The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to… Dragon Ball

Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character or series. This post is all about the adventures and battles of the greatest martials arts warriors on Earth, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z!

Goku in the original Dragon Ball anime (GIF via GIPHY)

What is Dragon Ball?

Written and drawn by the late Akira Toriyama (1955-2024), Dragon Ball is one of the most popular and influential manga in the world. First serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump between 1984 and 1995, the story follows the adventures of Son Goku, a heroic monkey-tailed boy who goes an epic quest to collect the seven Dragon Balls, a set of artifacts that when gathered together summon a dragon that can grant wishes.

Beginning as an adventure story inspired by martial arts films and the Chinese epic novel Journey to the West, Dragon Ball initially followed Goku on his quest alongside explorer Bulma, former bandit Yamcha, rival martial artist Krillin, and the aged but powerful martial arts sensei Master Roshi.

Goku and his allies in Dragon Ball Z (GIF via GIPHY)

The series then skips ahead to Goku’s adult years (which the anime would rename Dragon Ball Z), where he learned of his alien heritage as a member of the Saiyan race. Here, Dragon Ball pivots to being a science-fiction action series, based around epic battles between powerful villains, such as the Saiyan prince Vegeta, the alien tyrant Frieza, and the child-like magical being Majin Buu.

(Note: The Dragon Ball manga series is split into Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z to be more familiar to anime viewers; the manga in its original form is considered one continuous series named Dragon Ball. As such, our Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z volumes overlap slightly between these two halves, which I will note below).

Dragon Ball

We have the entirety of the Dragon Ball series in 3-in-1 editions, covering chapters 1 to 194 of the original manga.

The first five volumes of Dragon Ball Z are also in these editions, beginning halfway through the sixth one.

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 1 / Toriyama, Akira

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 2 / Toriyama, Akira

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 3 / Toriyama, Akira

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 4 / Toriyama, Akira

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 6 / Toriyama, Akira (Dragon Ball Z begins here)

Dragonball : 3-in-1 edition. 7 / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z comprises chapters 195 to 519 of the Dragon Ball manga, beginning with the volume The World’s Greatest Team.

(If you read all of the above Dragonball volumes first, skip to Dragon Ball Z volume 2).

Dragon Ball Z [1] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [2] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [3] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [4] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [5] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [6] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [7] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [8] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Z [9] / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball Super

Published 20 years after the end of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super picks up six months after the series’ climactic battle with Majin Buu. Here, Goku and his allies take part in the Tournament of Power, a contest between the most powerful warriors of eight universes.

Dragon Ball super. 1, Warriors from Universe 6 / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 2, The winning universe is decided / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 3, Zero mortal project / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 4, Last chance for hope / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 5, The decisive battle! Farewell, trunks / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 6, The super warriors gather / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 7, Universe survival! Tournament of Power begins! / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball super. 8, Sign of son Goku’s awakening / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 9, Battle’s end and aftermath / Toriyama, Akira (also on Libby)

Dragon Ball super. 10, Moro’s wish / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball super. 11, Great escape / Toriyama, Akira

Dragon Ball super. 12, Merus’s true identity / Toriyama, Akira