The official Dragon Ball website’s fifty-ninth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is the title page to chapter 63 of Dr. Slump (“Peasuke’s First Love”) from the 1981 #17 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, released 24 March 1981.
[NOTE: The official website’s write-up notes this as being released “February 10”, but the issue released on that date was 1981 #11 containing chapter 57, “Kinoko, Cut Loose”.]
This particular title page was selected for today because it mentions the Dr. Slump television series, which first aired 08 April 1981 (Wednesday), 37 years ago this Sunday; other than to correspond with April Fool’s, these entries are exclusively updated on the official website Monday through Friday, making today the closest to the Dr. Slump television series’ anniversary without passing it.
The 1981 #17 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump also contained Pola & Roid, Toriyama’s entry in the Jump Readers’ Award contest for that year, which won him the prize. Toriyama mentioned this work in his corresponding author comment that issue:
Toriyama further commented on producing Pola & Roid in 1983 in the third Akira Toriyama’s ____piece Theatre Vol. 1 cartoon.