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Preface
Xi’s Log, The Spectrum II, Stardate 2021.7:
“Well, after the excitement from our Hartunia mission, we’re back on Safehaven now. The Rangers will integrate the Hartunians to Safehaven. Meanwhile, I have to take the remains of my former master and place electronic devices on him.
Perhaps, it is time for a career change?”
The Cover
Taken straight from the Mighty Morphin #9 review:
“Zedd’s cover is a bit generic, but still, seeing the concept of the whole world in his hands conveys the kind of power he wields. And, the 3D-ish style looks great for Lord Zedd, getting a lot of details on his body and making him look menacing.
The Power Rangers cover’s concept has great lighting with the sunset. The concept of the cover is unique, Jason threatening to push Drakkon off. It paints the picture of what might happen in the story, Drakkon doing something so awful that Jason threatens to kill him. (Plus, out of context, it can be used for meme purposes and that’s always good.)
It’s close again, but I’m giving the win to the Mighty Morphin’ cover just because the image itself, on its own with no context, is a great one.”
Mighty Morphin – 4
Power Rangers – 5
The Story
On Safehaven, Zack is introducing the Hartunian refugees to the city. Normally, this is a job for Arkon, the birdman from Necessary Evil, but this time, he’s preparing for battle.
Meanwhile, Drakkon sets up a device on the remains of the Red Emissary to use it as an antenna for Trini to call out the Yellow Emissary. However, it’s not working for some reason.
Back with Zack, Arkon stands tall in his suit of armor and demands retribution from the Hartunians for all of the people who have died at their hands. Zack morphs and attempts to stop him on his own, but turns out, there are a lot more people who also want retribution.
Somewhere else, with the two of them alone, Drakkon asks Jason what Jason’ll do to him once this whole mess of Empyreals is done with. Jason obviously tells Drakkon that he’ll go back to Zordon if that happens. But, then Drakkon tries to goad Jason into a fistfight in exchange for his freedom. Before he can answer, Zack alerts Jason to the disturbance in town and Jason teleports to help.
In order to stop the fight once and for all, Zack offers Arkon his life so that he’ll be satisfied. Arkon takes his sword and slices Zack’s cheek, technically spilling blood in the laws of his people. Arkon and his gang then leave, telling the Hartunians that they’ll have to live with the grief that their people have inflicted for generations.
After countless efforts, Trini is finally able to talk to the Yellow Emissary. The Yellow Emissary gives Trini its location, but tells her “Do not seek me out, for you bring with you nothing but death.” As the Rangers head out to the Emissary’s location, we then see what Yale is doing during all of this.
Yale has been hanging out with Reeshka, one of the local kids, but because peer pressure sucks, Reeksha yells at Yale to go away in front of the other kids. Yale runs away into the deep forest of Safehaven, sad but maybe not alone…
Ending Thoughts
Not only is this a great standalone issue, but this is probably one of my favorite issues of this series so far.
The big focus of this issue isn’t on defeating the Empyreals. It’s about a clash of different cultures. It’s about worldbuilding for characters and a location that has been mostly just background dressing for a while. Arkon looked freaking amazing in his battle armor. We saw he was a good person back in Necessary Evil, but it’s nice that he gets this focus of trying to take his oath to avenge his people seriously. I love seeing Resshka and the other children dealing with living in a strange alien world. I love Yale being all cute and stuff. I enjoyed all of it.
Even with that, there is also a significant focus on each of the Omega Rangers that doesn’t detract from everyone else. Trini gets to show off her persistence by continually calling out for the Yellow Emissary. Zack gets to show his resolve by thinking of a solution where no one would get hurt. And, although Jason didn’t get to show much, Drakkon’s constant prodding does tie into Jason’s original backstory on how he was a bully. It feels like an issue of Go Go Power Rangers with everyone’s focus being balanced while advancing the overall story.
There are two different art styles to this issue because Yale’s scenes were drawn by the main artist for the next issue which is about Yale’s story. But, even though the art styles were different enough that you could tell which one’s which, they blended together well enough as to not be distracting. In addition, the coloring and lighting for this issue worked well for Safehaven, this bright place that makes you feel invited.
Power Rangers #9 is slow-paced but excellently balanced, taking us through a full tour of Safehaven, both the location and its citizens.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I freakin’ love Arkon’s room, man.
- The lore of the Morphin’ Emissaries hearing whenever someone morphs as if they are calling for help is a pretty cool detail for lore.