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Story and Art by Toriyama Akira
Copyright © 1985 Toriyama Akira * Bird Studio/ Shueisha
English Language Version copyright © 1998 Viz Comics
Published by Viz Comics
Monthly
B&W, 32 pages
$2.95

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by Charles McCarter
Viz scored a major coup when it managed to license the nigh-endless
DRAGONBALL manga series. After all, the show and the manga are popular
worldwide and there are a large number of American fans as well. And, with
the success of DRAGONBALL Z on television and its presence in the video
market, the time was right for someone to snare this series for American
release.
Longtime fans know that the DRAGONBALL manga contains the stories that were
animated into DRAGONBALL and DRAGONBALL Z. The manga started as one thing
and as time and the issues passed by, it evolved into something very
different. To solve this problem, and to capitalize on the success of
DRAGONBALL Z in the video and television markets, Viz split the title into
two series, DRAGONBALL, which begins at the beginning, and DRAGONBALL Z,
which begins at the start of the Z storyline.
In the beginning, DRAGONBALL was about Gokuu and Bulma and their adventures
to find the seven legendary Dragonballs. The emphasis was on humor and
adventure, and not as much on super hero fighting that became the hallmark
of the series later on (and in the DRAGONBALL Z anime).
Gokuu is still a child, and a very naive one at that, having lived by
himself for so long. When he is found by Bulma who is searching for
Dragonballs, she manipulates him into joining her. After all, who couldn't
use a bodyguard who is nearly invulnerable, immensely strong, and easily
led? In fact, Gokuu is so unworldly that he really doesn't know the
difference between boys and girls until Bulma tries to explain it to him.
After that, he continuously tries to determine whether people he meets are
girls via the "pat-pat" method. (You'll just have to read it for yourself).
In this issue (#3), Gokuu and Bulma finish helping the turtle they found
last issue reach Kame-sennin's (the Turtle Mage's) island. As a reward,
Gokuu gets a magic cloud to fly on. Bulma, upset that she doesn't get
anything, manages to coerce the Turtle Mage into giving her the Dragonball he
wears around his neck.
Afterwards, they journey to a remote village that seems deserted. Upon
closer inspection, the villagers are found to be hiding in fear of the Demon
Oolong. Gokuu and Bulma quickly get involved because a Dragonball is at
stake, but what can Gokuu do against a monster that can assume any form it
wishes?
I have always liked the earlier DRAGONBALL more than the later stuff. While
it's fun to watch people beat the stuffing out of one another, the humor of
the early series (which is presented here) falls by the wayside. I was
impressed by the English rendering of the dialog and the way that the jokes
were left intact. The characters speak their mind quite often, and in
particular, the giant turtle is particularly entertaining. A word of
warning, though: DRAGONBALL is not kiddie reading. Lots of panty jokes and
other innuendo pervade the series.
Viz is publishing the DRAGONBALL comics in "Manga format," meaning that they
are read as original manga are, right to left. This really is not a big
deal and it's kind of nice to see the images "unflipped." Technical
production on the comic is pretty good, although sometimes the art seems a
little grainy because it's been blown up to accommodate the size of American
comics.
This is easily the best $2.95 I've spent on a translated manga in a long
time. Viz is doing a good job with this. American fans of DRAGONBALL have
waited a long time, but this is one of those cases where the wait has
paid
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