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Preface
So, here’s the thing.
Whenever you ask someone about the Power Rangers, most likely, they’re going to think you’re referring to the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Whether or not you praise its campy storytelling or you think its overrated, the original Mighty Morphin team is the most popular team of the Power Rangers. They are the ones that started this whole franchise, they are the most iconic, and they are from the show that countless children watched on Saturday mornings back in the 90s.
But, as those kids grew up, they stopped looking at the continual growth of lore and characters every year in the PR universe. Most of those kids probably haven’t even seen “Power Rangers Zeo” let alone “Power Rangers Dino Super Charge”. This is part of the reason why we’ve constantly given attention to MMPR every year, especially with the BOOM! Comics issues. When Shattered Grid was released, even though it was a huge event that had Rangers from every team in the PR franchise, it was still a story about the Mighty Morphin’ team. Every other Ranger there was merely a side character.
So, when the follow-up to Shattered Grid was announced to be Beyond the Grid, an event focusing on a team of Rangers comprised of non-MMPR characters, it presented a unique opportunity. An opportunity to create a new story with characters from past seasons of PR who have never interacted with each other before, expose more newcomers to different eras of PR (and possibly allow them to join the fandom), and show that there are more heroes in the PR universe (besides MMPR) that deserve our time and attention.
However, in the end, did Beyond the Grid accomplish all of that and reach its full potential? Well…
The Cover
All of our Rangers reaching for the ending. It works as a good parallel compared to the MMPR #31 cover and I do appreciate that. There’s also another meaning to this cover, but I’ll save that for next time when it’s a little more prevalent what I’m talking about.
The Story
The battle between the newly-formed Solar Rangers and the Praetor’s forces rages on as Promethea arrives and Cam tells the ship about their plan to reconnect the Void with the Morphin’ Grid. The Praetor exclaims that now all he has to do is destroy at least one Ranger in order for the Solarix to be inoperable, but Ari calls him out on all of his lies. Using the Solarix, the Rangers then create their new Zords and even form their new Megazord!
As general spaceships, these designs are cool. As Zords tho? *shrugs* I’ve seen better.
So, one bing bang boom laser later, the Praetor is destroyed and the Void is reconnected with the Morphin’ Grid, opening an entrance back for Promethea to return home. Ari and Remi say goodbye to the others as they plan to use the Solarix pieces to recruit more Rangers and make their universe a better place, with Remi becoming the newest Ranger. The Rangers leave the Void, as the Rangers are uncertain of their fates, but certain they tried their best and the issue fades to white.
…You know you can just go in the ship right? I mean, there’s literally no reason to be floating helmetless. Although, this actually matches up with the PR lore we’ve known all along: people can breathe in space. And I guess it’s – Wait! Karone?! How did you get out here? The final page and how do you still make me ask the wrong questions?!
Ending Thoughts
Why Shattered Grid worked, not just as an anniversary event, but as a team up, is because it was a story with tension-filled stakes, fun moments of different characters interacting with each other, emotional scenes with our main characters, amazing action sequences, and an overall morphinomenal art style.
But, what exactly do we have here?
Even though this story is supposed to be about them, these Rangers are still treated as side characters. There is barely anything here that lets you connect with them. If you are a newcomer to the comic and the franchise, you’re not going to learn anything about these guys. And, even if you are familiar with their backstory, you still can’t connect with them because all of them essentially have the same generic voice with only slight changes here and there. The story is so focused on the Solar Ranger vs. The Praetor, it feels like the Rangers are just an afterthought.
Since none of the old elements have worked, it’s up to the new story elements it brings to make this story redeemable. Our main villain’s backstory and character are interesting enough. He’s if Zordon became evil after his death in Countdown to Destruction, someone who only saw hatred and realized that his sacrifice wasn’t worth it to save an entire universe. The Praetor as a concept is good; however, we never got to actually know about him until it was too late. Before the revelation, his character came off as annoying in a way. It always felt like he was grandstanding, that every single piece of dialogue was basically him making it all up (which in a way, it was). I just wish his true character was hinted at earlier so more people would’ve been invested in the story.
Now, let’s talk about this series’ real hero, Ari! Again, having Ari as a new Ranger is good in concept. She is living proof that the Praetor is wrong, that someone as lowly as a scavenger can be “saved” through hope and become a hero in the process. However, there were still some things that held her back. First, the character itself is not interesting. Ari’s origin is different from other Power Ranger origins that I thought was worthy of exploring, but Ari’s personality and character aren’t dynamic at all. In fact, there’s not a lot of substance with her personality that makes her stand out in this already large cast. Not to mention, her origin meant time that was taken away from our main group of Rangers.
The action for this, I’ll admit, is presented well. There are multiple sequences of panels going through each part of the motion, making the action feel continuous. However, there is something off about this arc’s action sequences and it’s not the fact that none of the Rangers use any of their weapons (Although, that is an issue because it doesn’t show the large range of powers this group possesses and makes the fights dull as a result). The Rangers themselves never work together in fights. Sure, they pose with each other when they’re morphed, but when the actual fighting happens, all of the fight sequences/shots focus on one Ranger at a time. There’s no visible moment of the Rangers working together. We’re just being told that they are. They don’t feel united, they feel unimportant to each other.
The pacing for this felt unbelievably slow. While I felt that this pacing worked for the setting and tone and was justified coming on a fast-paced anniversary event, the story did relatively little to keep you interested in its slow build-up. Then, when the necessary backstory and lore were revealed, it’s just all in one place so it feels compacted and doesn’t give the audience time to appreciate it.
