She’s an icon. She’s a Legend. She is the Moment!
But, No we aren’t just talking about Astronema here! This time Karone has another Queen to contend with!
L.L. McKinney, author of the fabulously written “Power Rangers Unlimited: Heir to Darkness”
(which finally released to eager readers just over a week ago)
has taken the Power Rangers fandom by storm! We were lucky enough to be able to chat with the woman of the hour and ask her all the burning questions we have on her spot-on take of our favorite Queen of Evil!
Read her answers below!
How does it feel to be the first Black Female Author to write a Power Rangers comic?
It’s bittersweet! It’s awesome to be part of something that had such a huge impact on my childhood, and my want to become a writer. But it also sucks that we’re still having firsts like this in 2021.
Growing up, was Power Rangers an important influence on your life & creativity?
Definitely! The very first novel-length story I ever wrote, around the age of 9-11, was a Power Rangers fanfic. I didn’t know what fanfic was at the time, and I didn’t use any of the actual characters from the show, but I did have a team of six individuals who could transform into color coded spandex uniforms after saying special words in order to fight an intergalactic big bad. So…yeah, Power Rangers fanfic.
Who are some of your favorite characters in the Power Rangers Universe? Who would you like to write about?
Clearly Astronema is a favorite. As is Divatox. Mostly movie Divatox. Andros and Zhane as well, Trini, Zack, Adam, TJ, SO MANY.
What makes Astronema an important character?
I think what makes her important is the story around her and those closest to her, both good and evil. You get to see a level of nuance there about how people can grow and change and need to be given that opportunity. Also not giving up on people you care about. Of course, both of these things can be taken too far, but I think this show did a good job of conveying such things to the intended audience, which is kids.
In your story, why was it important for Astronema to have an inner dialogue?
We see Astronema in contemplative moments of silence on the show a lot. Whether she’s thinking about her past with Ecliptor and the empire, thinking about Zhane during their little arc together (which was cute, but I’m sorry, Zhane and Andros are clearly meant for each other), and lots of other moments. I wanted to explore where that particular characteristic of hers came from, how she developed it.
There was a clear similarity between Astronema’s inner struggle to serve her master and Ecliptor’s need to serve his master; why was this correlation important?
Because, in the show, we see that Ecliptor clearly cares for Astronema. Not just as the Princess of Evil but as someone important to him. But he’s also an automaton, BUILT to serve the empire. And he’s helping with lying to Astronema her entire life. So I wanted to show how someone who does indeed care for a person could still hurt and betray them in such a way. Ecliptor had his own motivations and desires to save his neck just like everyone else. But we see where what started out as just an assignment to him became more as this little person worked her way through his defenses.
Female Lead stories have been scarce in Power Rangers, why is it important to share these Power Rangers stories and why was this story important to you?
When I was a kid trying to play power rangers, I was told I couldn’t be the Red Ranger, because I was a girl. Or Blue, or Black, or anything but Pink and Yellow. Which are great, but I wanted to be the other characters sometimes, too. Representation is important, because it not only tells kids like myself they can be and do these things, but it lets other people know—people like the ones who told me I can’t be Red because I’m a girl—that those kinds of viewpoints are very much wrong.
Why was it important to have Astronema be a sympathetic and relatable character in her vulnerability?
(Someone to relate to)
I think it’s important because of who we have been given in the show, first and foremost. We can constantly see the battle inside Astronema when it comes to how she was raised versus who she wants to be. That’s a struggle a lot of people can relate to, without the evil empire part.
What made you interested in creating a further fleshed out backstory for Astronema?
Why is this an essential story to tell to Ranger Fans?
She’s my favorite villain from the franchise, period, and I wanted to do something with her that further explored how she became who she became. We all knew she was kidnapped and lied to, but I wanted to show how that happened.
“Family” is a clear essential theme in this story; why do you think this theme is important to Astronema’s story?
Her family was taken from her, when she was taken from her family. Then she was told they were killed and she’d never see them again, essentially. 9She’s been looking for it ever since, even if she’s not aware that this is what she’s doing. And when she finds her family, she finds a little piece of herself. Family is both her strength and her weakness, depending on who we’re talking about and how it’s played. That’s clear in the comics, Dee uses family to distract and defeat Astronema, or Kay as she’s known at the time. Then Kay uses family, or the lack thereof, to assure her final victory in the end. It’s a powerful influence.
The Numbers used for “K” and “D” were an intriguing addition to the story; do these numbers hold any significance?
Yup. They’re both numbers for when they were introduced. Dee’s number is the day the Turbo movie came out, and Kay’s number is the season and episodes in which she was revealed, season six, episodes 1 and 2.
Divatox (Spoilers haha) and Scorpina make appearances, would you also be interested in creating stories for them or perhaps other Female Villains in Ranger Lore?
That is my hope. My plan. My dream. I have ideas in place, I didn’t just pick Divatox randomly, or Mal, or anyone else who showed up. But I can’t get into it. Just in case I get to explore it in later comics.
Was it your decision to use the “Prism Rangers” in the introduction?
Was Prism Pink intended to be an allusion to Psycho Pink?
It wasn’t! I actually had a different team in mind for other reasons, but was told that team had something else in the pipes, so it was changed to this team. As far as who is intended for what, I don’t know! And also, spoilers.
If you could change one aspect of Power Ranger Lore, perhaps to fit your own head canon, what would it be?
… I don’t know if it counts as Lore really and not just team dynamics, but Andros and Zhane belong together. Although….I think it would be really cool to examine what would’ve happened if he had been snatched by Darkonda instead of Karone. Like, I know we’ve seen evil Andros, but I’d be super curious to examine what that looks like on the same levels as I have with his sister.
Do you have any plans or aspirations for continuing Astronema’s story in your style?
I would LOVE to. But that’s not up to me. But I wanna. Very much so.
Will Astronema’s Wrath Staff adorn your “Wall of Badass Broads” in the future?
IF I CAN FIND IT!
You can Follow L.L. McKinney on Twitter by clicking here!