Dragon Ball Manga Gets New Cover Art by Kingdom Creator

There is no denying the power of Dragon Ball. Over the decades, Akira Toriyama's franchise has become one of the biggest to ever come out of Japan. Goku is known the world over, and whether you believe it or not, his origin story is nearly half a century old. Dragon Ball will turn 40 years old in just over a year. And to hype Goku's big milestone, the mangaka of Kingdom has gifted the Saiyan a special tribute.

As you can see below, Yasuhisa Hara dropped a new piece of artwork for Goku and Dragon Ball. The Kingdom artist posted a variant piece of cover art for volume 34 of Dragon Ball. Back in the day, Toriyama inked his own cover which featured Goku on a high-tech bike from Capsule Corps. So when Hara was asked to give their own take on the manga, the Kingdom creator went to their historical roots.

Dragon Ball Volume 34 Cover by Yasuhisa Hara, author of Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/HhxGEvBshD

— Hype (@DbsHype) August 1, 2023

After all, they drew Goku in their iconic style, and he is wearing blue-orange armor. We can see Goku has been flung into our own world's past here as he's partaking in a long-fought war in China. As for his motor bike, Goku is living on a living horse here which bares the marks of his martial arts school. And in the back, an army on horses can be seen running towards Goku as he sits armed with his staff.

Obviously, this take on Goku is far from what we're used to seeing, but it perfectly blends Dragon Ball with Kingdom. Hara's best-selling manga takes place in the far past and follows a young man who dreams of proving himself in battle. Though their circumstances are definitely different, Goku and Shin dream of little else than being the strongest. So of course, Hara was the perfect pick to join the Dragon Ball Super Gallery project.

If you are not familiar with Kingdom, don't feel bad! The manga is not well known in the United States, but its sales speak for itself in Japan and across Asia. The wartime series is one of the top selling in manga year over year, after all. You can brush up on Kingdom thanks to its recent anime adaptation which is streaming on Crunchyroll. So for more details on the series, you can read the official synopsis of Kingdom below:

"Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of proving themselves on the battlefield until the day Hyou is captured by a minister. The boy manages to escape and return to his village, but he is badly injured. Shin then meets a mysterious youth who bears an eerie resemblance to Hyou-a boy who will one day become emperor!"

What do you think about this latest Dragon Ball tribute? Have you ever checked out Kingdom...? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!