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Dragon Ball-ism Toriyama Showcase #6: Dub & Peter 1!

Welcome back to "Dragon Ball-ism: Toriyama Showcase"—the series where we discuss Akira Toriyama's various short stories and one-shot works. This time, we're getting ready to burn some rubber in a short comic series about a seriously cool sentient car, "Dub & Peter 1"!

DUB & PETER 1
Published in V Jump, 1992 - November 22nd Issue, December 30th Issue; 1993 - February 21st Issue, April 4th Issue.

This series ran for just four chapters in V Jump, with the first, third, and fourth appearing in full color! It was published alongside Dragon Ball around the time when the Android and Cell arcs were already in full swing, which means that Toriyama must've had his pedal to the metal to keep up with his jam-packed manga-creation schedule! In this article, we'll be using some colored images that you'd ordinarily only be able to see with a copy of V Jump in your hands from the time of its original printing to show off just why this classic comic gets our motor running!

Peter 1—The High-Tech Supercar Designed to...Pick Up Girls?!

Dreaming of becoming a big hit with the ladies, the protagonist of the story, Dub, has his super-genius pal, Peter, build him an ultra-cool automobile.

The way Dub insists on having a radio in the car is a little reminiscent of Dr. Brief pondering over the perfect position to install the speakers in the spaceship he was rebuilding for Goku.

("Dragon Ball" Tale 251)

Somewhere in between overcoming various mechanical mishaps, the car even gets fitted out with a supercomputer that makes it capable of thinking and speaking just like a human!

Dub christens his new vessel "Peter 1" after its chief creator and sets off to find a potential girlfriend without a moment to lose.
However, the woman that Peter 1 locates for Dub is a little leftfield of his ideal type—not to mention out of his age range!
In the end, Dub and Peter have to take the sentient supercar back to square one and teach it what kind of girl Dub is searching for.

The whole situation was a bit like when Kamesennin was trying to explain what he means by a pretty girl to Goku!

("Dragon Ball" Tale 25)

Toriyama must have a penchant drawing for cars with distinct, rounded form factors like Peter 1, because we see them popping up quite a lot in Dragon Ball too!

(Jump Comics "Dragon Ball" Volume 6 Cover)

("Dragon Ball" Tale 256 Title Page)

And for when hitting the road just won't do it for you, Peter 1 can also transform and take to the skies! Again, we saw a similarly flashy design in Dragon Ball with the plane that Bulma and Trunks once went for a cruise in.

(Jump Comics "Dragon Ball" Volume 32 Cover)

Will Dub and Peter 1 ever find the drop-dead gorgeous date that he's searching for?!
Pick up this short comic that's full of vehicular Dragon Ball-isms to find out for yourself!

*All comic images are from the Japanese version.

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