1 Chapter Down, 1 More to Go!
Jackie Chun, Immortal Master. Original Artwork from Atari.
The rough draft of Immortal and Invincible has been completed. This means that there is only 1 chapter of the book left to be written, (currently) titled Divine Combat.
The Immortal and Invincible chapter discusses the practices of martial arts masters on their quest for immortality.It focuses on Daoist masters and sennin hermits, like Master Roshi (aka Jackie Chun).
The chapter measured in at 28 pages (at 11 pt font), so it may be many more in the actual book. Though of course it will be edited down and made more concise. Even so, that chapter was extremely difficult to write and I am glad the rough draft is complete.
Thank you to those who have written in with their support. I know you guys are looking forward to the book’s release. For those that are eager to read more about this chapter, here are the first 3 paragraphs of the rough draft:
“Dragon Ball is filled with martial artists that employ the use of supernormal abilities to do battle or heal the wounded. The characters fight against themselves, against those with ulterior motives, and in some cases against outright demons.
With the Ksatreya warriors and the path of the Vajramukti well established in Indian culture the concept of an invincible and noble warrior became intertwined into the martial arts on its voyage across nations. Spreading to both Western Europe and the Orient the draw of the martial arts and the spiritual path were adopted by various cultures. In this chapter we learn how the belief systems and cultural traditions of ancient China affected the creation of Dragon Ball in Japan. By the end of the chapter it will be very evident how Toriyama borrowed, was inspired by, or makes light of these beliefs in his comic.
The culture of ancient East Asia was a world of men and monsters, heaven and hell, and the cultivated spiritual warriors that overcame the demons on their path to immortality or enlightenment. The worlds of men, gods, and demons were interwoven. The life of a man was intricately linked to the heavens, and for those who walked the spiritual path of cultivation they would often experience demonic interference. The more one overcame these demons (whether internal or external) the more one would awaken their own potential. From this ideology sprang forth a culture of cultivation, and one such form of cultivation was the martial arts.”
Onward, to the next chapter!
New Dragon Ball Book Cover
The new book cover
The theme for the book cover was to try and capture some of Goku’s personality in a simple and clean way. I borrowed the orange from the color of his dogi, the blue from his boots, belt and shirt, and the yellow from his Super Saiya-jin hair.
The logo consists of the orange star from Orange Star High School combined with a Daoist yin-yang in the colors already mentioned.
And I chose a simple but large font that was easy to read from far away as well as in the form of a tiny thumbnail, such as you might see on Amazon books.
The characters below the yin-yang are “Long Qiu Dao” (in Chinese) and translate as “Dragon Ball Dao,” or in other words, The Dao of Dragon Ball. This way it becomes clear at a glance that the book contains East Asian content, and perhaps that will fascinate someone long enough to open the book or read the back cover.
For comparisons sake, you can also check out another mockup I created for the cover in June of 2009.
Dragon Ball Book Progress Update
Goku Waits Patiently
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your support on the site and to those who have pre-ordered the book. All of you are being very patient and I want to give you a progress update.
Right now I have two chapters left to finish before the rough draft of the book will be complete.
The first chapter is Immortal and Invincible. It will discuss the history of eastern martial arts and the mind body cultivation practices of Daoism, along with a practitioner’s quest for physical and spiritual immortality. It will also unveil how a body can, from an eastern paradigm, attain invincibility.
Both immortality and invincibility are themes in Dragon Ball, and I think this will be a very interesting chapter for fans of the series.
The second chapter is Divine Combat. This chapter will reveal the history of combat and hand to hand battles in the myths and legends of various cultures around the world, and how martial arts has always played a role in our culture, including our modern society, right on up to DBZ, martial arts flicks, anime, the Matrix and beyond. The connection between legendary battles in heaven, the deliverance of martial arts from gods to man, and the progress of martial arts in our civilization will be made very clear.
I’m sincerely trying to complete these chapters before the end of October, with an e-book release in November or December.
There are so many steps needed to complete a goal like this, and I’m becoming a better writer and person in the process, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to improve.
Of course I want this book out more than anyone and I would like to once again thank all of you for your patience and support.