer is a district in Gush Dan in central Israel. It is located east of Ramat Gan, and is bordered to the north by Kiryat Ono, to the east by Yehud, and to the south by Or Yehuda...
, Israel, in 1966. Her father was Prof. Baruch Modan
Baruch Modan
Dr. Baruch Modan was an Israeli medical scientist. Dr. Modan made significant findings in the field of oncology and was an expert on the effects of radiation....
, a cancer researcher who served as director general of the Israeli Health Ministry in the 1980s. Her mother was Prof. Michaela Modan, an epidemiologist specializing in diabetes research. Her sister is Dana Modan, an actress and writer. The family moved to Afeka
Afeka
Afeka is a residential neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. It is located in the northwestern part of the city.-Notable residents:*Yaron London , media personality, journalist, actor, and songwriter...
in north Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
when she was ten.
After graduating with distinction from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel's national school of art, founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri , who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle ....
in Jerusalem, she edited the Hebrew edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together they founded the Actus Tragicus comics group in 1995. Modan received the Young Artist of the Year award in 1997 and the Best Illustrated Children's Book award from the Youth Department of the Israel Museum
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
in 1998. In 2005, she was chosen as an outstanding artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation
Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation
The Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation is a private cultural foundation which aims to identify, nurture, and support Israel's most outstanding artists....
.
Exit Wounds
Modan's first full length graphic novel tells the story of Koby Franco, a 20-something cab driver working in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. Franco's mundane everyday life is interrupted when a female soldier approaches him, claiming his estranged father was killed by a suicide bomber at a train station. He and the young woman begin searching for clues to see if Franco's father, whom the soldier was romantically involved with, is dead or alive.
The book has received praise from comic book artist Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco is a Maltese-American comics artist and journalist. He achieved international fame through the 1996 American Book Award-winning Palestine, and his graphic novel on the Bosnian War, Safe Area Goražde.- Biography :...
, author of Palestine
Palestine (Sacco comic)
Palestine is a graphic novel written and drawn by Joe Sacco about his experiences in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in December 1991 and January 1992...
, who called it "a profound, richly textured, humane, and unsentimental look at societal malaise and human relationships and that uneasy place where they sometimes intersect."Writing in The New York Times, Douglas Wolk compared her style to that of Herge's
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
Tintin
Tintin
Tintin, Tin-Tin or Tin Tin may refer to:* The Adventures of Tintin , the series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Hergé...
books, "her characters’ body language and facial expressions, rendered in the gestural “clear line” style of Hergé’s Tintin books, are so precisely observed, they practically tell the story by themselves".
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #8. It also won the 2008 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best New Graphic Novel.
Mixed Emotions
From May to October 2007, several of Modan's graphic stories were featured on the New York Times website in a "visual blog", translated by Ishai Mishory. The six stories are all memoirs involving Modan herself, and her family. Many of them involve her paternal grandmother, who grew up in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and fled to Israel after the German occupation of Poland, with Rutu’s father and uncle in tow.
- "My First Time in New York City" (May 8) – Modan's trip to New York at the age of 21, accompanied by her father.
- "How I learned to Relax" (June 5) – Modan's first pregnancy.
- "The Most Popular Girl in Warsaw" (July 3) – Modan recounts her grandmother's rules for life and love.
- "A Family Bargain" (July 31) – Modan's family tries to help her buy a new car.
- "Queen of the Scottish Fairies" (September 4) – Modan's son insists on wearing dresses, much to his father's annoyance.
- "Chez Maurice" (October 3) – Modan accompanies her grandmother to a hairdresser.
The Murder of the Terminal Patient
A graphic serial composed of 17 chapters, which was published on a weekly basis in the New York Times Magazine. Running from June 29 to November 2, 2008, the story deals with the death of a famous singer in a hospital under mysterious cirucmstances and the attempts of two men to figure out what happened.Short Works
- "King of the Lillies" (1998) - collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
- "The Romanian Circus" - originally appeared in the collection Jetlag (1999), based on a short story by Etgar KeretEtgar KeretEtgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.-Personal Life:Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survived the Holocaust. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife, Shira Geffen, and...
. - "The Panty Killer" - originally appeared in the collection The Actus Box: Five Graphic Novellas (2001); collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
- "Homecoming" - originally appeared in the collection Happy End (2002), based on a true story. An Israeli pilot, Gadi, goes M.I.A. over Lebanon, leaving everyone at his Kibbutz unsure whether he's alive or dead. One morning Gadi's father thinks he spots his son’s plane over the kibbutz, and calls everyone out to welcome him. Collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
- "Fan" - originally appeared in the collection How to Love (2007) as "Your Number One Fan". A musician named Shabtai is invited to perform at a cultural center in SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England, hoping it will be the big break he had been waiting for. Collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008). - "Bygone" - originally appeared in the collection Flipper vol. 2. Collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
- "Energy Blockage" - originally appeared in the collection Dead Herring Comics (2004). Collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
- "Jamilti" - originally appeared in Drawn & Quarterly volume 5 (2003). Collected in Jamilti and Other Stories (2008).
Graphic novels and stories
- Exit Wounds, Drawn and QuarterlyDrawn and QuarterlyDrawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
, 2007, ISBN 978-1897299060 - Mixed Emotions, 2007, a visual blog at the New York Times.
- The Murder of the Terminal Patient – a graphic serial in the New York Times Magazine, which ran from June 29 to November 2, 2008.
- Jamilti and Other Stories, Drawn and Quarterly, 2008 - 7 graphic stories originally published (excluding "Jamilti") in the Actus Tragicus collections.
Children's Books
- Where Is?, Written by Tamar Bergman, Houghton MifflinHoughton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
/Walter Lorraine Books 2002, ISBN 978-0618095391 - Dad Runs Away With The Circus, Written by Etgar KeretEtgar KeretEtgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.-Personal Life:Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survived the Holocaust. He lives in Tel Aviv with his wife, Shira Geffen, and...
, CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, MA, Candlewick PressCandlewick PressCandlewick Press, established in 1991 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is the American division of the British publisher Walker Books Ltd....
, 2004, ISBN 0-7636-2247-8
Actus Comics
- "The Romanian Circus", Jetlag, Tel Aviv, Top Shelf ProductionsTop Shelf ProductionsTop Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia, Portland, Oregon, and New York City, New York....
, 1999, ISBN 965-90221-0-7 - "The Panty Killer", The Actus Box: Five Graphic Novellas, Top Shelf Productions, 2001, ISBN 978-9659022137
- "The Homecoming", Happy End, Top Shelf Productions, 2002, ISBN 978-9659022144
- "Bygone", Flipper vol. 2, Top Shelf Productions, ISBN 965-90221-1-5
- "Energy Blockage", Dead Herring Comics, Top Shelf Productions, 2004, ISBN 978-9659022151
- "Your Number One Fan", How To Love, Top Shelf Productions, 2007, ISBN 978-9659022168
External links
- Rutu Modan video interview on BBC Collective
- Rutu Modan's web page, Israel Cultural Excellence FoundationIsrael Cultural Excellence FoundationThe Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation is a private cultural foundation which aims to identify, nurture, and support Israel's most outstanding artists....
- Actus Tragicus - Official Site
- Heflinreps, Inc. - Modan's US agent
- Killington Arts - Modan's UK agent
- Editorial on Exit Wounds at Indian Comic Review
- Rutu Modan audio interview on Inkstuds (62 min.)