Tunnels

Rutu Modan is one of my favorite comic writers. Tunnels is her 4th graphic novel to be published. She also teaches at Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem. In Tunnels we read about a race to find the Ark of the Covenant in underground tunnels on the Palestinian side of Israel. When a big antiquities collector is forced to donate his entire collection to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Nili Broshi sees her last chance to finish an archeological expedition begun by her father decades earlier. She believes that the dig will locate the Jewish Ark of the Covenant, the most important artifact in the Middle East. Motivated by a desire to reinstate her father's legacy as a great archeologist after a rival accepted the tenure her show more father earned, Nili gathers a ragtag crew to help her: a religious nationalist, her traitor brother and her childhood Palestinian friend. As Nili's father slips further and further into dementia, warring factions close in on and fight over the Ark. The author believes that the biblical Israel lies in one of the most disputed regions in the world, occupied by Israel and contested by Palestine. Often in direct competition, Israelis and Palestinians dig alongside one another, hoping to find the sacred artifact which is believed to be a conduit to God.

Tunnels is a great adventure story. It delves into the world of Israeli archeology, the rivalry in academia and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the author stated in her Afterword, Tunnels is the most complex story she has ever written. The story grabbed me from the beginning. I knew that it was fiction but everything seemed so real. Perhaps this is because the characters have both good and bad attributes, just like the rest of us. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story for mystery readers as well. In addition, there are a few subplots that add to the story. For instance, Nili believes that a tablet uncovered by an antiquities dealer, who buys from ISIS, will uncover the place where the Ark is located. Someone has to be able to decipher what the tablet says, though.

The pacing of the comic is perfect. It is a brilliant story with awesome illustrations by the author. I am so glad that Ishai Mishory translated this book into English so that I could enjoy it. Tunnels is a fabulous read. 5 out of 5 stars. show less

Loved this! There is a strong Tintin-vibe to this — the ligne clair, historical treasure hunt and broad cast of characters — but it's more complex & politically aware than Hergé. Centers around a search for the Ark Of The Covenant in Palestine, with multi-generational family drama, soldiers, crooks, swindlers, terrorists, rabbis, and plot twists and reversals galore. Go read! I wanted to reread straight away. An interesting afterword from Modan also shouldn't be missed.

A graphic novel centered around a hunt for the Ark of the Covenant set in modern Israel. It's engaging enough, with every adult character some level of deranged and/or insufferable, and a storyline that verges on the zany and that (especially taken with the art style) reminded me of a Tintin story. That zaniness didn't always work well with the book's more serious allegorical/political elements (which themselves felt somewhat lopsided), and I found Rutu Modan's character designs at times clumsy and unsettling.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" gets crossed with "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as an eccentric cast of characters get sucked into a search for the Ark of the Covenant. The mixed up group of treasure hunters are pulled together by an unemployed Israeli single mom who takes up her father's lifelong quest but hits a snag when she realizes the dig site is behind a security wall under Palestinian territory. Slightly tame hijinks ensue in a story that looks and feels a little Tintinesque.

A happy diversion with a smidge of politics and a heap of idealism.

Nili is from a family of Israeli archaeologists. As a child she discovered an iconic artifact while accompanying her renowned father on a dig.

Now her father is suffering from dementia. But Nili believes that her father may have uncovered the truth about where the Ark of the Covenant is hidden – and so she returns to a site her father had previously identified but had to abandon due to the Palestinian war.

There is only one problem – the Ark lies in Palestinian territory on the other side of Israel’s protective wall. With an offbeat crew, she accesses her father’s old tunnels in the area and hopes to tunnel her way to where the Ark is hidden.

But the course of such an unlikely adventure doesn’t go smoothly. Others, including show more her father’s old professional/academc rival as well as Nili’s archaeologist brother would also long to be the discoverers of this treasure. Not all conflicts occur between warring countries, but also happen within professions and families.

I have enjoyed several other of Rutu Modan’s graphic novels, including my favorite [Exit Wounds]. She always brings something unique about conflict to the table and this one was no exception. I was a bit confused in the opening part of the book, as it felt we were dropped into the middle of the story. However, I soon got my bearings and enjoyed this offbeat archaeological adventure. show less

Loved the drawing style. Some of the characters were interesting others were too stereotypical. The zany story was occasionally amusing but didn’t always keep me interested. The best part were the stories within the story. The epilogue explains the book’s main failing: Modan sees the story as political allegory and allegory always makes art inauthentic.

Nili, who as the young daughter of a brilliant archeologist was known for discovering a special treasure resumes her now senile father's search for the arc of the covenant without alerting her father's once colleague turned betrayer but everyone involved brings in too many people, old grudges bring on new betrayals and alliances and the possibility of deadly consequences are just a hair trigger away. It's people being people in a real pressure cooker of a situation.