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Preface
Xi’s Log, The Spectrum II, Stardate 2021.2:
“The Rangers have now landed in Drakkon’s amalgamated mental construct, his version of what Angel Grove should have been, in an effort to find the remains of the Red Emissary.
The metaphysical erosion seems to be steady at the moment, but-
Wait, oh my! There are more signs of life than just the Rangers. I’m getting a reading of a canine from the planet Anubis. Potentially small in size with a 72.8% probability of it being adorable and huggable.
I’ll need to go save it. The Rangers can handle themselves.”
The Cover
Taken straight from the Mighty Morphin #4 review:
“They’re both on the opposite sides of the spectrum. The Mighty Morphin’ cover is simplistic, only focusing on the Green Ranger in front of a black background, getting interviewed about Power Rangers being removed from Netflix. Meanwhile, the Power Rangers’ cover has a ton of elements: all of the Rangers and their allies showing them ready to face a dangerous threat in front of a vivid background and atmosphere.
If I had to pick which one is better, I love the Power Rangers cover, but the Mighty Morphin cover draws in more eyes to it. The simplicity of the cover’s premise allows more people to be interested in what’s happening. While with the Power Rangers cover, it’s essentially a generic team cover. ”
Mighty Morphin – 2
Power Rangers – 2
The Story
The Rangers arrive in Drakkon’s fantasy Angel Grove as Drakkon leads them to the location where the Red Emissary was destroyed. As Zack questions Drakkon on why he made his Angel Grove like this, the ghost tiger and falcon from Shattered Grid arrive to take care of the Rangers.
They all get separated from the attack, with Drakkon missing and Jason separate from the other Omega Rangers. As Jason recovers what remains of the Red Emissary, Zack and Trini find Drakkon, not in Angel Grove, but in Drakkontown! A place filled with animated Sentries made out of sporting goods that Drakkon made to keep himself from going even crazier than before.
As Drakkon tells them that they have no idea how long he was in there, the spirit animals find the three of them again. Jason and Xi come to the rescue, teleporting them all back on board, and getting the heck out of Drakkonia.
On board, Xi reconstructs the pieces of the Red Emissary back together. However, there’s a piece of him missing, leading the Rangers to realize that they can track the Empyreal by searching for the energy signature of the missing piece of the Emissary. Before that can happen, the Spectrum II’s engines sustained some injuries from escaping the ghost falcon. And so, Drakkon has a great suggestion on where they can get them repaired…
Ending Thoughts
Did you enjoy this week’s episode of Drakkon Tales on PBS?
The overall plot advances a bit with the revelation of the Emissary’s possible resurrection. There’s not a lot of character growth or focus for the Rangers.
This, of course, is Drakkon Land. Drakkon, or more specifically his past, is the main focus here. This issue takes the time to revisit some of the plot points from Shattered Grid like explaining the ghost falcon and tiger and Drakkon’s decision to make his perfect world the way he did. It also gives more insight into Drakkon’s mindset as a prisoner here with him recreating his old life as much as he could.
The artwork for this issue is also a big highlight for the issue. The action sequences can’t be ignored as the threat of gigantic spirit animals gives way to a lot of fast-paced motion from the Rangers, conveying the same feelings back in Issue #2.
And, even though we’ve been in Drakkon’s world before, the environment still feels completely different. It isn’t just the disintegrating buildings and the floating Zords that are complemented by the darkening sky, reminding us all that this isn’t a great place to be in. When you compare the environments between this issue and Shattered Grid #1, you notice the small touches like the Angel Grove sign and the Drakkon statue give the city more of a personality over somebody just slapping Drakkon’s logo over some windows.
Power Rangers #4 is a short but sweet adventure through Drakkontopia, taking us down a quick trip down memory lane through Ranger history as we prepare to revisit one of the most classic locations in the Power Rangers universe.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I can’t believe it only just took me until now to realize this book’s name can literally be Drakkon Tales. Until he leaves, which isn’t any time soon, this is what I’m going to refer to from now on.
- Also, kept thinking of more Drakkon city names since we can’t just keep calling whatever this place is fake Angel Grove. Drakkonopolis. Drakkonia. Super Drakkon World!
- Wait, Drakkon, you could’ve gotten this place flying cars and you didn’t? Why not? The giant robotic tiger was more of a priority?
- Also, Drakkon, you can’t possibly tell me that your version of Angel Grove only needed one janitor. If you can make that happen, you might as well have made a chocolate river.
- I’m not gonna argue about the whole “no poverty, no hunger” thing, but let’s face it, with Drakkon’s world, we only saw the one city. You can’t exactly have a big war when there’s only one real city.
- One more thing, Drakkon. You can make an argument all you want about giving people what they want. But I remember what you did to Cruger, and you know what? I think in your world, he missed having opposable thumbs.
- Also, just realized Zack’s fear of cats is super ironic since he actually drove one around. (And, in one comic, he dates Trini, whose motif is based on a feline.)
- It really shouldn’t be understated that Drakkon had to have a lot of time on his hands to make some of these props in Drakkontown. Especially the giant banners and the fake Finster-5. Can anyone else imagine Drakkon learning how to sew some of this stuff?
- Be grateful that we didn’t get to see more of Drakkontown. I don’t even want to know if he’s got a fake Ranger Slayer or a fake Rita somewhere.
- So, now the question is… can we bring the Red Emissary back to life by assembling his pieces together? Because if that’s the case, then why in the world didn’t we do that with the Blue Emissary? And we still don’t know where the Yellow Emissary is.