Freeza has fallen thanks to Goku, but he and the other brave warriors face a new threat from an old foe. The Red Ribbon Army had threatened the world with conquest before Goku crushed them many years ago. Yet it seems he missed a spot: their most brilliant mind, Dr. Gero. Having spent years creating several Android warriors to stand up against a grown-up Goku, the evil scientist will soon launch one final gambit to take revenge for his cause’s loss. The Earth may be in greater danger than ever before, but help is on the way. Help that has purple hair, a tricked-out sword and a time machine...

Put Right What Once Went Wrong

With Namek blowing to bits and both Freeza and Goku seemingly going up with it, the Namekians, Bulma, Gohan and their remaining allies struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives. It's not as hard as it sounds though, since they now have two sets of Dragon Balls, and the Namekian Dragon Balls can bypass the wishes-can-only-be-granted-once rule that kept Chaotzu and Kuririn from returning to life. But what’s this? Goku survived??

Goku rejects the Namekian Shenlong's offer to transport him home instantaneously. Guess he prefers traveling “ship” over traveling by “dragon”... While Vegeta gets back to training for a rematch and Gohan returns to his studies, the Namekians wish for a new planet they can live on! (Because SOMEONE'S got to have a happy ending around here!)

Gotta Get Back in Time

A new, peaceful year passes and Goku's new ship brings him back to earth. But before he's even back a full hour, a mysterious half-Saiyan warrior named Trunks emerges with a dire warning. Hailing from the future, Trunks claims that mechanical life-forms known as Androids will rear their heads in three years' time to take revenge for the Red Ribbon Army’s fall from power. Trunks himself has seen what will happen if nothing is done: they will kill everyone and drive civilization to its knees. Furthermore, Goku will not live to see the battle, and instead will die from a deadly heart disease long before he can join the fight.

Three years and several mostly-off-page training montages later, the promised day arrives. With anticipation (and fear, for anyone not named Goku or Vegeta), they find the island city that Trunks had mentioned. Just as he'd predicted, two androids show up looking for a fight. Goku and the others plunge into the fray, but something's amiss. First off, Androids 19 and 20 don't exactly scan as the invincible monsters Trunks had built them up to be. Was Trunks wrong about he future?

And there's another development: Goku, who been healthy long past when Trunks had claimed the disease would emerge, suddenly starts showing symptoms of heart failure! And right on cue, Trunks returns with some even worse news: there's been a mix up with the androids! The ones they fought weren't the androids they were looking for! Turns out, the real android threat is even more immense than any of the ever imagined! 

Since we're now well into the “Z” segment of the Dragonball manga, it's a bit unusual to have so much page space focused on plot. There are only a handful of fights—those closing up the Freeza/Namek Arc or setting up the new bad guys. Still, gotta love the atmosphere built up, and the fact that the new villains are from Earth and built by evil humans, and not some evil aliens. It’s about to get real in the next volume, and I can hardly wait! 

You can check out Future Trunks' cool hair and sword by picking up this 3-in-1 right here! 

by Chris Turner