Founded in 1995, Actus Tragicus is a collective of five comic artists who operate as an independent publishing house based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and have received international acclaim. The various artists are Mira Friedmann, Yirmi Pinkus, Itzik Rennert, Rutu Modan, and Batia Kolton.




From left to right: Rutu Modan, Mira Friedmann,
Yirmi Pinkus, Itzik Rennert and Batia Kolton
http://actustragicus.com



Mira Friedman


After graduating from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem, she worked as an art director and fashion photography stylist. Since 1992, she has been serving as the Vice President of the Israeli Association of Illustrators and she is a member of the selection committee of the America-Israel Cultural Scholarship Foundation.





Yirmi Pinkus


He is a magazine illustrator and opera critic. Shortly after graduating with distinction from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem, he began to edit the Israeli edition of MAD magazine with Rutu Modan. Together they founded the Actus Tragicus comics group in 1995. During 1996, Yirmi Pinkus worked in Berlin. He is director of Illustration Studies at the Vital - Tel Aviv Center For Design Studies.





Itzik Rennert


He is a freelance illustrator and director of illustration at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem. He has worked as an art director at leading Israeli journals and advertising agencies. In 1989 he was awarded a scholarship by the Italian government for excellence in illustration and spent a year in Milan.





Rutu Modan



She is a well-known comic artist and illustrator. Shortly after graduating from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem, she began to edit the Israeli edition of MAD magazine with Yirmi Pinkus. Together, they founded the Actus Tragicus comics group in 1995. Modan received the Young Artist of the Year award in 1997, and is the author of the novellas 'The Somnambulist', 'King of the Lilies', 'The Romanian circus' and 'Bygone'.





Batia Kolton


She is a freelance illustrator and multimedia art director. She spent years studying acting, opera singer and fine arts and is a graduate of the Vital - Tel Aviv Center for Design Studies.






here's a recent anthology that they released in the States a few months back, amazing stuff




some more work











the closest thing i can think of to equate it to here in the US might be NYC's Meathaus, but that's a poor example