Dragon Boy is a manga by Akira Toriyama that ran originally in the Fresh Jump. It was later released in Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2. Dragon Boy is best known for being a prototype for the much more popular Dragon Ball manga, which began the following year.
 
Dragon Boy features the adventures of a boy named Tangtong and an unlikely ragtag group who go on a journey to the Flower Country. This short work is 45-page long (15 for the first chapter and 21 for the second), and it combines the comedic style of Toriyama's successful Dr. Slump series with a more action-oriented plot and pays homage to famous martial art actor Jackie Chan. Toriyama noted that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story. Like Dragon Ball, this manga is mainly based on the Chinese story Journey to the West. Several elements from the story were later reused in Dragon Ball, largely in the first 13 chapters, notably the martial arts theme and the general atmosphere. Dragon Boy even has its own version of the Dragon Ball artifacts. However, in this incarnation, the Dragon Balls produce small dragons when hit with an energy blast, which actually was quite useless when Tangtong summoned it in the story.
 
(Source: Dragon Ball Wiki)

Dragon Ball follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls for their own desires. Along the way becoming the strongest warrior in the universe. 
Part II of Dragon Ball is also known as "Dragon Ball Z" in North America. 
Note: Chapter count includes 519 regular chapters and 1 extra. (Volume 33's "Trunks: The Story").

Compilations containing many of Toriyama's one-shots. 

Volume 1 (1983) 
- Wonder Island (1978-1979) 
- Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe (1979) 
- Pola & Roid (1981) 
- Mad Matic (1982) 
- Chobit (1983) 

Volume 2 (1988) 
- Today's Highlight Island (1979) 
- Escape (1982) 
- Pink (1982) 
- Dragon Boy (1983) 
- The Adventure of Tongpoo (1983) 
- Mr. Ho (1986) 
- Young Master Ken'nosuke (1987) 
- The Elder (1988) 

Volume 3 (1997) 
- Little Mamejiro (1988) 
- Karamaru and the Perfect Day (1989) 
- Soldier of Savings Cashman (1990) 
- Dub & Peter 1 (1992-1993) 
- Go! Go! Ackman (1993)

A two-volume bunkoban reprint of Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater, retitled "An Emperor's Feast of Akira Toriyama". 

This version, while omitting several one-shots from Manga Theater, includes the two-chapter Alien X-Peke (1996), published after the end of Dragon Ball, as well as the full-color seinen manga Lady Red (1987).
 
The second volume also includes "The Anime and Me" (1989), a full-color essay manga from the first Dragon Ball Z Anime Special magazine, as well as a new afterword by the mangaka.
 
Featured one-shots include:
 
Volume 1: 
- Lady Red 
- Go! Go! Ackman 
- Dub & Peter 1 
- The Elder 
- Young Master Kenosuke 
- Mr. Ho 
- Mad Matic 
- Pola & Roid 
- Wonder Island 
- Dragon Boy 
 
Volume 2: 
- Alien X Peke 
- Soldier of Savings Cashman 
- Karamaru and the Perfect Day 
- Little Mamejiro 
- The Adventure of Tongpoo 
- Chobit 
- Escape 
- Pink 
- Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe 
- Today's Highlight Island

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