Rutu Modan ( he, רותו מודן, born 1966) is an Israeli illustrator and comic book artist. She is co-founder of the Israeli comics group Actus Tragicus and published the graphic novels ''

Exit Wounds ''Exit Wounds'' is a 2001 American action film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, and starring Steven Seagal and DMX. The film is based on the book of the same name by John Westermann. The book takes place on Long Island, while the film is set in D ...

'' (2007) and '' The Property'' (2013).

Biography

Rutu Modan was born in

Tel HaShomer Tel HaShomer ( he, תֵּל הַשּׁוֹמֵר, ''lit.'' Hill of the Guardsman) or Kiryat Krinitzi is a neighborhood in Ramat Gan, Israel. It is bordered to the north by Kiryat Ono, to the east by Yehud, and to the south by Or Yehuda. A major ...

, Israel, in 1966, and lived in the doctors' residences in

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...

. Her father was Prof.

Baruch Modan Prof. Baruch Modan (1932–2001)
University of Tel Aviv was an

Israeli Health Ministry in the 1980s. Her mother was Prof. Michaela Modan, an epidemiologist specializing in diabetes research. Her older sister is a doctor and her younger sister is Dana Modan, an actress and writer. The family moved to

Afeka 250px, Aerial photo of Afeka Afeka is a neighborhood in the north of the city of Tel Aviv, located north of the Yarkon river, which was established by the commanders of the Haganah for their families. The neighborhood is bordered in the east b ...

in north

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

when she was ten. After graduating with distinction from the

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest ...

in Jerusalem, she edited the Hebrew edition of

MAD magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...

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 The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

in 1998. In 2005, she was chosen as an outstanding artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation. Modan lives in Tel-Aviv with her husband, Ofer Bergman and their two children.

Published works

Novels

''Exit Wounds''

Modan's first full length graphic novel, ''Exit Wounds'' tells the story of Koby Franco, a 20-something cab driver working in

. 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 received praise from comic book artist

Joe Sacco Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books ''Palestine'' (1996) and '' Footnotes in Gaza'' (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian relati ...

, author of ''

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

'', 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."

Douglas Wolk Douglas Wolk (born 1970) is a Portland, Oregon-based author and critic. He has written about comics and popular music for publications including ''The New York Times'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Nation'', ''The New Republi ...

(

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

) compared her style to that of

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

's ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'' 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 is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine's

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), ''The Magician King'' (2011), and ''The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology ...

named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #8. It also won the 2008

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best New Graphic Novel.

''Mixed Emotions''

Between May and October 2007, several of Modan's graphic stories featured on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

website via "visual blog", translated by Ishai Mishory. The six stories are all memoirs involving Modan herself, and her family. Many of them portray her paternal grandmother, who grew up in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

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 ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'' and ran between June 29 and November 2, 2008. The story dealt with the death of a famous singer in a hospital under mysterious circumstances and the attempts of two men to figure out what happened.

''War Rabbit''

In 2009, while Modan was living in England, she was commissioned by the Delcourt to contribute to an anthology of comics journalism. Having initially declined, she had eventually accepted the commission shortly after her return to Israel and the start of the Gaza War. The 13 pages comics called- ''War Rabbit'', had been created via collaboration with the Israeli journalist Igal Sarna and was published in the French anthology and online, in English by

Words Without Borders ''Words Without Borders'' (''WWB'') is an international magazine open to international exchange through translation, publication, and promotion of the world's best writing and authors who are not easily accessible to English-speaking readers. The ...

''Maya Makes a Mess''

The first children's book both written and drawn by Rutu Modan, ''Maya Makes a Mess'' was released in 2012 under the

Toon Books Toon Books is a publisher of hardcover comic book early readers founded by Françoise Mouly. With titles by such creators as Geoffrey Hayes, Jay Lynch, Dean Haspiel, Eleanor Davis, and Mouly's collaborator and husband, Art Spiegelman, Toon Books pr ...

imprint. It is a graphic novel for early readers. The story follows a young girl with terrible table manners who is unexpectedly invited to dine at the Royal palace, where her manners are put to the test. The story is inspired by both Rutu's recollections of what she liked as a child, and by her own daughter, Michal. When Rutu said to Michal one evening, "How badly you eat! What would you do if the Queen invited you to dine at the palace?" Michal answered very seriously: "Well! It just so happens that the Queen is a VERY good friend of mine, and she told me that I eat perfectly."

''The Property''

A full-length graphic novel released in 2013 and based on Modan's own family experiences, ''The Property'' tells of an elderly Israeli lady, Regina Segal, taking her granddaughter Mica to

after the death of her son in the hope of reclaiming a family property lost during the Second World War. As they get to know modern Warsaw, meeting in civic landmarks such as the

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

and the

Warsaw Fotoplastikon The Warsaw Fotoplastikon is a stereoscopic theatre based on the Kaiserpanorama system of rotating stereoscopic images located in Warsaw, Poland. Operating at the same location since 1905, it is the oldest stereoscopic theatre in Europe still in ...

, Regina is forced to recall difficult things about her past whereas Mica begins to wonder if maybe their reasons for coming aren't a little different from what her grandmother led her to believe.

''Minharot''

''Minharot'' (''Tunnels''), published in September 2020, is an adventure story about the daughter and grandson of a famous archaeologist who go on a hunt for the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an e ...

in the West Bank.New Graphic Novel Digs Deep Into the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

Short stories

* "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 Keret Etgar Keret ( he, אתגר קרת, born August 20, 1967) 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 ...

. * "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

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, 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).

Children's books

* ''Where Is?'', Written by Tamar Bergman,

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

/Walter Lorraine Books 2002, * ''Dad Runs Away With The Circus'', Written by

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, MA,

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books fro ...

, 2004, * ''Maya Makes a Mess'', the first children's book Rutu Modan has written as well as drawn,

, 2012,

References

External links

Rutu Modan video interview on BBC Collective

Rutu Modan's web page
Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation
Actus Tragicus - Official Site

Heflinreps, Inc. - Modan's US agent

Killington Arts - Modan's UK agent

Rutu Modan audio interview on Inkstuds (62 min.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modan, Rutu Living people Israeli illustrators Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni 1966 births Israeli comics artists Israeli children's writers Israeli women artists Female comics artists Israeli women children's writers Jewish women People from Ramat Gan Artists from Tel Aviv Israeli women short story writers