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Preface
A: “This week for Power Rangers, Go Go Power Rangers released its 17th issue where -”
B: “But, Beast Morphers, tho.”
A: “-we begin to learn about Rita’s backstory -”
B: “Beast Morphers, tho!”
A: “ – and we’re introduced to the original robot helper – “
B: “Ooh, Beast Morphers edition?”
A: “Is that all that’s on your mind?”
B: “HASBROOOOO!”
The Cover
It’s a pretty ok cover, basically just a promo shot, but it features Rita on the cover, a character who this story is going to focus on.
The Story
We’re back in Flashback Land over 10,000 years ago on the planet Iutus, where a Lady Fienna had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. With a young Zordon promising to protect them both, Lady Fienna names her daughter after the word that means “Order to the universe”: “Rita”.
In the present, Rita is unable to get to the Dragon Power Coin to work since it’s been dormant for thousands of years. However, she knows someone who she thinks could help her. Meanwhile, Zack is in a meeting with the school’s guidance counselor about Zack’s apparent slacking off in class. He admits that he gets tired of his responsibilities, saying that he feels like it will never end.
Meanwhile, Jason and Trini have been continuing their secret romance for weeks. (I believe it’s now at the “Girl is encouraging guy to succeed. Guy keeps asking girl for potential make-out sessions” stage.) Kim is having lunch with her father for the first time in months. Billy is questioning who was the secret person who was helping them, but all of them then get an alert from Zordon.
With Rita out of the palace, retrieving an item for a spell from Iutus, Finster, Goldar, and Baboo send down a monster to attack the Rangers: Stabasaurus Rex. With it attacking the local museum of National History, the Rangers arrive to evacuate the civilians while dealing with Stabasaurus Rex and a large horde of Putties. During the fight, one of the exhibits is blasted and is about to fall on a group of civilians, but luckily, a friend arrives to help…
Ok, Alpha 5 had some cool moments, but Alpha 1 is the definition of cool.
Alpha-1 insists that he will explain all of this later after the Rangers go and help Jason fight Stabasaurus Rex. Back on the moon, Rita returns with the item she needs for her spell, her baby rattle, and uses it to contact her mother.
Rita: “Mother, I need your as-”
Fienna: “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! YOU SAID YOU WOULD CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU’D GET TO EARTH AND YOU MAKE ME WAIT TEN THOUSAND YEARS?!”
Ending Thoughts
This was fine, it was decent.
After spending some time on an alien planet the last arc, it felt right that this issue began to focus right back on the down-to-earth lives of the Rangers. We saw more of Kimberly’s relationship with her estranged father. We saw some of Zack’s feelings about being a Ranger, how he takes it seriously but the monotony does take a toll on not just him, but the whole team, both physically and emotionally. It’s honestly the most insight into Zack’s character we’ve gotten this series.
Then, there’s the Rita section. It has started to give us much more insight into Rita’s backstory, much more than we expected. Now that we have an established relationship between Rita and Zordon, it puts it in a new light. And, even though this is the beginning of a brand new arc, we’re still continuing the overall story with Rita working on the Dragon Coin. There’s just so much thought that’s placed into where the Dragon Coin was and what it takes to get it to work that it feels justified
Art-wise, we got a lot of great moments like the Morphin’ Time page and the action segments. There are also a lot of beautiful designs on display here, not just for Alpha 1 in his debut. For example, Zordon’s design, in the flashback, is unique, fitting his wise mage role with the white / gold cloak while complimenting that with a sleek alien suit, reminding me of the 2017 movie suits.
Go Go Power Rangers #17 gives us a personal look at the Rangers’ present while preparing for the next issue’s visit from Rita’s past.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- You remember back in the Shattered Grid finale where, in the fake reality, Zordon and Rita were a married couple? Yeah, now with this context, that scene got even weirder.
- ICYDK, the guidance counselor is named after Jeff Pruitt, the stunt coordinator from the original MMPR series.
- Knasty Knight, Pineoctopus, and the Dark Warrior were shown in the montage, which means this takes place past episode 15, nine episodes past the Pudgy Pig fight from Go Go Power Rangers #13. 1 more “episode” until the Green with Evil arc, which was the “Switching Places” episode.
- I’m legitimately wondering why this comic’s time frame just so happened to stop one episode before the Green With Evil arc. Why couldn’t it just be right after?
- Here’s the thing. I am not a parent and probably won’t be any time soon. But, if I did have a divorce, I probably wouldn’t be basically telling my child “I’m the victim in the situation” unless they wanted to know. You see. it places a certain “I’m justifying it for myself and not thinking of my child” vibe.
- The kid that’s saying “Mom! Look out!” as he’s being shielding from his mother and therefore, not looking at what’s happening…
- …Wait, what happened with Skull at the fair?
- “Ah, so this must be… the baby prison.” “It’s called a nursery.” “Of course, it’s far too sweet and cuddly for torture.” Oh, please! I could make it work for that. Let me show you…
- “I’m only twenty-seven minutes old and I already know… I don’t like you.” An actual quote from someone’s cat.
- Also, I would like to say, I honestly love the idea of the Dragon Shield coming from Rita. It’s because every single appearance that it has shown up, even after the MMPR series, there’s always visual evidence of Rita’s influence on the Green Ranger.
- Alright, so here’s what I’m thinking about how much time we have left for this series. (I can always be wrong, I know. It has happened in the past). Two theories:
- 1. This series ends after this arc, which would make this series have an even 20 issues and ending right around MMPR #40 debuting (which I believe is when Beyond the Grid should end and the Mighty Morphin‘ Rangers would be back in their own series).
- 2. This series, after this arc, would have one more arc on it, wrapping the series up and if paced correctly, end at a solid 25th issue.
- Either way, I believe this series, or at least, the MMPR portion of it, won’t last past this year. (Unless they try and do the Green with Evil arc, which I highly doubt)