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Preface
I’ll be honest. When I initially read MMPR #25, it took some time to sink in what exactly just happened.
Tommy Oliver is dead. Tommy Oliver, the guy who’s not only the first main character of this comic series but the guy who’s undoubtedly the most popular character in the entire Power Rangers franchise, is dead.
Now, of course, in superhero comics, especially in a story that involves time traveling and dimension hopping, usually 9 times out of 10, that dead character doesn’t stay dead for long. The writer for this story has stated that he intends on Tommy staying dead. We’ll see whether or not this death will actually stick.
But, like in fiction, when a character is killed off like this, what ultimately matters are the stories that are told after the death. Which brings us to this story today. What’s so important about this story, so crucial that you needed to kill off one of your main characters? Let’s take a look.
The Cover
Jen: *coming from the timestream* “Rangers! I need your help wit-” *sees the big spoiler of MMPR #25* “Ohhhh… Yeah, I’ll just come back at a better time…”
Yeah, this cover is just one giant spoiler for Issue #25. But, I kinda love it in a way. It’s drawn beautifully and for sure, will draw new readers to this issue.
The Story
In Lord Drakkon’s world, Drakkon returns to his fancy lair, where he talks to Finster-5 and tells him that it’s time to embark on their “great campaign”. Finster-5 has some reservations, but Lord Drakkon believes that they can handle it with his new prisoner in a jar, Ninjor.
At the Command Center, Zordon reveals that he doesn’t have the power to revive Tommy, ala Billy 2017 style. The Rangers decide that the best thing they can do right now is to teleport his body back to the alley and let his mother find peace with his death. A few days pass as Jason bitterly receives the Dragon Shield and Dagger and the Rangers all grieve for Tommy and attend his funeral, but then Jen wakes up. (She was in shock or something at the beginning of this issue. I’m honestly not sure)
So, what exactly is this “Shattered Grid” this event is named after?
Short answer: Tommy’s so cool and popular that his death literally breaks space and time.
Long answer: Lord Drakkon’s appearance in this universe ended up creating a new timeline AKA the comic series that we know now. The timeline itself was fine (still being similar to the entire show’s history) until Lord Drakkon killed Tommy. Rather than the timeline changing entirely and the Morphin’ Grid being entirely destroyed from all of the paradoxes Tommy’s death causes, the Morphin’ Grid placed each team in their own pocket dimension with each season’s history and lore still intact.
With the technology of the Black Dragon and Jen’s transportation device, the Rangers are able to access each pocket dimension and can teleport to each one of the pocket dimensions. Their first stop? The Shiba House, home of the Samurai Rangers.
Lord Drakkon is already there and he and his army take down the Samurai Rangers (including Lauren. Jayden and Mentor Ji are, for some reason, unaccounted for). The Mighty Morphin Rangers and Jen teleport to the Shiba House, but are only able to rescue Lauren while the other Samurai Rangers have their morphers taken away and are taken prisoner.
At Lord Drakkon’s lair, with the help of a mind-controlled Ninjor, Finster-5 fuses one of the Samuraizers with Lord Drakkon, allowing him to have Mega Mode Power. Now, with the rest of the Samuraizers going to be used to create more Sentries, Lord Drakkon is already planning his next move…
Ending Thoughts
Only issue with this event so far? Finster-5 is lame. As a character, he is here to explain how exactly Lord Drakkon can do certain things like creating the Ranger Sentries. That’s just ok. But, as a concept, he perplexes me. I have so many questions about him. Like, why is he called Finster-5? Shouldn’t you only do that if there were five Finsters? Why is he wearing a bunch of Alpha gear? I don’t know why, but he looks like he should be holding a skateboard and yelling, “EXTREME!”. I’d be fine with just an evil Alpha. Finster-5 feels unnecessary.
Aside from that, this issue was amazing.
Tommy’s funeral and the Rangers grieving for Tommy was emotional and realistic while not being too drawn out or dramatic. Just that one panel of Jason receiving the Dragon Shield says so much about all of the pain and turmoil that Jason is going for. The explanations for how the “Shattered Grid” works and what exactly the villains of the story plan to be doing for this event is actually pretty creative, make logical sense and offer a lot of fun possibilities for character interactions and Ranger battles. (Although, with RPM and Dino Charge being in different dimensions, things get a little weird.) The artwork, like I said before, is not as detailed as how the series’ artwork started, but its anime-like style is breathtaking and takes advantages of all of the backdrops and characters. Especially during the funeral scene, you can see all of the heartbreak and pain the Rangers are going through.
MMPR #26 gives us the basic premise of the event and drives Shattered Grid into full momentum. Right now, no Ranger is safe.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I’m sorry, but can I get Finster-6 instead? I just want to imagine Finster speaking all of his lines in the comic like a stereotypical New Yorker.
- Jesus Christ, Ninjor, stop being trapped in jars! I’m serious. He’s more of a damsel in distress than Princess Shayla was. He just keeps being captured!
- I feel so bad for Tommy’s mom. She worried for weeks that her son was missing and was found trapped underneath some rubble with barely any air left and then another few weeks later, is found dead in an alley.
- Apparently, for the Samurai Rangers, the Nighlok came back so… where’s my Season 3 of Samurai, Saban?!
- Good to know that the Shiba House protects from Netherworld monsters, but not basically guys with guns!
- What’s interesting about that diagram with all of the Ranger symbols is that Ninja Steel is the only one that’s absent for some reason.
- Similar to how Jayden “escaped” Deker by essentially falling into a river, Lauren kinda did the same thing here. Coincidence?
- Oh yeah, if you remember in MMPR #16, our Scorpina was left in Lord Drakkon’s world. The Hyperforce episodes tying into Shattered Grid address what happens to her. No spoilers, but it’s safe to say we won’t see her for a while. I hope, at least, there’s at least a mention of what happened to her.
- Also, in the Blue Senturion side story right now, J Jonah Jameson became a robot commissioner.
- I will say that I noticed that there were some technical errors with it, mainly some spelling errors and speech bubbles were placed in wrong spots. Also, I think Lord Drakkon Mega Mode had some color differences between panels. It’s not anything that important, but I’m just letting you know.