Editor’s note: Apologies for the rough audio quality this time out.

Just shy of hallway through Tunnels, two of the books leads engage in a spirited exchange. The Israeli and Palestinian characters are debating who got there first. The moment is central to the plot of Rutu Modan’s latest graphic novel, while reflecting the underlying tensions of an on-going conflict that informs much of the artist’s work. It pokes lighthearted fun at the matter without being heavy handed or dismissive. An exploration of such conflict peppers a story that is, at its heart, an adventure tale. Over the years, Modan’s work has drawn aesthetic comparisons to Herge, and here she full embraces a search for the search for the arc of the covenant in a manner that equally embraces Spielberg.

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