(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
This is it. The final battle between Lord Drakkon’s forces and Power Rangers for reality begins.
The Countdown to Drakkon begins. IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!
The Cover
“Wow, Power Morphicon got a lot more intense this year, huh?”
Ominious cover, setting the mood with all of the discarded helmets. Pretty effective, considering this is the penultimate issue of this event. (Although, I hate this final version for spoiling Drakkon’s ultimate form)
The Story
At the Moon Palace, Rita rejects Zordon and Doggie’s plea for help since she’s not scared of Lord Drakkon – that is, until Zordon tells her that Drakkon already killed his version of Rita and if he could kill one Rita… Back at Drakkon’s palace, he manages to successfully melt down the piece of the Red Ninja Power Star and coat the White Tiger Saber with the Super Ninja Steel to create another connection to the Morphin’ Grid. Finster-5 then warns him of the assembled Rangers at the Command Center. Seeing this as an opportunity to collect the remaining Morphers he needs, Drakkon tells Finster-5 to ready his army for the upcoming battle.
At the Command Center, preparations are being made. Morphers are readied. Megazords are formed. New Ranger relationships are quickly made. A group of Rangers (Andros, Karone, Tanya Sloan the Yellow Zeo Ranger, Cameron Watanabe the Green Samurai Ranger, Mike Corbett the Magna Defender, and the Dark Ranger AKA Talon Ranger) are boarded into Promethea, secretly along with the Ranger Slayer. Addressing the entire Ranger army, Jason tells them that no matter what happens in this battle, one thing’s for sure: they are the Power Rangers.
“Because no matter how many soldiers Drakkon creates… No matter how many powers he steals… He will never have what we do. He will never be a part of what we are.”
Before all of the Rangers teleport to Drakkon’s tower, Jason gives Kim the Dragon Dagger and the Dragon Shield so that she can pilot the Dragonzord while he’ll lead the Rangers on the ground. Soon, it’s time for the fight to begin and while Drakkon’s army now has Silver Space Sentries, Jungle Fury Rhino Sentries, and Dino Charge Gold Sentries, the Rangers are a match themselves, going out in full force. They’ve got Noah and Gia, now in Super Mega Mode, using Legendary Mode, Wolf Rangers teaming up, a Gold Ranger trio, Time Force Rangers working together and a whole squad of battlized Red Rangers.
However, things take a turn for the worse when it’s revealed that Drakkon’s newly Super Ninja Steeled saber can take Rangers’ powers on contact, taking away Merrick, Levi and Cestro’s powers. Not to mention, there’s now a Serpentera on the field. Before he tries to take any more powers away, Drakkon starts to feel his strength draining. Teleporting to his throne room, he finds Zordon, Cruger, and Rita using a Power Draining Candle, specially made for Drakkon. With no time left, Drakkon plans on finalizing his connection to the Morphin’ Grid by connecting to all of the other Morphers he collected already. Despite Finster-5’s pleas to not do it, knowing that it could kill him, Drakkon snaps Finster-5’s neck and activates the process. The comic soon ends with Anti Tommy absorbing all of that power…
Ending Thoughts
Honestly… what else can I say at this point? It’s the penultimate issue and there has been nothing else but praise for this event so far. But, that’s because this event deserves that praise.
Let’s start off by talking about the epic battle sequence. Emphasis on the word “epic”. There’s just so many panels illustrating various parts of the battle that it conveys the sense of the massive scale of these two armies fighting. Comic book events like these can be pretty taxing, especially to the artist who has to illustrate dozens of characters in a panel. But, the artwork for this is stunning and aside from a minor mistake here and there, all of these characters look gorgeous. (This comic even had three splash pages in a row. That kind of work alone is worth commending) The scenery here, which is basically an empty rock quarry (funny how that works) in the night time, works as a blank slate for this fight, allowing Rangers of all colors to stand out wherever they are in the panel. And, even with this battle having an enormous scale, a lot of these panels are more detailed, giving glimpses into team-ups and scenes that we have been dreaming of for years.
