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Before Dragon Ball: See the 1984 advertisements announcing the creation of this now classic manga

Rachel Tackett Oct 2, 2013
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Anyone remotely familiar with Japan’s comic culture has likely seen or at least heard of the world-renowned adventure manga, Dragon Ball. Honestly, thanks to the anime, the TV specials, the films, and the Hollywood movie adaption, it’s hard to find anyone without at least some awareness of this awesome title. The impact that Dragon Ball has had on Japan’s comic industry is so great that a world without Super Saiyans is hard to even imagine. But, every series has to have begun somewhere, and before the 51st issue of Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine for the year 1984, there was no such thing as Dragon Ball!

…Actually, that’s a lie. Issue number 51 certainly contained the first chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, but the hype began a short time before that. After all, it’s hard to sell an all-new series without some form of advertising. We found this to be true when the Japanese side of our RocketNews24 staff managed to dig up a copy of 1984’s Weekly Shonen Jump volume 50, one issue prior to the release of Dragon Ball. Inside, we found some awesome illustrated spreads announcing the creation of this comic wonder. It’s fascinating to see just how highly the series was anticipated, though the comic’s branding might have been a little off the mark at first.

▼ Here’s what Jump had to say about the upcoming series!

Pardon the wait! The Emperor of Gags
is releasing in Japan!!
On sale in No. 51!!
The greatest invasion of gag we’ll ever see!! The epitome of 1984!!
Akira Toriyama is BACK
DRAGON BALL

What a warm introduction! Though, not exactly the explanation we expected for Dragon Ball…

Even before acquiring world-wide acclaim for his Dragon Ball comic series, Akira Toriyama was a well-respected Japanese manga artist for his comedy series, Dr. Slump, which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1980 until 1984, earning him the title “Emperor of Gag.” For this reason, it was anticipated that Dragon Ball would be another gag manga, with a side-helping of adventure. But, as we all know, the manga instead morphed into one of the most influential martial arts/action comics of our time! Sure, it has its funny moments, but compared to all the butt-kicking, to call it an “invasion of gag” seems a bit off the mark. Nevertheless, it got people reading!

▼ And of the main characters…

Son Goku, an absurdly innocent super hero, is a master of Dragon Kenpou (Chinese defensive martial art)!! Bulma is the first female he ever sees.
Collect all seven Dragon Balls, and the Dragon will appear before you to grant you one wish!!
DRAGON BALL
The sexy girl, Bulma, is years older than Goku and a real troublemaker.

Well, the character descriptions appear to be on the mark, though I admit, I never knew that the kind of martial arts that Goku practices is called Dragon Kenpou. Did that ever come up in the series or was I just not paying attention?

By the way, series coming out around the same time and appearing in volume 50 of Weekly Shonen Jump included other hit classics such as Fist of the North Star, Kinnikuman, and Captain Tsubasa, as well as some lesser-known titles like High School! Kimengumi, Wingman, and more. Oh, the nostalgia!

Pictures: RocketNews24

▼ The front cover of 1984 Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine volume 50.

▼ The page was sadly torn, but here’s a list of the series that released chapters in volume 50.