A review by robertrivasplata
Tunnels by Rutu Modan

adventurous challenging funny mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Rutu Modan's archaeological MacGuffin-driven adventure allegory of the Israel Palestine conflict. Like Tintin, if the kid was obsessed with video games to the exclusion of all else, and all the adult sidekicks were 100% unhinged, & the animal sidekick is just there to be sacrificed in a religious ritual later. (Full disclosure, I mostly know about Tintin from Ruben Bolling's Billy Dare parody comics, & Wikipedia). Among targets of ridicule are religious fanatic settlers, the IDF, academia, the apolitical, ISIS, antiquities traders, & kids these days. Focuses on the politicization of archaeology & history in Palestine. I like how the ancient tunnels the characters are excavating have all these layers of historical use dating from ancient times through to the present day, with the archaeologists even encountering other people tunneling who are trying to use the ancient tunnels for their own uses. The afterword kind of spells out most of the themes & references in Tunnels, & the Glossary is interesting too. Most puzzling to me is the “credits” section. Is this kind of an acknowledgments list? Or did they all have to act out the scenes for Modan to quickly sketch and then translate to the page?