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Preface
The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers are finally back in their own series! But, before we delve all the way into this new arc, “Necessary Evil”, let’s take a second to think about why it took so long to get back to them.
For all intents and purposes, “Beyond the Grid” was supposed to be a filler arc. A fun and engaging self-contained story (supposedly) to keep the audience interested while finding a new writer to come in and bring fresh and new ideas for the aftermath of “Shattered Grid”. And, now we do have a new writer for this series: Ryan Parrott. You may know of him from being the main writer of “Go Go Power Rangers”. Well, now, he’s the main writer for both series. And I, for one, am excited. I immensely enjoyed his work in GGPR and I’m curious to see what he brings to a series with an already established style. Especially, with Shattered Grid’s ending, there are a lot of new directions and choices that can be made here.
The Cover
“OH MY GOD! TOMMY’S WHITE?!”
In all seriousness, the White Ranger looks really good, rising up to save us all. This image should also be commended on its double meaning. It’s not just about Tommy rising up to the newest challenge, but if you remember MMPR: Shattered Grid #1’s cover (with the Rangers in the middle of the shattered space), it’s about Tommy going to that space and joining his friends. It’s a cover that feels continuous from the previous MMPR issue (that’s not Beyond the Grid).
However, there’s something else to mention quickly: the variant covers. There are about SEVENTEEN variants of this comic. First off, good luck trying to get all of those. Secondly, there are two variants, in particular, I wish to discuss. First off, there’s a “Beast Morphers Orange” variant cover. The character on that is not from the Beast Morphers show, but it’s more based off of Make A Wish granting the wish of 8-year-old Tyler who wanted to be a Power Ranger. All I have to say is that’s pretty cool.
The second variant I wanted to mention was this.
Despite looks and appearances, this is not a page from the story. It’s about the Three Emissaries after the events of “Shattered Grid”, but it’s not in the actual story. It’s on the cover on the variant called: “Unlocked”. No idea if this is a one-time thing or not, but I will say, this is a brilliant way of selling a variant. I don’t believe I have ever seen this before in any comic, but it’s a good way of making a variant more desirable by putting something story related that’s exclusive, but easily skippable. Plus, it adds to the whole concept that the Emissaries are on a different plane of reality than we are.
The Story
So, it starts off just like any other day: the Power Rangers are fighting a rhino-bird monster named Nefurious on London Bridge. However, before London Bridge starts falling down (like they’ve always sung about), Tommy, as the White Ranger arrives and singlehandedly destroys Nefurious. As the team reconvenes at the Command Center, it’s made clear that Tommy being the White Ranger ain’t the only thing that’s different now.
…Why do all of them have jewelry? … Just what kind of place WAS Stone Canyon?
Yep. Timeline-wise, we are officially in the second half of the second season of MMPR with Rocky, Adam, and Aisha replacing Jason, Zack, and Trini as Power Rangers while they’re off at a peace conference. And, the transition is going smoothly except for a few minor details.
For starters, Aisha and Kim are having a “tiff” with Aisha not taking Kim’s advice and just generally being aggressive with her. Tommy’s body is adjusting to the new powers of the White Light, mentioning that he has now become cathemeral. Tommy is also adjusting to being the new leader of the team and feeling the pressure of filling Jason’s shoes. And, the Stone Canyon trio is feeling like they’re not good enough as their roles as Rangers.
And things are about to get even worse for them. Lord Zedd, the new main villain on the moon, doesn’t want to repeat Rita’s mistakes and decides to call in a ruthless bounty hunter named Dayne.
Definition: Ruff.
Although, hey. Billy seems fine with all of this. And Skull even has a girlfriend now. Yep, things are totally normal now. Billy and Kim even are keeping up with Jason, Zack, and Trini, but due to their busy schedules, they are only able to get in touch with one of them. However, on one particular video chat, when they’re finally all there, the video is so full of static that Billy and Kim can’t see this full image…
I don’t know why people are freaking out over this. This is clearly the standard attire needed for a simple world peace conference. Like you guys haven’t been to one.
