Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan

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Rutu Modan is an Israeli comic book artist born in 1966. She has become well known internationally since the release of her first full length graphic novel, Exit Wounds. She claims her work in comics started at a very young age, and since it has been her passion. Modan is a founding member the group “Actus Tragicus,” a collective of Israeli comic artists who, like Modan, have all found success in their field.

Besides Exit Wounds, she has written children’s books and has done commercial art for magazines and other publications.

Modan had previously published with Drawn and Quarterly, but, as she states in the BBC interview posted in this study guide, she is now working with Random House Publishing.

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Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan is about an Israeli man who becomes involved in a search for his estranged father who may have been killed in a blast at a bus station cafeteria. Prompted by Numi, a young woman with whom Koby’s father Gabriel had been involved, he embarks on a journey laced with doubt and disbelief to seek out his father’s whereabouts.

The search begins in a morgue where an unidentified body from the attack had been stored, but the recent burial of the body forces Numi to seek out victims that were present at the station to positively identify Gabriel in a photograph. This eventually leads to the revelation that Gabriel, since his wife’s death, had been somewhat of a playboy. Having carried on various affairs and even remarrying behind Numi’s back, Gabriel effectively alienates and abandon’s her, much like he did with Koby.

The irony of this situation is that Gabriel had become both a lover and a father figure to Numi, having taught her to ride waves and showing concern for her wellbeing by calling after any bombings. Their shared abandonment creates a common ground in Koby and Numi’s developing relationship.

Though its purpose is betrayed in the end of the story, the blast itself could be seen as symbolic, because it has, in a sense, broken down a barrier between Koby and his father. Modan, in the interview below, says that Koby is basically looking for his father in order to receive and apology and set things right, but those who have read the book in its entirety know the actual events that take place.

Numi works to accommodate Koby’s literal and figurative search for his father, even though she was the one who approached him about Gabriel’s disappearance.

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Modan's unique style is recognizable with its soft colors, use of monochromatic backgrounds that are at times layered, and simplistic yet honest renditions of people in these settings.

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Rutu Modan - Wikipedia article

Rutu Modan's page at Drawn and Quarterly (Includes bio and reviews for Exit Wounds)

Mixed Emotions: NY visual column by Modan

Rutu Modan's online portfolio of various commercial art

Exit Wounds review on newvoices.org

Exit Wounds review by The Savage Critic(s)

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Given the information in this story, how would you characterize Israel? Were your expectations met or did they change somehow?

How do the transitions/moments of closure (like McCloud talks about) give the reader impressions of the relationship between Numi and Koby? (Ex: page 108-109)

On page 156, Modan has a layout set in columns. Usually the reader goes from left to right and then down. Here the reader might feel the need to go down one column and go onto the next. Also, what does the lack of color and detail behind Koby indicate for him at this moment in the story?

Other than the old photo, does the absence of seeing Koby's father indicate a passive-aggressive seeking of approval?

Everyone not directly connected to the father has an "upbeat" demeanor to them despite the subject matter (especially the employees in the morgue). Why is this?

Why did Rutu Modan use a softer color scheme for her art for the book when it is set in such a turbulent place and revolving around the subject of a missing person and family troubles?

Do you think that it is necessary for Koby to be cold or maintain emotional distances because of the environment that he is in?

What do you think of Koby looking for his father? Do you think that the concept of death changes the way we think about people?

Bombings are common in the novel. Why do you think that Koby is so calm while living in a hostile environment?

Could the title refer to the damage done when individual relationships dissolve? Or, perhaps, could it have greater resonance with Gabriel’s character, who, although unseen in the novel, seems to have the greatest effect on the characters with his relationships after his wife’s (Koby’s mother) death?

Why does Numi accept a cigarette from Koby, even going so far as to take a drag from it if she doesn't smoke? (14)

The title of part four of the book sees the survival of Gabriel after three parts of wondering if he's alive or dead. Aside from this "character revival" what else could the name of the section "Resurrection" refer to?

Do you think that Gabriel's most recent wife believes he is really at the synagogue? (158)

Why do you think that Rutu Modan leaves Gabriel's most recent wife unnamed? (157-163)

Did "Exit Wounds" read more like a comic book or like a well-developed short story? Why?

What makes Koby finally vulnerable to emotion?

What do you think Modan's purpose was in never revealing Gabriel's character or his whereabouts throughout the comic, and how does his lack of participation impact the storyline?

Why was Koby so upset when Numi said "Like father, like son?"

How does the rhythm of the plot (pace, transitions, closures) reflect Koby's philosophical dillema?

What is the significance (if any) of the coffee table in conjunction with the words on p. 37? Why would the artist devote a whole panel to the depiction of something so seemingly trivial to the plot?

Is there an identifiable mood to the story? If so, what is it and how is it conveyed?

At the end of the story Koby slips the check from his father back into his poscket instead of leaving is with his step-mother-apparent. Is this acknowledgement that the check is his father's means of apologizing. Or, do you believe he's simply trying to "stick it to him"?