Rutu Modan
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Rutu Modan (born 1966) is an Israeli illustrator and comic book artist.
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[edit] Biography
After graduating with distinction from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, she began to edit the Israeli edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together they founded the Actus Tragicus Comics group (sometimes credited as Actus Comics, or Actus) in 1995. Modan has 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, Jerusalem, in 1998.
In 2005 Rutu was chosen as an outstanding artist of the prestigious Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation.
Her sister is the writer/actress Dana Modan.
[edit] Exit Wounds
Modan's first full length graphic novel tells the story of Koby Franco, a 20-something cab driver working in Tel Aviv. 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."[1]
Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #8.[2]
[edit] 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 five stories are all memoirs involving Modan herself, and her family:
- "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.
[edit] Bibliography of works in English
[edit] Graphic novels and stories
- Exit Wounds, Drawn and Quarterly, 2007, ISBN 978-1897299060
- Mixed Emotions, 2007-, a visual blog at the New York Times.
[edit] Children's Books
- Where Is?, Written by Tamar Bergman, Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books 2002, ISBN 978-0618095391
- Dad Runs Away With The Circus, Written by Etgar Keret, Cambridge, MA, Candlewick Press, 2004, ISBN 0-7636-2247-8
[edit] With Actus Comics
- "The Romanian Circus", Jetlag, Tel Aviv, Top Shelf Productions, 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
[edit] Notes
- ^ Back cover of Rutu Modan's Exit Wounds, Drawn and Quarterly, 2007
- ^ Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Graphic Novels; time.com
[edit] External links
