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Preface
If you are reading this, odds are you’re one of the few people to even get this issue. On April 10th, multiple comic stores across the US received zero copies of this issue because the distributor shorted their orders. Who knows why that happened? But, honestly, the GGPR series is the only comic series is the one I keep seeing having some weird distributing issues.
Until proven otherwise, I am blaming all of this on Evox.
The Cover
What obviously draws you into this cover is just this looming figure of Zordon, but then as you look closer, you notice he has an expression on his face that he rarely has: disappointment. Disappointment at the person standing in front of him. It really works for the tone of this issue.
(Also, sidenote. I believe this is the first cover of Go Go Power Rangers without having any of the Rangers on it besides #8 that featured their Megazord.)
The Story
In Flashback Land, the 10,000 years ago section, it’s raining fried chicken as Lady Fienna takes out a squadron of Tenga Warriors to protect Rita from Master Vile.
In the present, Lady Fienna attempts to give her daughter a time-out, but Rita’s magic is too powerful and traps Fienna’s spirit in chains. At an early morning training session, Trini storms away from Jason after he says that Trini should apologize to him for not taking his side earlier. Kim’s mom attempts to be nice and makes Kim some breakfast, but when Kim mentions her meeting with her dad, Kim’s mom starts to defend herself, resulting in Kim telling her mom to grow up.
At the Command Center, Billy shows off to Zack, Alpha-1 and Zordon his latest invention: the Tricera Armor (*Patent pending).
This is the closest I can get to describing it without actually showing it.
Although Zordon commends Billy on his craftsmanship, he tells Billy that they shouldn’t send it out to battle without further testing, fearing for the Rangers’ safety. Talking to Alpha-1, Zack starts to feel some resentment towards Zordon’s decision, thinking that Zordon just sees the Rangers as a bunch of kids.
Talking to the guidance counselor, Jason apologizes to Trini at the Juice Bar for his earlier behavior. Before they can pull a “Make Up-Make Out”, Kim walks in on both of them. Jason then immediately heads towards the nearest exit to stop his nervous rambling. Kim realizes that something must’ve happened between Jason and Trini back on that alien planet, but before she can question Trini any further, Goldar and a squadron of Putties burst into the Juice Bar, searching for someone who’s “worthy”.
Oh, come on, clearly, Goldar just wanted to stop by and get a smoothie. I mean, you can trust a face like this.
Ending Thoughts
Honestly, there’s not a lot of action this issue, but it’s still pretty good.
I will say, I’m a little disappointed that the counselor scene didn’t give any real insight into Jason’s character. It was just a way for someone to basically tell him “Just apologize to her. That’s how every relationship works, man.” It felt a little cheap, but I do like how this “drama” is just quickly resolved since it’s typical of couples to have petty fights like that.
Alpha 5 wasn’t even in this issue, but it didn’t matter when Alpha-1 was taking the spotlight. Even though that one scene of him talking to Zack and Billy wasn’t about him, Alpha-1’s character is subtle, but it shines here. You can hear him say all of these nice words he’s saying about Zordon, but you can just feel him be more like an observer to this, watching and waiting, just like how he debuted. In fact, you can tell early on just how manipulative he’s being, how he tells Zack that with Zordon’s current decisions, the war with Rita could last forever, the exact thing Zack confessed he had trouble dealing with during his meeting with the counselor. It’s subtle enough that you can still think he’s a good person and that he’s not planning on betraying them all.
Rita, on the other hand, wasn’t subtle at all during her confrontation with her mom as she looked “freakin’ scary.” From the contrast of being sincere with her mom in the last issue, Rita was presented here basically as an unholy demon. That one scene of her literally in Fienna’s shadow with those glowing red eyes, ready to strike her, showed Rita as this terrifying force that we can’t stop.
Even though it’s a bit obvious Alpha 1 ain’t gonna be around much longer, the concept of him alone is purely amazing. His full introduction here showed off both concepts from the show’s lore we’ve never seen before and elements from the show’s episodes fans are sure to recognize. For any PR fan, it’s just fun to finally see so much lore from this universe.
There’s not a lot else to talk about art-wise. Billy’s armor design looks amazing. Even though the obvious comparisons for it is the Iron Man armor (which it does have some elements from), it is designed a lot more like a medieval knight with some of its aesthetics. Though there weren’t any real action scenes in here, you can really tell the difference in the panel layout here between character scenes and action scenes with this series, where character scenes are just straight up boxes for each moment where action scenes are more different. They’re slanted, creating the illusion of more motion with the scenes and delivering more attention when they happen.
Go Go Power Rangers #19 doesn’t give us a lot of Rangers, but still feels powerful, giving us plenty of character moments and some creative sequences with both our heroes and our villains.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I don’t want to admit, but Fienna would look good as a decoration. I mean, seriously, put that on top of your Christmas tree.
- Ok, I seriously want to know what everyone thinks of the Rangers wearing the same color all the time because I’m just looking at that breakfast table and thinking: “How much of that food is a variation of the color pink and purple?”
- Also, clearly your mom is not a good parent because I don’t think you can just tell your child to skip first period. (Though, I would understand a little bit if it’s like study hall or something.)
- By the way, Billy’s armor is actually in the background for GGPR #9. So, cool, continuity. It’s a thing.
- Just from that sigh alone, I’m thinking that counselor during the whole scene was like “*sigh* Why do people keep asking me for relationship advice?”
- There’s a computer in that counselor’s office. And Alpha-1 uses this to spy on the Rangers’ meetings with the counselor. I’m calling it right now.