So I Read Exit Wounds

A 250 word (or less) review of the Exit Wounds graphic novel,
By Rutu Modan; Drawn and Quarterly

Exit Wounds is a comic about finding closure with a person who is already gone. In the comic Koby, an Israeli cab driver, is told by a young woman that his estranged father has been killed in a suicide bombing. The young woman, Numi, his father's lover, needs Koby's help to prove that his father has indeed been killed. Koby, citing his father's unreliability and wayward past suspects that his father has merely abandoned Numi. The comic then, is the story of these strangers coming to terms with the absence of Koby's father and figuring out how to say goodbye to someone who is already absent. Exit Wounds is a pretty great comic: the central story is universal, tragic, and interesting, while the narrative retains a certain levity and humour that adds a counter-note of levity and fun. Similarly the artwork, with a very clean Herge style, manages to be beautifully expressive and wonderfully accesible. Exit Wounds is a very balanced read that is, at the end of the day, a really well made human story about an aspect of human life. It's the kind of comic that isn't explicitly for fans of genre fiction and, for lack of a better classification, reads as contemporary literary fiction. This coupled with the accessibility of the artwork and storytelling makes me think this is a great comic to lend/recommend to non-comics friends and relatives. (I will actually lend this comic to my mom.) Because it's good, and interesting, and fun to read.

Word count: 250