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Preface
Now that Shattered Grid is over, we can definitely relax a little. And nothing says R&R like some fun vacation stories!
The Cover
A pretty generic, but decent cover, showcasing the two different sides of the Rangers lives.
The Story
After the Rangers’ first Spring Break after the Day of the Dumpster, the Rangers are at the Command Center are having storytime, talking about their vacations.
Jason’s Spring Break – Jason learns that sometimes the best way to help someone is to just be their friend.
Jason’s story here definitely feels like an actual plot from the original MMPR series. And, given Jason’s character from the show and this series, the moral Jason learns here is believable and understandable. The artwork actually looks straight out of a book for pre-schoolers so it matches the setting. I’m not entirely sure if this comic will have any impact on the main story, but I hope it does. It’s a good story on Jason’s character and his ability to be a good leader.
Zack’s Spring Break – Working with his brother in Washington, DC, Zack proves that even not morphed, he still has the power to make a change.
It focused on an aspect mostly forgotten by superhero fiction, the whole “what the heck is supposed to do about superhero battles?” aspect. It’s a small detail in the grand aspect of things, but it helps with world-building and makes this universe more believable. Art-wise, it’s fairly simplistic, especially with the human expressions, but it works for this story’s smaller scale. This is my personal favorite out of these stories, creating some world building while having Zack display a moral that’s important especially for this day and age.
Trini’s Spring Break – A horse is trapped in the mountains during a raging storm with a lot of hungry predators around. It’s up to Trini to figure out how to protect it and get it to safety.
This was a story about a girl and a horse becoming friends. Am I really going to say anything negative about it? Like really? It was a story showing Trini having compassion for an animal in need and trying to treat him like a living being. The artwork of the storm and the dark environment works with the overall tone of the story. It’s just a great showing for Trini.
Billy’s Spring Break – Billy has faced living Putty soldiers, a golden monkey warrior, and even a rapping pumpkin, but now has to deal with something even scarier than all of that: public speaking.
Art-wise, this is the most colorful, for sure. The vibrant colors perfectly match with the setting of a cultural festival. The only downside is that the moral of the story, in relation to the Megazord battle at the end of the main story, is a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, it’s a great story overall with Billy relating to someone else’s culture and making a new friend in the process.
Kim’s Spring Break – Stuck in Angel Grove with her parents, Kim decides to take the time to have some Ranger fun and make the absoultely foolproof Teenager’s Guide for Escaping!
Kim’s notes are just adorable. The “tips” themselves are funny and interesting and the little Ranger doodles are cute. However, due to the placement of the notes, right in the middle of the page, it makes the story feel a bit disjointed and not having an actual focus, constantly switching between doodles and comic panels. Regardless, it’s a look into Kim’s relationship with her parents and how she sees the world as a Power Ranger.
Soon, the Rangers morph into action to deal with a monster having his own vacation, crashing a local beach party. Using what they’ve learned from their vacations, the Rangers manage to defeat him. The issue then ends with the Rangers on the Megazord, with Jason realizing that no matter what happens to them or how far they’ll go, they’ll always be Power Rangers.
Ending Thoughts
It’s been like three weeks into the school year already, so this probably came a little too late. Aw well, this was still pretty decent.
In general, all of these stories contain strong morals and.have our heroes interacting and helping all sorts of people. These stories do reach out to a lot of people and I’m sure they’ll be able to relate to at least one of these stories. This book has six different art styles, all of them having excellent coloring and working for their individual story. For example, the Megazord battle at the end is just so beautiful with the use of all of the vibrant colors and sharp lines.
Though this is essentially just a one-shot with multiple stories in it, it still feels like an issue from the “Go Go Power Rangers” series. Its framing device of having each Ranger have their own focus and then contribute to the overall story is what Go Go Power Rangers’ structure has mainly been. At times, the dialogue between the Rangers feels off in relation to the main series versions but is serviceable enough not to be that distracting.
Don’t know if “Go Go Power Rangers: Back to School” is the best way to welcome back the school year, but it is a great issue with a lot of heartwarming stories and is a representation of all the love and support that Power Rangers is capable of.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Yo, I’m just saying. But the main art style is so anime.
- Jason’s Spring Break: The original MMPR series did have an episode on sign language: “Different Drum”, where at the time, Jason didn’t know any sign language. Guess he learned it eventually.
- You have to zoom in, but one of those kids in the background is playing with an Ultraman, I swear! He’s also in one of the drawings in the first panel with a certain Masked Rider…
- The teacher’s name is Ms. Effendi? Seriously?
- Now then, where’s my micropachycephalozord at, huh? (Try saying this five times fast)
- Zack’s Spring Break: Yo, for real, can we actually get the Power Rangers to fight this monster filing cabinet?
- Trini’s Spring Break: One of those horses is named Onyx. Onyx, if you didn’t know, refers to a planet found in Power Rangers In Space.
- But how can Trini blow her whistle if she’s wearing a helmet? *insert comment about Tommy and his Dragon Dagger*
- Don’t even need to mention it, but bro, when horses bite you, they bite down HARD. Trini might’ve been morphed, but she is an actual boss to take those.
- If you didn’t know, this story was written by Marguerite Bennett, the new writer of the main MMPR comic series. She has also written before for Power Rangers. In the 2016 annual, she also wrote a story about Trini making friends with an animal. Not exactly sure why Trini is apparently the animal person now, but okay…
- If you haven’t already, you should look up the artist for the story. They have some really cool stuff.
- Billy’s Spring Break: Nice touch of Billy wearing his Ranger suit like in MMPR #10.
- So, in order to make friends, I should spill food on them? Awesome!
- Kim’s Spring Break: “Don’t dress in ‘camo’ or you’ll disappear!”… Wha- Wait, does that even mean?
- Pyracantha… do most people even know this term and I’m just super oblivious?
- Kim does make a good point about social media, though. You can’t do anything in secret anymore without someone else finding out.
- “Robots never narc”. Girl, you can’t just assume things like that now, it’s 2018.
