about the book
This graphic novel is the prequel to Toriyama’s highly acclaimed manga series, Dragon Ball.
Omori, a grumpy old scientist, lives alone on a remote deserted island. Researching time travel, he is desperately trying to save his deceased wife and dead assistants. So far, his machine only temporarily speeds up time, only giving the illusion of time travel.
Meanwhile deep in space, Jaco, an eccentric galactic patrolman and peacekeeper, is sent to Earth to protect it from an evil alien. Unfortunately, it’s a long trip and Jaco gets distracted by a video. He accidentally clips the moon and crashes on Omori’s island, damaging his ship.
Although Omori finds the extraterrestrial cop annoying, he offers to repair Jaco’s vessel. The work is made all the more difficult by Katayude, a nosy government official, and Omoni finds it nearly impossible to keep the alien secret. The pipsqueak spaceman shouts about how important he is and engages in all sorts of comical attention-grabbing antics. To top it off, Jaco has out-of-this-world powers, wants to beat up rude humans, and is consumed by his own cool looks!!
Omori and Jaco run into another problem—fuel! They need a very expensive metal only available in the capital city. While there, Jaco saves a young woman, Tights, from thugs, and unknowingly attacks the police. Now he is a wanted man! Tights has just enough money to buy a little of the expensive metal and joins Jaco and Omori back on the island. This tiny bit of fuel should allow Jaco to call home…except he breaks the antenna while showing off!
When Katayude shows up to arrest Jaco, there is a nasty confrontation with the police, the rocket malfunctions, Tights needs saving, and Omori’s contraption comes into play. Meanwhile, the evil alien disguised as a pop idol makes it to Earth!
If you want to know what happens next, jump into this read. Just be prepared. Jaco has an extinction bomb that might…or might not…kill off the whole planet. With Jaco, you never know!
about the author/illustrator
Akira Toriyama is regarded as one of the most influential manga artists in history. He is world renowned for his distinctive art style and his playful, innovative, and humorous storytelling, and his series, Dragon Ball, is said to have changed the course of manga.
Akira was born on April 5, 1955 in Nagoya, Japan. Everyone in his elementary school drew manga, so at first he didn’t find it very entertaining. Only after he began sketching his friends did his talents began to shine. He even won an award at a local art studio for an illustration of Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians! To this day, it is still his favorite animated movie.
He burst into the comic book world in 1980 with his wildly popular series, Dr. Slump, which sold more than 35 million copies and was adapted into two very successful anime series. His next series, Dragon Ball, became the third most popular and successful manga in the world, selling more than 230 million copies! The anime adaptations were even more popular than the comics and are credited with boosting the popularity of this Japanese art style in the Western world.
Besides being a manga writer and illustrator, Akira is a game artist, a character designer, and an art director.
He currently resides in Kiyosu, Japan, with his family and is employed by Shueisha, Bird Studio. In his spare time, he enjoys cars and motorbikes, a passion he inherited from his father who raced bikes and owned an auto repair business.
Sources:
Author biography: IMDb
Author biography: Wikipedia
Author biography: TV Tropes
Also by Akira Toriyama:
Dragon Ball Z (Books 1-26). Viz Media. 2001-2006.
Dr. Slump (Books 1-18). Viz Media. 2005-2009.
read more!
Dragon Ball Z : 1 : The World’s Greatest Team by Akira Toriyama
Son Goku is the greatest hero on Earth with fantastic martial arts skills and amazing strength. Now he is amarried with a son, Son Gohan. An alien visitor, Raditz, arrives claiming that Goku is also an alien and the two are brothers! But when Raditz turns into a ruthless killer, Goku must fight his incredibly strong brother to save his family and the rest of the planet!
The Silver Six by A.J. Lieberman
Phoebe lost her parents when Craven Industries workers died in a shuttle accident. Since then she has been living illegally on her own. When she is caught and placed in a prisonlike orphanage, she and five other orphans flee to a livable moon. Craven, the evil CEO, wants these kids for his own nefarious reasons, but the kids unite into the Silver Six to fight back!