Drifting Dragons vol. 9

The dragon the Quin Zaza was facing off against at the end of vol. 8 was special in a couple of ways.  We find out here that not only is it one of the four legendary dragons that roam the skies, but it’s also the one that took down the Quin Zaza and its original captain so many years ago.  It is also a mean bastard, as the crew finds out in short order.  The encounter leaves the ship badly damaged (again) and having to limp back to town with their spoils.  It’s going to take a small fortune before the ship is skyworthy again, but Capt. Crocco has bigger ambitions than that.  He wants to remake the Quin Zaza into a ship that’s capable of taking down this legendary dragon.  If you’re wondering how he’s going to find the money to do this, you might recall that the crew has made at least one friend with very deep pockets over the course of their travels.  (If you’re still wondering and are not averse to spoilers, he’s on the back cover of this volume.)

Vol. 9 is a solid wrap-up to the previous arc, and follows it up with a slightly uneven mix of worldbuilding, setup, and filler.  It’s nice to see Lee use his business acumen to help the crew out, to get some more background on Vannie and her home country, and to learn more about the legendary dragons of the world.  That last bit gives me the impression that mangaka Taku Kuwabara may finally have some long-term plans for this series, unless his endgame is for Crocco and crew to settle things with just this dragon.  Then we get a small filler arc about dragons that are crashing into town and how the crew needs to capture a live one to figure out what’s going on.  Aside from establishing that radio exists in the world of “Drifting Dragons,” this storyline didn’t do much for me.  Everything else about this volume has me expecting better things next time out, however.