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Preface
Nothing really to preface this review except that I’ll be out of town until after New Years’ so the Go Go Power Rangers #5 review will be delayed, unfortunately.
The Cover
This cover conveys the overall threat of the Putty humans as powerful and threatening by combining them into a giant Putty monstrosity looming over our heroes!
Great cover (although I can make the argument that I’ve seen this whole “combining a bunch of little monsters into one bigger monster” thing before)
The Story
In the possibly worst space tavern I have ever seen, the Wizard of Deception (guy from those Green vs. White Ranger episodes) is approached by Rita, Squatt and Baboo. Rita needs someone who’s super-skilled at magic and asks the Wizard to make a certain candlestick… *sly grin*
Back at the Command Center, the Rangers welcome Zordon back to the land of the living, but then jump straight into asking why Zordon didn’t tell them about the 1969 Rangers. Zordon’s response doesn’t exactly sit well with our heroes and the Rangers agree to work with Promethea for now, despite Zordon’s suspicions on how Grace’s technology is more advanced than what humans have made so far.
At Promethea’s HQ, Billy rigs up a device so they can take off their helmets without video surveillance capturing them and so they can relax and talk to each other for a bit. And I mean, talk. Kim has an awkward conversation with Tommy about their current relationship. Jason talks to Grace about the pressures of being a leader and what it feels like to lose your teammates. Even, back at the Command Center, Saba tries to offer Finster a chance to create his own “art” without it hurting innocent people, but he declines.
Eventually, another monster signal is detected and the Rangers teleport out. However, there’s a twist. Grace talks to her assistant at the end and hints that there’s something she’s not telling the Rangers yet. (Wait, a shady organization is keeping secrets? *pretending to be shocked* This is breaking news to me!)
Ending Thoughts
MMPR #22 is a stall in the overall storyline, but is enjoyable nonetheless.
There was no action in this issue, replaced with enjoyable character interactions instead. Having Rita do something outside of her palace is always nice. Tommy and Kim’s awkward conversation gives some conflict on their relationship that didn’t really exist in the show. Jason’s conversation with Grace highlights feelings that wasn’t really explored in the previous issues.
Finster’s explanation to Saba is chilling, especially when you look at it from the perspective of an artist. It’s actually pretty interesting and does highlight issues and problems that artists have. I recommend the issue just for that scene alone. Speaking of art, the art here is the same as last time, just decent. (Although, I like it more this time around for some reason because I can see the artist trying more creatively.)
There were some minor plot details though that did annoy me when I was reading it. I wasn’t at all satisfied with Zordon’s answers, especially when he didn’t present his case that well. The monster threat hinted at the end of the book was going to change any second, even though the whole point of Promethea’s system is to stop it with plenty of time to spare (otherwise, how the heck did they get Mr. Meowgi in questioning if there’s literally no time). Saba’s purpose for helping Finster was to convince Finster to stop the current monster threat…even though Finster already said that he has no control over what the monsters are doing or where they will appear so what’s the point?
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Take a shot every time there’s a helmet reflection in this comic (Seriously, it’s on almost every page the Rangers are wearing the helmets)
- What’s up with the random snake in this jungle? Is it the snake from the Turbo movie?
- One of the panels during the Kim / Tommy conversation made it look Tommy was sporting a 5 o’clock shadow.
- Zack was absent for the whole Promethea scene except for the ending. What was he doing the whole time?
- By the way, if they’re implying that Grace taking the Green Psycho Ranger’s dagger is somehow responsible for all of Promethea’s tech, I’m going to need some serious explanations for that. It’s a dagger. Just a chunk of metal. How could that possibly get all of this tech set-up?