Ending Thoughts
This issue was reminiscent of MMPR #1, where the team was also coping with a major status quo change. The Stone Canyon trio are the newbies in this situation and there’s going to be some similar conflict between the Rangers about it all (There’s even a scene here of them failing the same situation Tommy failed back in Issue #1). However, MMPR #1 focused heavily on just the newbie (Tommy) and there wasn’t anything else to be excited for. This issue has our focus on Tommy struggling to be a good leader, but there’s so much more here to care about.
Lord Zedd’s newest plan is something Rita has never done before and our newest villain has a memorable introduction: kept in a huge crate where he can’t hurt anyone. And that’s not even the most memorable part. In case it’s not clear, Dayne is a Sirian, the same species as Cruger from Power Rangers SPD. It embraces more of the shared universe “revealed” back in Shattered Grid, which I know fans are always looking forward to. Plus, he has a pretty sick design.
And then there’s the final page. First off, those new suit designs look slick. They make the Rangers look more like paladins in my opinion. Next, the fact that these guys are not on Earth anymore creates opportunities for some interesting alien monsters, landscapes, and adventures (a concept that was somewhat done in “Beyond the Grid”). Then, the revelation of the Peace Conference improves or rather fixes a somewhat “odd” part of the MMPR lore. This, in turn, lets Jason, Zack, and Trini’s characters continue to grow and develop rather than tossing them aside. There’s so much here and I’m just genuinely excited for what comes next.
The art style should be familiar to you as the same artist who worked on Shattered Grid also lent his hand on “Necessary Evil”: Daniele Di Nicuolo. Just like back in Shattered Grid, the art here is amazing with a lot of sharp penciling that makes the Rangers look more like a cartoon and a bright and colorful color palette that makes all of these characters stand out. Also, Lord Zedd is beautifully sinister.
MMPR #1 was a good start to the series because it introduces all of our main characters in a tight chapter for the story. MMPR #40 serves as a great start to both the “Necessary Evil” arc and the post Shattered-Grid era because it does what MMPR #1 did as well as introduces new lore that expands (and improves) the original show’s continuity and a new intriguing premise for a story that feels exciting and game-changing for PR fans. Whether you’re new to the series or a full-time reader, MMPR #40 is a fantastic issue to start off a brand new era for the Power Rangers.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I didn’t put this up there, but to compare this to Go Go Power Rangers right now, I do think there is a slight difference here from before how it was presented. This issue managed to give everyone at least one cool line here like in GGPR. (For example, the line about Billy’s spreadsheets). But, this only focused on the overall story and less on the more random parts like in MMPR #1 – #30.
- It should be noted that there’s no side story in this one. It happened with the last couple issues of Beyond the Grid and all I have to say is, good. The three side stories we got weren’t that memorable (except maybe the Blue Senturion and Ninjor one) and all it did was eat away space for the main story. But yeah. Odds are no Ongoing Adventures of Ms. Appleby and Mr. Caplan, no Ongoing Adventures of Ernie and Lt. Stone, no Ongoing Adventures of Alpha 6 and DECA… (Ok, that last one I would actually read).
- Billy, your spreadsheet ain’t as long as my spreadsheet! (And then ShadowRay22 probably has one that’s longer than both of ours combined)
- One thing I will admit I’m not looking that forward to in the future is the Kimberly vs. Aisha dynamic. I just felt like sighing whenever I saw it.
- Tommy with the White Light is basically portrayed as a living god here.
- The monster in the training simulation looks like a Hork-Bajir from the Animorphs series. You can’t convince me otherwise.
- I saw Candice, Skull’s new girlfriend, from a distance and I thought it was Chloe from the Life is Strange series.
- Jason’s karate classes are being taken over by Tommy and the kids are thrilled about that apparently. But what about the poor kids that wanted to learn Hip Hop Kido?
- “Zach is obsessed with some watch he found.” Yeah, it keeps saying “Zi-O” for some reason. (Although I will say that when someone says that’s what’s happening on their super important trip, I’d be angry at them too like Tommy is. I’d be like “YOU SERIOUSLY LEFT US ALL TO TELL ME THAT?!”)
- And you people wanted them to wear Dairanger suits? Ha!