First, a little back story. Dragon Ball was the third series created by famous mangaka Akira Toriyama. His seacond and, at the time, most succesful series Dr. Slump had ended in 1985 on a high note. Toriyama was a star.......and as they say, 'heavy is the head that wears the crown'.
Toriyama came up with the idea to create a modern retelling of the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West". The star of his little work would be a rather cutesey version of the eponymous Son-Goku, the Monkey King. He didn't intend on the work to go past ten volumes........holy crap was he WRONG!
Now, for those of you who have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, here's the story.....in a nutshell, anyway. Son Goku, whose been living by himself in the woods for years, comes across Bulma Briefs, a highschool girl and genius inventor who is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls on her summer vacation. She enlists Son Goku as her sidekick.....and after that, there's nothing but madness and destruction for the next 10 years.
For those of you who don't know, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are really one in the same. The reason that they were divided up into two seperate series is because the atmosphere and overall feeling of the stories change so drastically when DBZ begins. Whereas Dragon Ball is mostly based on gags, sex jokes and oddball Martial Arts, Dragon Ball Z is mostly filled with drama, space aliens and ENDLESS action.
So, why do I think that this thing is so underrated? Well.....because of the...shall we say.....enthusiastic young fanbase that DBZ has, most people completely write off the complete Dragon Ball manga. If so, its there loss. Toriyama's humor and storytelling ability are unparalleled in today's manga. True, Rumiko Takahashi is a good contender......but then again, Inuyasha has only been lasting for about 6 years.
Now, as I said before, Toriayama's will to create more or less burned itself out by the end of the Dragon Ball manga. However, he has since done some other, more shorter manga........most famously the manga novel Sand Land.
Both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are available from Viz Media in there Shonen Jump label......which means that they're only $7.99 each.
If you get the chance, please, don't pass this one up. You'll find that you love it alot more than you imagine.