Even though this issue is mainly about the battle (and once it starts, the momentum for it doesn’t stop), again, the character interactions and moments make this issue memorable in its own right. The alliance of Rita and Zordon and Cruger is interesting, having them begrudgingly work together while having them bicker like cats and dogs (Yes, this reference was intentional). It’s such a sight to see Rita enjoying all of this happening to her most hated enemy while being forced to do this to save her own skin. Finster-5’s death was here, to not only show just how power-hungry Anti Tommy is but to create sympathy for one of the villains of this event, which worked to an extent. Kim receiving the Dragon Dagger and her subsequent fight with Lord Drakkon is a well-deserved moment for her. Before this issue, she hasn’t been part of the action this whole event. The last time she did actually fight… was when she failed to save Tommy. This was her starting to finally avenge Tommy.
Jason’s speech at the beginning was the moment that spoke out the most to me, personally. It was not just a moment where he’s trying to get everyone ready for the fight. It’s the original Red Ranger addressing the future generation of Rangers, of heroes, about the core concepts the Power Rangers are based on: true unity and teamwork. It’s such a powerful moment when you realize that, in the eyes of all of these other Rangers, that this is where it all started.
MMPR #30 is an amazing issue, showing the beginning of the end for Lord Drakkon’s plans. The Countdown to Drakkon ends soon…
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Oh my god… Drakkon’s ultimate form is basically his own Comic-Con exclusive variant.
- Rita: “Finster? What do we have in the way of collars?” Finster: “I don’t know, my queen. I’ll have to ask Squatt and Baboo after they’re both done using that ‘special’ dungeon…”
- Mike’s quick convo with the Phantom Ranger is literally me talking to anybody ever.
- Okay, now I know why this specific squad of Rangers was chosen to go in Promethea, but I seriously want to know why in-universe, this group of Rangers was chosen. Was it a volunteer thing or were they specifically chosen? It’s a rescue mission and I see some members that I don’t think would be useful for that over others. Also, no matter how it happened, it just so happens that this group of 6 Rangers has a Ranger for each color…
- To add another layer to Jason’s speech and how it’s about the originals inspiring future generations, it was written by Lauren, a Ranger from a Ranger team that actually precedes the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Now, this could be me looking too deep into this and Lauren just so happened to be there. But, you never know…
- It might be just me, but the Megazords that were formed in this issue have some relation/connection to Super Ninja Steel, the current anniversary season.
- Shogun Megazord/ Thunderstorm Megazord: Ninja motif (obviously)
- Dragonzord Battle Mode: Preston’s zord is a dragon which can take control of the Ninja Steel Megazord.
- Wild Force Megazord: From another anniversary season and is controlled by a red lion, which the Ninja Steel Rangers have access to. Also, coincidentally, they’re both the last Saban season for their respective eras.
- Titan Megazord: Preston can do magic like these guys can. Also, the Yellow Mystic Ranger was referenced in-series. Coincidentally, he was the one Mystic Ranger in the battlefield.
- Hyperforce Megazord: Series debuted during the same time as Ninja Steel. Also, Preston’s actor is also the player for Hyperforce Red.
- Also, there. You got your Ninja team up from Ninninger now. You happy now?
- So, Gia used Legendary Mode to transform herself into the Yellow Mystic Ranger, but from what I can tell, for some reason, she doesn’t have a skirt on her suit like she does in-show. Also, Chip made it sound like she looked like an exact double of himself…
- Some of the Ranger teams who formed their Megazords were also on the battlefield, which I can accept for a lot of them except for Chip. Unlike all of the other Megazords, the Titan Megazord is formed by the Mystic Titans, zord-like forms that the Mystic Force Rangers themselves turn into. Although, this could be explained by Udonna doing a spell so that the Megazord can be formed or it’s the simple “It’s magic. Shut up”.
- Don’t know if exactly the Rangers in those three burned Megazords survived, but one thing’s for sure. Since the Wild Force Megazord is the only one out of the three that has sentient zords, *insert supposed to be dramatic but really laughable Zord destruction scene from “The End of the Power Rangers Part 1″*
- Man, Serpentera’s here. Where’s the flying mystical motorcycle when you need it?