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Looking for a great comic? Just follow Buddha. Osamu Tezuka (1928-89), a pioneer of the manga (Japanese comic book) form, added his own characters and stories to the life of the great spiritual leader, creating a graphic-novel epic. Translated into English by Vertical Inc. as an eight-volume series of stylish, $25 hardcovers, the third installment comes out this month. Though Tezuka's characters are cartoonishly cute and he frequently inserts goofy humor, the series also explores adult themes of romance and violence. Literati and pop-culture mavens alike will enjoy this manga masterwork. By Andrew D. Arnold
...profile, his face appears flat, like a blank wall, except for a bump of a nose and a pipe sticking out of a mouth that never opens, even when speaking. Tardi works in the classic French bandes dessinee style (a close match to the work of Japanese comix master Osamu Tezuka, incidentally) with near-photographic reproductions of backgrounds that the flat, "cartoonish" characters inhabit. The "Tintin" mysteries by Herge are the most famous example of this style, which Tardi updates with the more cynical eye of a newer generation. The themes are darker and so are the images...
...Buddha by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical, Inc.; 2003) The key founder of the Japanese comics style, the creator of Astro Boy helped turn an entire nation into comics fans. Though it first appeared in Japan in the early 1970s, Tezuka's imaginative version of the life of the Buddha has only now appeared in English. "Buddha" exemplifies Tezuka's playful style and deeply humane themes in a work for older audiences. Full Review
...Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), a former M.D., more or less invented Japanese comics - AKA manga - during the 1950s. Part D.W. Griffith and part Walt Disney, he is revered in Japan and throughout Asia but only recently has his work been appearing in quantity in the United States. His most famous creation, "Astro Boy," a series about a powerful robot who looks like a boy, has been reprinted by Dark Horse (see the TIME.comix review.) "The Phoenix Saga," a multi-volume series considered his life's work has properly begun to appear here courtesy of Viz. Now Vertical...
...Filled with beauty, cruelty, drama, comedy, romance and violence, Osamu Tezuka's "Buddha" encompasses the entirety of life in a masterpiece of graphic literature. Deeply moral but never moralistic, "Buddha" merges the delight of cartooning with the epic seriousness of one of the great religions, becoming a thing wholly unto itself. Even if you can't achieve satori with "Buddha," you can open up another world...