There are even weird issues with the story structure. Besides the fact that practically every issue was filled with dialogue and had at least one long monologue, the first half of the arc and the second half of the arc feel like they both have the exact same plot structure (with the first half being its own story and the second half being its sequel that only improved on it a little bit). It may be just me, but think about it:
- 31 / 36 – Rangers start off morphed and then spend a majority of the time on Promethea where they are then sent off on a mission somewhere else for a majority of the arc
- 32 / 37 – Rangers are unmorphed and in dangerous situations, Praetor makes his presence known. Also, Mike acts like a total idiot.
- 33 / 38 – A major character reveals their backstory (comprising the majority of the issue) and then the Rangers get together to use the Solarix power
- 34 / 39 – The Rangers fight back with their brand-new powers and create giant Zords in the process. Reinforcements like the Promethea come in and kick butt. And everyone lives happily ever after. Also, one giant mecha appears out of nowhere.
A lot of people thought this new art style combined with the disjointed panel arrangement was not good and was quite difficult to understand at times. While I can understand that point of view, I actually thought the art team, Simone Di Meo and Walter Baiamonte, did a good job. The art is a bit rough at times, but I thought it fit the themes of the arc. The darker shading on characters combined with the twisting panel structure conveyed the feeling of hopelessness and the sense of wandering. It matched with the characters’ feelings on not knowing where to go next and whether or not they would lose hope on returning home. Compare that to the Splintered Star’s art where the clearer linework and the brighter colors showed that the Rangers have finally found a direction, finally found hope.
On the surface, Beyond the Grid is exactly what fans have been asking for with a diverse non-MMPR cast, interesting premises and concepts, and various lore-building elements. But, when you look beyond that, this story is below average with slow pacing, dull action, bland characters, and is just disappointing that it’s so forgettable in the end.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Final thoughts on all of these characters:
- Anti-Kim:
- Honestly, I was fine with her. She had a little bit of fun fourth wall breaking in #32 and I enjoyed her moments of compassion with Ari. I’m glad she wasn’t a super depressing character back in Go Go. That said? She contributed little to this story overall and shows just how much that arc in Go Go actually mattered.
- Tanya:
- Tanya here was portrayed as the nice and caring peacemaker of the group. And, that really doesn’t match her portrayal on TV, to be honest. While it would match the “optimistic” nature of the early seasons of PR, it really doesn’t feel right with Tanya. Sure, Tanya was overall a nice and fair person, but she was tough. If you messed with her, she will call you out on that. Also, I still find it odd that she didn’t have a bigger role in this, especially because of her connection with the Zeo Crystal.
- Andros:
- I believe Andros was the closest match with his TV counterpart compared to the other Rangers. Even though it was for stupid reasons and it was poorly executed, I did enjoy the story using Andros’s character flaw about how he is overly attached to Karone.
- Karone:
- Why am I mentioning her right now? Well, I still wanted to reiterate that she was nerfed for most of this, even though Ari could’ve tried to give back to her powers in #36. And, we saw her get her powers back in the end, but, it was such a short thing and they don’t even acknowledge it
- Also, before the actual Solar Ranger was introduced, there were some fans that thought Karone was going to be the Solar Ranger. And, I honestly think that should’ve been the case. Karone being the Solar Ranger would open the story opportunity of Andros being worried about his sister fighting and Karone is also a character that fits Ari’s description (more or less): “someone who was originally bad that made themselves into a hero”
- It wouldn’t have been that hard. Just have the Solarix act as a Green Lantern ring, looking for Morphin’ energy and coming to Promethea where it latches onto Karone. Praetor’s forces come on board to try and get it and the Rangers learn all of what Ari would’ve known. Done. It would’ve gotten rid of the pointless mission in #31 and given time for more character exploration.
- Though, I’m not too worried about her or Andros since unlike everyone else, they’re going to be in their graphic novel.
- Mike:
- Mike was a character I thought was good, but by the end of this, I was just facepalming so hard.
- I thought his arc about survivor’s guilt had some potential (because Mike’s situation here was essentially the inverse of what Leo went through at the beginning of Lost Galaxy). But, we never saw how the arc was resolved so it’s pointless. Also, out of all of the Shattered Grid stories we needed to see, Mike’s Shattered Grid flashback was the most important of them all because it’s not clear how Leo was left behind.
- Also, I think Mike and Tanya’s personalities/arcs should’ve been swapped. Mike as a peacemaker matches more with his TV personality and makes more sense considering his position as the right-hand man of a traveling space colony (Terra Venture meeting Captain Mutiny is a good example). Tanya making reckless decisions can be chalked up to her young age and the fact that out of everyone who’s on Promethea, she knows for a fact that one of her friends is dead. And honestly, it’s a lot easier to forgive a teenager for making a mistake versus an actual military soldier.
- Cam:
- Cam was essentially just the comedic relief, which is sad. In the TV show, Cam is sarcastic, but he is a genius and takes his role on the team very seriously. If all that was supposed to be here was a comedic relief, then the other two Green Rangers that were available at Zordon’s Command Center (which was Xander and Ziggy) would’ve made much better choices.
- Heckyl:
- Heckyl easily got the best deal out of everyone here because he got his own focus issue. He got an expansion on the character’s lore set in the DSC finale and the idea of Talon Ranger is finally a thing, which most fans do appreciate. Though, with me personally, every time I look at him from now on, I’m going to think about my favorite Big Bird’s death. (Also, on that note, rest in peace Alistair Browning AKA the voice of Zenowing. Don’t know how Zenowing ended up dying twice this year, but Alistair’s voice work made Zenowing stand out and I hope his family is ok)
- Anti-Kim: