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Preface
MMPR #50. A milestone issue for a comic series (especially now when most series that don’t do well get canceled after 10 issues) and the end to Necessary Evil. It’s been over three months since MMPR #49. And, actually, because of COVID-19, this issue came out practically a full year since the beginning of Necessary Evil.
No more stalling. Let’s end this now.
The Cover
I love this cover, just a bright aurora of colors with so many Rangers in the middle of it. It’s beautiful.
The Story
We start off with narration following a meteor-type object carrying someone inside it moving through the galaxy. On Safehaven, the Mighty Morphin’ team notices the Omega Zords getting their butts kicked. Aisha tells Tommy that he should help them out since he’s the only one with their Zord right now. Tommy disagrees, not wanting to abandon his team, but everyone convinces him otherwise, telling him that they’re Rangers and they can prove it. Switching weapons and attacking using the jetting ability, they take down Dayne.
Tommy in the Tigerzord and Jason in his Omega Red Zord combine their Zords together to form the Omega Red Tigerzord and defeat Garrison in his Omega Blue Zord. However, this new formation is still no match for all of the Anointed flying around and attacking them at all sides. But then, the cavalry arrives.
With the Solarix, Ari and Remi drain everyone’s Morphin’ Grid energy, leaving a depowered Kiya to face Trini on her own. In the end, Kiya’s defeated, and her morpher is shattered. Amid the chaos, Dayne frees Lord Zedd from his dumpster and calls them even before teleporting away.
Three weeks later, the former Anointed are given a choice by Jason to either return to their homeworlds or create a new life for themselves on Safehaven. Kiya and Garrison remain in their respective dumpsters for the time being until the Rangers can find a more manageable solution for them. Ari and Remi use the Arch to return to their universe. Anti-Kim does so as well, wanting to make amends for her previous actions. And now, Jason and Tommy are on speaking terms again, so everything’s back to normal, right?
Well…
As Lord Zedd reclaims his staff and vows to rebuild his Moon Palace, he notices the meteor from the beginning heading straight to the Command Center. The Rangers arrive to investigate it, where they find Anti-Tommy inside of it and he has something to say.
Ending Thoughts
As a finale issue, plot devices, I mean, Solarixes aside, this issue is solid. A lot of fun and satisfying action sequences, resolution on all major storylines, and with a scene calling back to the beginning of the arc, it has a clever hook for the next arc.
As a milestone issue, this issue, along with Necessary Evil as a whole, calls back and honors a lot of the history the Power Ranger comics have established so far. Beyond the Grid, Shattered Grid, and even Lord Drakkon, whose arrival here is reminiscent of the Black Dragon’s original appearance.
Since we’re on the subject of Necessary Evil, the arc itself is very memorable and worth the wait. Besides the ending page, reading through it all, it feels like a movie, a complete story. It integrated smoothly with the show’s plot point of the Peace Conference and established a new status quo for all of our Rangers with some fresh new elements like Dayne and Xi. Personally, I feel like Kiya’s journey from Ranger to villain still needed a little more work to it, but Trini’s final line to her does help sum up the rationalization of her actions.
But, the one thing that made this arc feel special was the drama between both teams, specifically Jason and Tommy. The tension from every one of their interactions drew me into the story even more. When they finally work together in the end and become friends again, with Tommy learning to trust his fellow Rangers and the Stone Canyon trio rising to the task, it’s good to see them all move on with the new chapter of their lives.
One thing to note is that this is artist Daniel Di Nicuolo’s final issue for Power Rangers for now and his work will be missed. With his work on this issue (as well as the other issues he’s worked on), action sequences were always clear, giving tons of details into the environment and the Rangers underneath the helmets. Add to that a beautiful color palette by Walter Baiamonte, “Necessary Evil” has been an epic sight to behold.
MMPR #50 is a morphenomenal ending to Necessary Evil, culminating aspects of the previous 49 issues while preparing us for the next 50.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Since the Blue Emissary couldn’t be here for this issue, I’m glad that the narration here is from his own dialogue. And hey, his dialogue was a brilliant way of foreshadowing the ending fight here.
- Gotta admit, using jetting to headbutt into an enemy. Brilliant idea.
- …Does Adam not know sarcasm? I would think he would know by now. Or is he just used to robots telling the whole truth all of the time?
- “Nobody gets to beat up my friends but me.” Saving that quote for later.
- The Omega Red Tigerzord… I think it’s supposed to be like a Gundam. I think. So, that’s probably why I’m not that into it.
- Also, again, someone other than Tommy gets the idea to combine. I’m starting to wonder what Tommy brings to the table as a leader.
- “The Power Rangers bested you and it won’t be long before everyone in the galaxy knows it.” How? There is no space Twitter to discuss this. Is Zedd just going to bars and talk about this guy that failed to defeat the Power Rangers and mention that it’s not him this time?
- Also, I love that the final word to Dayne is “Doggy”. That double meaning right there.
- Minor continuity flub but Ari doesn’t have the yellow lines on her face.
- Also, don’t have much to say about Ari and Remi because they’re literally just plot devices. They were here and then left. And odds are unless it’s the #75th or 100th issue, we won’t see them again.
- Also, the Unlocked comic cover variants are done. They’re a fine way of showing off different Ranger teams from another perspective and hinting at what Drakkon could be so afraid of. It served as a decent story and was interesting to see a concept like this come to fruition.
- Just saying, after seeing them all, my favorite Unlocked cover is the one for Beast Morphers. It’s not just because I’m enjoying their series right now, but it’s because the cover itself has the most personality, the most details in it to get people interested in learning more about the series itself.