In this fourth volume of the award-winning graphic novel biography, Buddha slowly discovers that his destiny lies in a path not readily available to him. With fellow ascetics Dhepa who has complete faith in the purifying quality of painful physical ordeals, and Assaji, who can predict everyone's death to the hour, Buddha travels through the kingdom of Magadha into the Forest of Uruvela, where The Middle Path and Enlightenment wait beyond a series of death-defying trials.
Awake under the Pippala tree...

Japanese comics godfather Osamu Tezuka tells the story of Buddha's life like it's never been told before. Entertaining, visually spectacular, and warm, Buddha (an 8-volume work to be published in gorgeous hardcovers and paperbacks designed by Chip Kidd) is the ultimate example of Tezuka's artistic mastery. His consummate skill at visual expression and warm humanity blossom fully in this epic of Siddhartha's life and times. The masterpiece is one that all ages and persuasions can enjoy.

Buddha, Volume 4, The Forest of Uruvela, Osamu Tezuka, Vertical, Paperback, 370 pp., $14.95

Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. A genuine intellectual, deeply familiar with Western culture from the Bible to Goethe to Hollywood, Tezuka originally intended to become a doctor and received an M.D. Had he not turned to the belittled art of manga storytelling, the medium may never have acquired its capacity for seriousness and depth. Though many have followed his example, it is still Tezuka who draws the deepest awe with his sweeping vision, deftly intertwined plots, persuasive characters, feel for the workings of power, and above all, an indefatigable commitment to human dignity and the sanctity of life.