Tunnels

Tunnels is a splendid graphic novel, intricately plotted, expressively drawn, and colorfully executed. Its plot is complicated, and its characters bold, with each of them so focused on their desires that they do not see a bigger picture. The main character is Nili, an unemployed, single mother who strives to complete her archaeologist father's ultimate quest: to locate the Ark of the Covenant. Because of the onset of dementia, he had been removed from his academic position and is convalescing at home.

 "Aiding her" on her journey is her brother Broshi, but he is secretly in kahoots with Prof. Rafi Sarid, their father's ex-collaborator who is conniving to take the glory that comes with discovery for himself. He has dangled Broshi the prospect of tenure for information leading to locating the Ark, but he has no intentions to honor his deal. Also on the journey is Doctor, Nili's young son who wants nothing but to be left alone with games on a cell phone. The entire enterprise is bankrolled by Emil Abuloff, an antiquities dealer with a penchant for buying artifacts pilfered by ISIS. He is looking for a legitimate score to offset the ill-gotten gains he has made off of terrorists.  Doing the actual digging are two parties, first a team of sycophantic Jews led by Shmuel Gedanken and two Palestinian brothers, Mahdi and Zuzu  who dig the tunnel but want it for smuggling purposes. Gedanken also has in tow Aviva, a red cow that is to be slaughtered upon discovering the Ark.

If you have stuck with me thus far, you can see that there is much going on in this book character-wise. However, just as important as the characters is the setting, the contested lands in Israel and Palestine where huge walls and armed soldiers loom. At stake here are not just the fame that comes with discovery but also the power afforded to political and religious supremacy. Not to mention the fact the some of these people believe that possessing the Ark means that their forces will be unstoppable.

Despite all of these seriousness and intrigue of this quest, the book also features a sense of humor, full of Tintin-esque, colorful characters whose eyes and mouths frequently explode in cartoonish manner. Aviva the cow is also a wild-card, getting into all sorts of mischief and mucking things up. So, this books is a strangely balanced concoction of political jostling, family and academic drama, archaeological adventure, and farce. It is a fascinating, compelling, and substantial book, masterfully crafted and brilliantly illustrated. It also features an essay to close the book, where the author explains her intentions and narrative choices in great detail.

Tunnels was created by Rutu Modan, who has published two other graphic novels. Exit Wounds and The Property, in the US, with both winning Eisner Awards. She has also illustrated a number of picture books, created a variety of short comics, and edited the Hebrew edition of MAD magazine. She speaks about her work on Tunnels in this interview. This book was translated into English by Ishai Mishory.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Hillary Brown wrote that "all these characters are so flawed and fascinating and prickly. They’re predictable and unpredictable in equal parts, which makes them interesting to watch." Etelka Lehoczky opined, "Contemplating the shallowness and entitlement of Modan's characters, readers may wind up reflecting on their own." Rachel Cooke wrote, "Every page is gripping, every frame profoundly political."

Tunnels was published by Drawn & Quarterly, and they offer a preview and more here.

Palestine

Palestine is the first major collected work by Joe Sacco, a journalist who draws the events and people he encounters in different hot spots of the world. This books casts a spotlight on the people whose side we usually don't hear about in the US, telling the story of Palestinians who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Sacco was there in December 1991 until January 1992, and his motive for creating this work was to add balance to the coverage of the events in this area of the world. He felt that all the news reports he saw were told from the Israeli point of view, and he wanted to see what the other side looked like and had to say. The people he met were largely hospitable, drank tea, and were not all monsters or terrorists. However, they did have many stories about the foul deeds perpetrated on them by Israeli forces. After reading these accounts, it seems that neither side is entirely in the right in this conflict, to say the very least.

Palestine was originally published as separate issues from 1992 on and collected in 1996. In 1996, the series also won an American Book Award. It was reissued in 2007 as a special edition with an introduction by noted international scholar Edward Said.

In general, this is a very well reviewed work. Josh Flanagan at iFanboy called it one of the best comics of the decade. The Observer's David Thompson offered the opinion that "Sacco's greatest achievement is to have so poignantly depicted contradiction, oppression and horror in a form that manages to be both disarming and disquieting." The Independent's Charles Shaar Murray wrote that "It's a powerful piece of work" but also noted there was a uniformity to the depictions and "few of his Palestinian interviewees emerge as 'characters.'"

A short preview is available from the book's publisher, Fantagraphics. A longer slide show preview of the special edition of the book is here.