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Preface
Only with this series we can have a man teaching hip-hop karate and an alien race having a temple devoted to an evil sorceress in the same issue and have it essentially be a normal Tuesday.
The Cover
There’s a lot of interesting monster designs and then there’s the pure “Wait, what?” factor of the swapped Rangers. It’s sure to interest some new readers for this comic.
The Story
Flashback Land is having an after-school special where a sensei at your local mall convinces Jason to take his martial arts class.
In the present, getting chased by those unknown monsters, Jason and Trini quickly realize “Hey, we can fight back!” and easily takes them out. They contact the Command Center by boosting the signals of their communicators together, but both sides are dealing with interference and can’t hear each other properly. Suddenly, a bunch of hunters from an alien race known as the Kedry attack the Rangers. As they are fighting, Jason and Trini notice they can hear each other’s thoughts. Realizing they are outnumbered, the Rangers try escaping and only manage to do so by taking a leap of faith.
An accurate representation of high school relationships.
Back on Earth, Zack and Kim are trying to cover for Jason and Trini’s disappearance, taking over their karate classes and turning in their school assignments, but as they quickly discover, someone else has already been taking care of that. But, what’s even stranger is that Kim says “Yes” to a date… with Skull!
I have never seen a man so happy to be the rebound guy.
And what was happening on the villains’ side? Well, nothing that important. Just Baboo convincing Finster that maybe he should create his own monster without Rita.
Oh yeah, and that alien race from before, the Kedry? Turns out that Rita, a long time ago, freed all of them from alien slavery by destroying another race known as the Breel. Now, Rita is here, asking their current queen Adriyel for a favor. Adriyel and her army soon take Rita to the sacred Temple of Repulsa!
“Within that temple is a new beginning and the end of the Power Rangers.”
Ending Thoughts
Again, this series is doing so much, having time devoting to all of its story arcs in a single issue while placing the importance of our main villain showing some initiative.
It is interesting seeing that even though Rita did some pretty awful stuff, in a way, she did accomplish some good for the universe. Even though it’s not exactly clear yet whether or not these Kedry are good people, it’s still surreal seeing these people basically following this villain. Kim’s date with Skull should be interesting to see, but I’m sincerely hoping it’s not cliché like a lot of other “payback” dates. Jason’s flashback, while random in placement compared to the other flashbacks, is an interesting look into Jason as a child. And yeah, we got some hip-hop-kido in this. How can I say no to that?
Art-wise, the art style is still growing on me (especially with the human characters), but a lot of the alien and monster designs look absolutely terrifying (and I’m using that as a good thing). All of the panel layouts are used creatively and work to the issue’s advantages. Just look how Rita destroys the Kedry guards, such a menacing pose as the lightning from her staff consumes them all as well as the whole page. Add to that the purple atmosphere and it looks gorgeous.
Go Go Power Rangers #14 is just another example that this series’ formula works, balancing meaningful character interactions with solid action set pieces.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Ok, younger Jason saying that guy was weak because he needs to drink more milk is probably one of my favorite things I have heard in a while.
- “They got sucked into a rock donut”. This is amazing.
- I tried looking at the panel with all of Finster’s clay creations to see if there are any other references to the show. If there was, I didn’t recognize any. But what I do want to know is what the heck is that one on the top right? That’s the scariest thing I have ever seen from this series period.
- …How would Ms. Appleby know someone uploaded an assignment from the library? And how would that someone upload it from two different student accounts? If it is who I think it is, I don’t think this will ever be explained.
- Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this, but Matt is dating that snooty stuck up girl that really needs a reality check during the homecoming arc. All I’m saying is Matt if you do break up with her and get back with Kim, get ready for some Mean Girls shenanigans.