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Preface
Xi’s Log, The Spectrum II, Stardate 2021.3:
“The Spectrum II has now landed in the outskirts of Onyx where our new objective of repairing our vessel is underway.
Trini and I will keep an eye on our prisoner, Drakkon, while Jason and Zack venture into the closest town and locate the fusion converter necessary for our takeoff. As this area doesn’t favor Rangers, both of them have been disguised in the appropriate attire to not attract any unwanted attention.
(Even though I am unaware of the reference, Jason insists that he looks just like ‘McCree’ from Overwatch’. I’ll assume for now that it’s a fictional character from literary material present at their high school.)”
The Cover
Taken straight from the Mighty Morphin #5 review:
“Both art styles on both covers are great. Each cover has a lot of detail in them. With the Mighty Morphin’ cover, that detail is all over the Megazords. With the Power Rangers’ cover, that detail is straight into Ecliptor’s eyes, directing your entire attention.
But, while the background for the Mighty Morphin’ cover is more interesting with the lighting and coloring, the fact is that the Mighty Morphin’ cover is just a generic shot of the Megazords together. The Power Rangers cover shows off a fan-favorite villain for Power Rangers’ fans and directs all of your attention towards the Omega Rangers in his eyes as he stands in their way. There’s just more to be excited for with the Power Rangers’ cover.”
Mighty Morphin – 2
Power Rangers – 3
The Story
As mentioned above, Zack and Jason disguise themselves as criminals, looking for a criminal named Fendrick Prot who can hook them up with a fusion converter. Although they don’t have enough money for it, Fendrick offers them a chance to win it in a game of space poker. While Anti-Tommy tells Trini about his decision to take over the world, Zack ends up losing the game big time, actually gambling his morpher away in the process. Before things can escalate, someone makes a dramatic entrance into the saloon…
Astronema attacks Jason and Zack head-on, knowing that they are Power Rangers. In the chaos, Zack gets his morpher back and the boys morph, taking the fight outside of the tavern. Suddenly, members of Space Patrol Delta arrive and detain Jason, Zack, and Astronema. Back on the Spectrum, Xi reveals to Trini some historic information he found about the Emissaries. According to Sire Lentinvous, a philosopher on Edenoi who had a vision of the birth of the universe, the Morphin’ Masters created the Emissaries to spread peace throughout the universe. However, each Emissary had a “shadow” of pain and chaos that would rise and change the universe upon an Emissary’s death…
In the SPD headquarters on Onyx, the cadets interrogate Jason on Lord Drakkon’s whereabouts, already aware of Zordon’s message about the Omega Rangers being fugitives. Since Jason refuses to talk, the SPD officers plan on transporting him and Zack back to Earth in the morning to let Zordon deal with them. Later, as Xi and Trini realize something must’ve gone wrong in town, an intruder on the Spectrum makes a dramatic entrance of his own…
Ending Thoughts
Oh my god, where do I start with this?
The lore. The pure lore of everything. Astronema, Ecliptor, Villamax, SPD, mentions of Aquitar and Edenoi. And it’s not just the introduction of memorable elements from the Power Rangers franchise as a whole, but the connections to so much of what the comics have done. We finally have an explanation for the Empyreals, linking them back to the Necessary Evil storyline and showing that that storyline was the catalyst for this. It also opens the door for Kiya to potentially return as she can learn that literally her first “righteous” actions betraying the Rangers created a monster that’s potentially even worse than Drakkon. It beautifully connects so much of the universe’s lore, both TV and comics, into one cohesive story.
The plot of the issue itself is unique for Power Rangers and definitely unexpected. From the first couple of pages, you’d assume that the whole issue would be about Zack against this alien dealer and how Zack can trick him into winning this game of space poker, a background element for In Space and Lost Galaxy. While I honestly think we could’ve gotten more western tropes in this setting, it would’ve stretched the plot out and there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to connect this more to the overall plot. And, this allows our guest villain characters to interact in a more meaningful way with our Power Rangers.
The artwork for this issue gets to blend two different genres together with the colorful town of the Onyx Tavern (recreating, to great success, the western set from the TV show) and the creative alien designs of both the citizens of the Onyx Tavern and the SPD cadets. In addition, the action sequences, the morphing panels, they’re still as dynamic as ever.
Power Rangers #5 is the start of what this series’ premise delivers with so many connections to the overall Power Rangers universe fans will treasure while advancing its own storyline and getting to the mystery of it all.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Villamax looks so beautiful in this artwork. Even seeing him for a second, it was a great reference. He’s still one of my favorite characters from Lost Galaxy.
- Now wondering if the whole galaxy just has the same water we do.
- Fendrick looks like if Ivan Ooze got together with an octopus… That’s all I got.
- Ok, Zack’s fake name was clever enough, switching the letters and leaving out the C, but Jason only changing the first letter of his name is lame.
- Although, the name “Kaz” reminds me of Kaz from Chaotic. In which case, he’d be perfect in this scenario! He’s used to winning card games and hanging out with demonic creatures.
- Also, in case you missed the reference, the Hartunian Sapphire refers to the evil empire that Zordon and his squad beat up in Mighty Morphin #1.
- Wait, Drakkon made a pit stop before coming to Earth? That honestly raises more questions. Like if how he flew to Earth was like flying Dragon Ball style, he escaped from his Shattered Grid world, went to Onyx, took in the sights, and then went to Earth and only started panicking and freaking out there? Hope this is made clearer because I’m just picturing this right now.
- Also, I now have another question. Tommy’s story about being homeless. Was that the differentiation between his timeline and the normal one? Because well, his story in the 2017 annual only made it seem like he was homeless because he was hiding from the Rangers. From what Trini is about to say, it sounds like she now has the wrong idea about our Tommy. (Also, looked back at that story, I could say he didn’t have shoes and just had socks on based on the artwork. But, I gotta know if she risked it taking his wallet and his shoes, why not go for his backpack too?)
- “Mighty Morphin’ Moral Superiority.” Yep, good way to describe it. Also, is this the first time anyone has ever used the phrase “Mighty Morphin” in the actual comics?
- I will allow this use of Edenoi even though I want us all to agree that none of us want to remember Masked Rider. Ever.
- Let me clarify for a second what we now know if you’re a little confused. So, the Orange Empyreal, the opposite of the Blue Emissary, was awakened when Kiya killed the Blue Emissary. The Orange Empyreal then killed the Red Emissary in the Unlocked cover variants, which created the Green Empyreal. That Green Empyreal is the one the Omega Rangers encountered back in MMPR. And we still don’t know where the Yellow Emissary or the Purple Empyreal is.
- I now just realize that in the credits page, Drakkon’s official name is “Feral Drakkon.” Sorry, I ain’t calling him that. Anti-Tommy, Crazy Steve, Hobo Oliver, sure. Not Feral Drakkon, though.