Even dead Goku is a happy boy.
Dragon Ball Z #8
Viz Comics (1998)
originally published by Shuesha, Inc (1983) for Bird Studio
“Two Generations, Two Kinds Of Training”
WRITER/ARTIST: Akira Toriyama
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Gerard Jones
TRANSLATION: Lillian Olsen
TOUCH-UP ART/LETTERER: Wayne Truman
EDITOR: Trish Ledoux
Bulma gets Raditz’s scouter working, and set for Earth numbers and language. They’ll need it to find the rest of their friends when Yajirobe tells them to come to Kami’s lookout for special training and that Goku shouldn’t be wished back for a year. Six months pass as Krillin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Yajirobe train to fight the Saiyans while Gohan finally begins his training with Piccolo, the news of which Chi-Chi (Gohan’s mom and Goku’s wife) doesn’t take very well. It also took those six months to reach the Lord Of Worlds, and after a misunderstanding or two he finally begins his training.
What they got right: It’s good to see the old gang back together (if you followed the older Dragon Ball stories), and seeing Gohan and Goku finally begin their training.
What they got wrong: The comic time skips six months, which means we missed Gohan’s growth and the training for the other fighters, made worse by the fact that the show actually showed us what happened and it was very interesting. I don’t know if Toriyama wrote those scene for the anime or not, but it would have been nice to see here, especially the dino that keeps losing his tail to be Gohan’s supper every time he attacks Gohan. I also could have done without Bulma firing a machine gun (probably one Launch left behind) at Krillin and Roshi. Or shooting them with it only for their bullet wounds to disappear the next time they’re on panel.
Recommendation: Still an enjoyable comic. Give it a read.
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