Dragon Ball: Full Color Saiyan Arc, Volume 1

February 3, 2014
Even manga beginners will have no trouble getting into this exciting story—though they may have to adjust to the right-to-left reading order. Toriyama’s storytelling is beautifully clear and dynamic, showing why he’s revered as one of the world’s greatest cartoonists. The story picks up from the earlier Dragon Ball arcs, and shows a grown-up Goku, now father to Gohan, returning home years after defeating the demon lord Piccolo. Unfortunately, homecoming jests are cut short by the arrival of the Saiyan, an alien race led by Raditz, a warrior who is Goku’s match in power and ferocity—it turns out that Goku is an alien, too, and the Saiyan are set on destroying the Earth. In typical comics fashion, he has to team up with a previous enemy in order to save Earth from the Saiyan threat. Originally published in the late ’80s but presented in English and in color for the first time here, Toriyama’s work is still as humorous and action-packed as when it was created.