Dragon Ball Super Graphic Novel Volume 3 cover image

Dragon Ball was a long-running Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama.  It was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995 and was comprised of 519 individual chapters.  The hero of Dragon Ball was Son Goku, and the series began with the story of his childhood.

Dragon Ball Super is a sequel to the Dragon Ball manga and the “Dragon Ball Z” anime series.  Dragon Ball Super is written by Toriyama and drawn by Toyotarou, a writer-artist who has already produced Dragon Ball spin-off manga.  This new series is set several months after Goku's victory that brought peace back to Earth.  Goku and his friends must defend Earth, this time from fighters from other universes and timelines.

Dragon Ball Super, Vol. 3 (Chapters 16 to 20; entitled “Zero Mortal Project!”) opens after the end of the “Universe 6 and 7 Invitational Fighting Tournament.”  Goku and friends return to their normal lives... until “Future Trunks” (the future version of the youngster named “Trunks”) arrives.  Future Trunks has come to warn Goku and company that in the future there is a monster named “Goku Black,” a mysterious warrior who looks exactly like Goku.

He has wiped out most of Earth and apparently most of the “Gods of Destruction” and “Lords of Lords.”  When Goku and Vegeta believe that they have discovered the true identity of Black Goku, they head to the future.  What they find, however, is more questions and more conspirators.

[This manga includes a bonus story.]

THE LOWDOWN:  Thanks to my VIZ Media media representative, I am an occasional reader of Dragon Ball manga.  I am also receiving the Dragon Ball Super manga with some regularity.

Dragon Ball Super Graphic Novel Volume 3 follows Vol. 2, which moved the series beyond its original premise – the fight between Universes 6 and 7.  The new direction can be a little confusing because the reader has to keep up with characters from multiple universes and timelines and also with a few duplicate characters from other timelines and universes.  Vol. 3 does start off slow, but picks up during the battle portion of the story, which comprises most of Chapters 19 and 20.

Still, Vol. 3 is a fun read and is a little more entertaining than Vol. 2.  Plus, letterers Paolo Gattone and Chiara Antonelli pack the chapters in this volume with explosive sound effects that go just right with the kinetic battles.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers looking for more Dragon Ball will want to try the “Shonen Jump” title, Dragon Ball Super.

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7.5 out of 10