(Disclaimer: Please buy the comic before reading this review available at your local comic shop!)
They can also be found by visiting findacomicshop.com or comicshoplocator.com
Preface
For the people who don’t know, Free Comic Book Day is an event that’s held every year on the first Saturday of May. Hosted by participating comic book stores, special comic books are made and given for free to get more people into comic book culture.
Comic book companies like Marvel and DC use this event to promote some of their titles and give fans a preview as to what they can expect to see in a series. Think of it as a trailer for a movie, only it’s for a comic book.
And this year, with this big franchise event, BOOM! Comics has decided to take part and make a free issue to promote “Shattered Grid”. (Although, we already have two trailers for this already so this is probably unnecessary. But, hey. More the merrier. Or in this case, more the mighty morphiner.) Which leads us to this issue today. Let’s take a look.
The Cover
Looking like a classic movie poster, this cover has the Rangers dead-set in the center (where people’s attention usually goes to) with other characters and elements in the background, making the cover more dynamic. (Those purple edges on the bottom corners are a bit distracting, though.).
Although, even if this cover was just a tiny dot in the middle, I wouldn’t care. If something’s free, there’s not a lot that it can do that would make me really criticize it.
The Story
After the events of MMPR #26, Zordon decides that all of reality might be in danger and that he needs to ask the Morphin’ Masters for advice on what to do (You know, those guys we saw for like 2 seconds and were only referenced in one episode). Knowing the risks of meeting the Masters (If he ever dies, he can’t join them in the Morphin’ Grid), he seeks an audience with the emissaries of the Morphin’ Masters, beings that take the forms of Rangers based on the three colors that are associated with each team: red, blue, and yellow. (You: “But what about Dino Charge?” Me: *puts fingers to your lips* “Shhhhh…”)
So, if the emissaries constantly shift through just Rangers of their own color, does that mean they have genders?
Zordon goes into details about the situation, discussing his own team of Rangers and how they have risen to the occasion to battle evil. He gives glimpses into the original five’s origin (how this universe’s “Day of the Dumpster” happened) and Tommy joining the team (with snippets of the “Green with Evil” arc). Zordon then shows how evil Lord Drakkon is, showing a flashback of Drakkon stabbing Rita right after the big battle at the Command Center.
After all of that, the emissaries decline Zordon’s request for help. They basically tell him “The Morphin’ Grid is ultra super mega strong and some dictator with a hippie haircut ain’t going to destroy that. Trust your Rangers and you’ll be fine. Now, please go. We’re about to watch Avengers: Infinity War.”
As the emissaries send Zordon away and begin to doubt their actions, we get a final shot of Lord Drakkon sitting on his throne, looking at all of the Morphers in his reach.
Ending Thoughts
Well…at least, it’s free…
Just kidding. This issue was good. For a newcomer to the event, this issue gives intrigue as to who Lord Drakkon is and what his plans and capabilities are. Not to mention, it gives the backstory for all of the Rangers for people who might not be fans of the show. It works as a great jumping on point for new readers.
As for someone who is already keeping up with the event, while it’s probably not necessary to fully understand the event, it does answer some lingering questions about this series. It expands more on Lord Drakkon’s world. Mainly what happened to Drakkon’s Rita. Also, it highlighted Zordon trying to help the Rangers and making his own sacrifice to try help all of reality. Art-wise, it’s different from the main series’ artwork right now. It’s more similar to the original art for the series with a lot more detail on the characters and colorful lighting to capture the mood and scale of this comic’s events.
With beautiful artwork, a decent story, and a low, low selling price of free, this issue is definitely worth getting.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
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- For you newcomers who are confused about how exactly the Morphin’ Grid works, don’t worry. Us fans are just as confused.