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Preface
I didn’t do this last time so let me make up for it now…
It’s Morphin’ Time! Tyrannosaurus!
Zeo Ranger III Blue!
Time For Time Force!
Wild Access!
Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!
Dino Thunder, Power Up!
The Cover
Same thoughts as Power Rangers Universe #1’s cover. Love the energy swirling around this new hero debuting in this series and the whole yellow aesthetic with various Yellow Rangers from the franchise.
(So, we have MMPR Yellow because she’s the big one, Dino Thunder Yellow makes sense since her powers are featured in this series, and Zeo Yellow makes sense too. Taylor and Gia do work here since they’re both leader-type Yellow Rangers.)
The Story
All of our Rangers are advancing through Dark Specter’s forces. But, it’s clear that our new Ranger suits are unstable as Rhian’s MMPR Red suit suddenly switches to Mystic Force Red. So, for the night, they all take shelter in a cabin in the woods. There, they all take a moment and think “What the heck is going on?”
As it turns out, the Master Hearts were only designed to absorb the Morphin’ Grid energy for a short period of time for someone to safely enter the Grid. And, since it can only hold that energy for so long, using a Heart like this will potentially harm the user. But, more importantly, the reason why when our heroes morphed into known Rangers is that the Morphin’ Grid’s energy is connecting the teens to every universe in both space and time.
Realizing that this means that all reality is threatened by Dark Specter’s plan, Rhian takes the time to teach everyone real fighting techniques to fight as an effective squadron. Later in the night, Ori is having trouble figuring out how to prevent the Master Hearts from hurting the users. Aleia offers up the idea of creating a casing for the hearts that could absorb some of the excess energy. Ori is hesitant on the idea, but Aleia encourages them, saying that everyone has faith Ori will figure this out.
In the morning, Ori gives everyone new casings for their Master Hearts, featuring a design courtesy of Aleia, and all of them morph back to action.
It’s Morphin’ Time! Pterodactyl! Lightspeed Rescue! Ninja Storm, Ranger Form! SPD Emergency! RPM Get in Gear! Energize, Unleash the Power!
With teamwork, our Rangers utilize their knowledge of the area and new powers to advance through the Spectroids (Dark Specter’s forces as I never used this name before). All of them make it to the location of the Proto-Arch, but as they enter, the Morphinaut suddenly hears a voice telling him that he’s doomed them all. Leaving the Morphinaut to wonder what he has done…
Ending Thoughts
Easily my favorite issue so far from this series.
Again, it is refreshing to see this tight friendship between our Rangers. Just that one page of the Rangers training and laughing together brought a smile to my face. Even though we don’t have a ton on their backstory, the Rangers’ chemistry and dialogue convey the feelings a group of childhood friends would have. Like during the final action sequence when the Rangers used the environment to fight the Spectroids. It reminded me of little kids being creative and pretending to go on real adventures.
Speaking of action sequences, that is also something to highlight. With just this one issue, we already have improved over every fight from Beyond the Grid. Why? Because we actually use the other Rangers’ powers and weapons. We’re so used to seeing the Power Weapons all the time that using the unique abilities of Rangers throughout the franchise like the Ptera Scream or the Invincibility Shield makes this comic stand out. And then you add in the transitions of Rangers turning into other Rangers and that creates some amazing visuals.
Power Rangers Universe #3 gives readers a moment to breathe as the issue delivers on some clever action scenes and fulfilling dialogue.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- The tip about not making a fist with your thumb inside is something I never thought of before. You learn something new everyday.
- Little confused on the timeline of this and just how far away the Proto Arch is from town, but I’ll forgive it for now.
