The third installment of Tezuka's epic. For some reason this one engaged me slightly less than the first two, which given Buddha starts his journey towards enlightenment is kind of surprising. Still, Tezuka weaves great stories with his new characters around the Buddha's own life and this certainly doesn't make me want to stop reading the series!
The second in the series on Buddha's life continues as Buddha grows into a young man and the supporting characters grow up. Not much to add from the first review - it's a great read and the additional characters that Tezuka adds into the mix are interesting and engaging in their own way, with their own stories to bring. Perhaps my only gripe at this point is that I'm now getting confused where the real life of Buddha ends and Tuzaka's creations begin.
For the last year or so I'd noticed this amazing set of hardcover comics in a Montreal comic shop, along the spine of which was the face of a Manga Buddha growing up. Finally I took the plunge and bought the first one and I'm glad I did. The story, by master of Manga Osamu Tezuka (creater of Astro Boy), starts at the beginning of the life of Buddha as he is prophesized and born to the king. From this well known life Tezuka then expands out to add his own world of magic, transfiguration and fable - all drawn in beautiful black and white, a style echoed by the beautiful white covers with removable colour bands (on the hardcover edition which I highly recommend you get).
The read is over quickly, as it's not a dense story and the characters tend not to get into long soliloquays, but 'luckily' there's another 9 or so books after this one. My one other gripe is that sometimes the translations come across a bit tacky and American, somewhat akin to the Archie comics, which seems off given the epic scope of the story. A must-have addition to any comic addicts bookshelf - which may need widening if you get the whole series!
A Christmas present kids book bizarrely enough - that is actually an enjoyable enough read for an adult if you feel like something low maintenance for a change. The story revolves around Matt, a child whose father the King dies unexpectedly and so he finds himself thrust into leadership. Many adventures then follow, including running off to war, making friends with cannibals and eating chocolate. It's not exactly Harry Potter, but definately a good read for a young teen kid.
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