Broken Frontier

Awake. Seek Truth. Stumble. Begin Again.

Those four words start this impressive comic retelling the story of how Prince Gautama became the Siddhartha and become the founder of an ancient religion. Born in 583 B.C.E. Siddhartha (which translates to "He who achieves his aim") is born to a mighty warrior king. Prophets tell of his rise to power on the spiritual plane, but his earth bound father attempts to shelter him so that he may instead rule the Earth.

This is a story that has been told numerous times. Like all great stories it touches such a chord that great writers feel a need to revisit it over and over. Chopra wrote the novel that Dysart so brilliantly adapts here.

In the foreword to this graphic interpretation, Chopra talks about how he sees Buddha as a doctor. Siddhartha saw the ailment of the human race in suffering and attempted to diagnose and treat our suffering.

Dysart imbues the comic with suffering from the start. It is fitting that this child who would be sheltered from the woes of the world would be born into such pain and to face such misery at the very onset of life. It is painfully obvious that the material minded king will fail as he goes about finding his self fulfilling prophecies.

The dialogue and tone of the writing is respectful and contemporary. There should be no language problem here. Dysart takes the source material and uses it as a modern parable, even when he throws in the ancient parables of soothsayers.

The colors provided by Vasa and Bhaskar are brilliant. They can be lush and rich or washed out. They lend themselves very well to the different atmospheres in the book, whether it be a palace, battle in the desert, or a demon’s abode.

These colors grace the line work of Kadan, who also employs many techniques. There are details aplenty in some scenes and nondescript characters elsewhere. It can be a little jarring, especially since so much of his work is like a cartoon. I was often reminded of Disney’s Mulan throughout the piece. I guess in some ways that is appropriate given the Eastern milieu and subject matter. Some places the lines swoop and curl and others they are tight. It makes for a dynamic piece that fits the nature of the story being told.

Chopra hopes that if nothing else, this comic will reach an audience that could stand to be awoken from the state of the world. In the end, Buddha broke a cycle. Chopra hopes that the world can do the same before it is too late.