DRAGON BALL, Volume 8

Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy... (In Japan, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were originally a single 42-volume series. VIZ Media's Dragon Ball contains vols. 1-16 of the original Japanese Dragon Ball, from the beginning of the series to the climax of Goku's last fight with Piccolo.)

Tired of losing their best operatives to Son Goku, the commanders of the Red Ribbon Army hire Taopaipai, the world's greatest assassin, to "take care" of him permanently! To have a chance of defeating this new opponent, Goku must climb the miles-high Karin Tower, where a mysterious hermit guards a jug of magic water which will grant the one who drinks it super strength. And while Goku struggles to get the magic water, time is running out...because Commander Red only needs two more Dragon Balls to make his deepest, darkest wishes come true!

Akira Toriyama is a widely known and acclaimed Japanese manga artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. It is difficult to pin point the source of Toriyama's artwork inspiration. He admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art. Jackie Chan's early movies had a noticeable influence on Toriyama's stories.