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Preface
‘Super Sentai Strongest Battle’ so far > ‘Beyond the Grid’ so far
Fight me.
The Cover
This cover looks pretty and has a cool lighting pattern from the hand, but it’s basically a generic promo shot I’ve seen before so I really don’t care.
Though, you know what? Wouldn’t this cover have been better for MMPR #33, the one with the Solar Ranger’s origin, while the cover for MMPR #33…
…which fits the montage of them going to different planets, would have been better for this issue?
Just sayin’…
The Story
Apparently, it’s been months since Promethea has entered the Void. After the events of issue #34, Ari is now a member of the team and things on Promethea has now taken a status quo.
Promethea has been traveling to different planets, with the 7 Rangers fighting off the Praetor’s forces while all of the depowered Rangers have been teaching the natives how to build their own defenses and improve their own ships.
Though, it’s not all smooth sailing. Some of the depowered Rangers have been feeling resentment towards the main Rangers for still having their powers. Remi has been feeling like she’s not needed by Ari, like the Rangers are all she needs now. Andros and Mike have been having nightmares about the Praetor, with the latter worrying about Leo, his brother that he left behind.
Also, this is a thing now.
Suddenly, one of the stars has been frozen by the Praetor, effectively destroying one of the nearby planets the Rangers helped out, Korundum-5. To add to the bad news, the Solarix is now officially out of power. Turns out, the reason it has been seeking Morphin’ Grid energy is because whatever energy that was in it has been slowly leaking out of it this whole time. However, not all is lost. Terona used the Solarix to seek out more places of Morphin’ Grid energy, tracing its “melody”, or energy frequency, to another star system. This star system, hopefully, has the energy needed to jump-start the Solarix as well as fully energize the other Rangers’ morphers.
Heading there, they find the planet that the Solarix came from, a planet that Ari refers to as the “Splintered Star.” Tanya and the other Rangers soon discover that the Splintered Star is actually made up entirely of Zeo Crystals.
Depends on your definition of “bad”, Ari.
Ending Thoughts
Immediate words after finishing this comic: “It’s about time.”
This is the first issue in this whole arc where we finally get some good character interaction. For example, the conversation with Karone and Remi was excellent, highlighting both Remi’s helplessness to be a good friend for Ari and Karone’s weird relationship with Andros. It almost feels like the book knew it was lacking in this area so this is just jam-packed with it. Not to mention that we finally get to see some of the other ex-Rangers and how they’re dealing with the situation. The big “twist” at the end sets up not only the history of the Solarix but a possible explanation for one of the most powerful artifacts in the PR universe. There’s practically no action in this comic, but honestly, we’ve had enough of that for now.
MMPR #36 is easily the best issue from the “Beyond the Grid” arc so far, giving us some much-needed character moments and finally connecting this group of isolated Rangers to their ship, each other, and their history.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I really wish I could recognize some of the depowered Rangers in the background. Some of them look too generic, I would want to know whether they’re based on anyone specific.
- Heckyl: “Did you know I can see ultraviolet light?” Wait, what?
- Orion was talking to Riley about their friends back in Drakkon’s world and he immediately changed the subject to the Solar Ranger. Like, really?
- If they never address why Ari didn’t try to give Karone her powers back, I’m gonna be super mad.
- Also, I looked back and Anti-Kim wanting to “sell her out” was just one sentence said to Heckyl and was just how she didn’t trust her.
- We don’t know how old Mike is supposed to be here, but Mike’s actor was at least 21 years old when Lost Galaxy was airing so him with an 18-year-old Tanya probably ain’t that bad, right?
- I appreciated Tanya’s brief connection to this whole event, but it came off too random. Like, they were talking about the Void having hope and then she was like “I was time displaced, too”. I was like, wait, what?
- Also, oh yeah. Apparently, Leo was left behind in his own sub-dimension. That was mentioned back in MMPR #32, but I just now realize how in the world did that happen. I can see a scenario in which how that could happen, but are you telling me that Drakkon left Karone, Mike, AND Leo?!
- Oh yeah, the Blue Senturion and Ninjor story ended with this one. It ended on a nice note.
- The only Ranger that didn’t get a strong character moment this issue was Cam. And I sincerely hope, that changes soon. Because right now, Mia Watanabe has more character and depth than Cameron Watanabe. THAT SHOULD NEVER BE THE CASE.