The Super Dragon Ball Heroes manga

Super DB Heroes is a spin-off manga from the Dragon Ball universe, based on the Japanese arcade card game of the same name. Originally released as a promotional piece for the game in 2010 in Japan, this manga, drawn by Yoshitaka Nagayama, delves into alternate or parallel universes and dimensions. It has gained so much fame and popularity that it transcended Japan's borders, reaching Spain in 2019 thanks to Planeta Cómic.

We've already mentioned that this manga is an official but non-canon spin-off of Dragon Ball. So, what defines it, what is its origin, and what stories does it bring us?

Dragon Ball Heroes: The Origin of a Franchise

In 2010, Bandai Namco released a new arcade game in Japan called "Dragon Ball Heroes." To play this arcade game, players not only needed to insert coins but also required collectible cards, which could be bought separately or earned during gameplay. The game expanded the non-canon lore of the franchise, exploring alternate universes, allowing players to see characters like Raditz as a SSJ3 or Broly as a SSJ4.

Thanks to the game’s growing popularity, console versions were created, a promotional anime was produced, and in 2016, the manga began publishing in V Jump.

A Promotional Anime for the Game

Although we can now enjoy an ongoing story in the manga, it's essential to remember that Super Dragon Ball Heroes remains a promotional product designed to support the arcade card game.

Each of its main story arcs is centered on providing context and narrative for the game’s expansions, which share the same name.

What stories does it tell?

Super Dragon Ball Heroes currently has 4 story arcs, each corresponding to an expansion of the arcade card game. But what do they tell us? Here is an official synopsis of each of the 4 stories:

• Mission to the Dark Demon Realm!: Trunks becomes trapped in an empty space of time. Now, he must become a Time Guardian and face the Demon Realm...
• Mission to the Universe!!: Has Trunks been kidnapped!? An enigmatic character named Fū suddenly appears and leads Son Goku and Vegeta to the Planetary Prison...
• Big Bang Mission!!!: Fū, the Dark King, finally awakens and resumes the "Big Bang Mission" experiment to create a new universe! Goku and Vegeta fuse and fight to save the universe...
• Ultra God Mission!!!!: Fighters from all across space and time gather to battle in the Super Space-Time Tournament! Goku's team is not only made up of familiar warriors from Universe 7, but also...

In summary, these stories are based on parallel or alternate universes, functioning like a What If... and bringing tons of fan service in the form of battles, transformations, and storylines.

It has already been mentioned, but in Spain, this collection has been released by Planeta Cómic, exclusively in tankōbon format.

As a fun fact, the early special issues, which do not follow the main story, have not been included in these volumes so far.

Here is a complete list or checklist, with illustrations of all the covers and their original release year in Spain. Additionally, all the volumes have links to stores where you can check their availability and compare prices.

Remember, this collection is still not finished either in Spain or in Japan.