DRAGONBALL Z (THREE IN ONE VOLUME 3)
January 14th 2010 06:54
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Story & Art by: Akira Toriyama
English Adaptation: Gerard Jones
Translation: Lillian Olsen
Touch up art & Lettering: Wayne Truman & HudsonYards
Shonen Jump Series Design: Sean Lee
VIZBIG Edition Design: Frances O Liddell
Cost: US $17.99
The Greatest Fighting Manga Ever, to use the superlatives from this volume’s back cover, returns once again in a three in one compilation comprising volumes 7, 8 & 9 of the original manga. What does this all mean, well if I can once again dip into the superlatives on the back of said work; it’s three times the action, the fighting…THE POWER… Let’s face it with Dragonball Z casual laid back remarks and observations are just not the norm, the whole thing demands that everything go into a Spinal Tapesque overdrive, turning the dial way past anything that has gone before. This saga is literally a roller coaster ride of mayhem and carnage that does not let up at any stage, if you’re not into high paced action and nearly nonstop biffo then this is not the manga for you. Something slightly more sedate and relaxed may be up your alleyway than this…
Enter Freeza; a villain of truly epic proportions, so frightening is he in his capacity for evil and carnage that he even makes Vegeta think twice. And just to make things that little bit more complicated Vegeta himself is on Namek and engaged in attempting to secure the dragonballs for his own agenda. His schemes do not include anything as philanthropic as wishing for universal peace and harmony or even something as prosaic as a pipe and a pair of slippers either. No he wants immortality, although his reason for this particular wish is so he can defeat Freeza as he is well aware of that particular individual’s megalomania and feels the universe would be better off without him. Of course he’s colossally arrogant in feeling that he is the only one to do the job and do it right, he just needs that wish to make sure of things.
Can our heroes prevent the unthinkable from happening? Can the villainous machinations of Freeza be thawed out and rendered useless (bad pun intended)? With Son Goku on his way as backup for the plucky trio you’d think that it would be a no brainer, but then again the villain of the piece Freeza has considerable resources at his disposal and he is not without a cadre of lackeys to assist in carrying out his nefarious scheme. The Ginyu Force, comprised of five mercenaries arrives on Namek to assist their boss Freeza. Made up of Butta, Reacoom, Captain Ginyu, Jheese and Gurd this outfit seem more like a bunch of posers than major league enforcers for a badass villain, still they are more than capable of causing some serious hurt as Goku and Kuririn find out. Help though comes from a very unexpected quarter…Vegeta aids our plucky heroes in their fight although it’s on a purely selfish basis; he has no desire to see the Ginyu Force triumph and their master get his way.
The action in this manga literally chews up the landscape; in fact one suspects that real estate values in the Dragonball Z universe must be in a constant state of fluctuation with the carnage that gets dealt out on a seemingly regular basis. These guys don’t just slice up the odd candle or two; they slice entire mountains or more aptly mountain ranges. In fact when the earthlings arrive on Namek they find that the locals have all but been wiped out by Freeza in his attempts to extract information about the dragonballs. The most powerful being in the known universe he might be but obviously he needs to go to charm school and perhaps work on his social skills. A bit like Dante from Devil May Cry 3…
Its rather interesting to see how the whole focus has moved away from the mystical and supernatural in this saga to the alien and science fiction. Initially the Dragonball saga was built on foundations drawn from the legendary Chinese literary work “Journey into the West” on which the Monkey TV show was based as well as Dragonball itself. The elements in the story thus were a bit more focused on traditional Buddhist mythology, and then along comes Dragonball Z and the mythological angle seems to have been put back in its box. One wonders if Akira Toriyama got a message from his editor one day along the lines of “Toriyama-san demons and monsters are so passé, how about making Piccolo an alien and take the saga out into the wider reaches of the universe?”
Who knows, regardless of the slight genre shift in story background it has to be said that Dragonball Z captures your attention, holds onto until the very last page and frankly leaves you wanting more. It has that happy knack of being a work you just cannot put down until you have read it from start to finish. Not too many works be they manga, comics or even best selling literature can do that today, if action/adventure are meat and drink to you then this is definitely one saga you should be sinking your teeth into.
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