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Preface
So, before we get started, let’s address the newest change to the series.
Ryan Parrott, the main writer for both Mighty Morphin’ and Power Rangers, is no longer writing Mighty Morphin’. The end of the Eltarian War was his last issue for Mighty Morphin’. He will continue to write the Power Rangers series while Mighty Morphin’ will be handled by another writer, Mat Groom.
Now, Mat Groom isn’t new to the world of Toku. He’s written both recent Ultraman comic series from Marvel, which I will recommend. He’s helped with the Supermassive one shot, which I will also recommend as a great introduction to all three main characters. And, for Power Rangers, he wrote “Sealed”, the Super Ninja Steel story from the 25th Anniversary Special (which will be relevant again in a few issues…)
So, it will be interesting to see what a new voice will bring to the series. Even though the Mighty Morphin’ issues before this one were good, having one writer for two series made it easy to know the writing style and what to expect with the dialogue.
With all of that said, let’s begin a new era with our Mighty Morphin’ team!
The Cover
Meh.
It’s a fine promo shot, just not exciting at all.
The Story
No more trips to Flashback Land. Damn.
So, the Rangers are surveying the ruins of the Command Center. The main base of it is gone, but the Power Chamber, which links the Power Coins to the Morphin’ Grid, is still operational. Of course, this means that it’s now vulnerable and anyone can walk right in and sever the Rangers’ link to the Grid. Instead of taking the time to rebuild it, the Rangers realize that a better solution would be to find an empty Eltarian Command Center and bring it to Earth.
Later that night, Rocky’s mom tells Rocky that he needs to watch his siblings for the weekend because she has to go to a business conference or else she’ll lose her job. To make Rocky’s life even more complicated, the moon explodes. Yep. Probably the end of the world.
Actually, Grace and her team discover that the moon was turned invisible. Before she can investigate it any further, she meets Tommy, Billy, and Zordon. They explain their plan of grabbing a Command Center and ask if they could have a few things: an Eltarian ship, the power necessary to transport the Command Center, and the help of Promethea and the Green Ranger to protect the Power Chamber while they’re gone. Though acting a little petty, she agrees to help the Rangers out (especially because Matt’s powers are also at risk).
Rocky is nervous about telling the other Rangers that he has to stay home, but Tommy and Aisha are ok with it, stating that it’d be good for one of their own to protect their home. Soon, Alpha and every Ranger sans Rocky blast off to space and literally two seconds later, killer robots come to attack the Power Chamber. Rocky barely holds them off until Matt arrives and finishes them. But, there are more robots coming by the command of King Aradon from the Machine Empire…
And where are the Rangers heading? Aegus V! And where is that Command Center?
Commanding with the fishes.
Ending Thoughts
With a new creative team and everything that happened in the Eltarian War, it makes sense to go back to basics. It’s been a good amount of time since we’ve had the Rangers’ civilian lives impact the current storyline like this. And the focus is on Rocky, a character that still hasn’t gotten much attention since his debut in the comics. For the brief period they were in the issue, seeing Rocky’s role in the family and meeting all of his family members was interesting and highlighted an important aspect of his life we haven’t seen before.
For the Ranger side of things, it sets up a lot of intrigue for the readers. While I personally am questioning why are we stealing a Command Center as opposed to rebuilding it like before, the premise of it is a fun one. With the Command Center underwater too, it also allows the opportunity for the environment to be different than plain old Angel Grove. And, the other elements that were also brought up such as the mystery of the moon’s disappearance also keep readers engaged. I haven’t even brought up King Aradon’s appearance either. Using a minor character from the Machine Empire adds to the worldbuilding and PR fans especially will enjoy the usage of villains from other seasons.
Art-wise, we have Moisés Hidalgo back on penciling duties. Like I said before, the strongest aspect of this style is in the human faces which shines here since most of this issue focuses on the Rangers as civilians. But, the artstyle also conveys some cool designs like King Aradon or the Eltarian spaceship. There’s not a lot of action in the issue, but the short sequence of Rocky morphing and fighting off the robots is dynamic with panels being structured as if it’s in an arc from the Power Sword.
Mighty Morphin #17 re-introduces us to the Mighty Morphin team with most of them going to a new planet and one Ranger getting ready to protect what’s left of his home.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Rocky’s ringtone being a reference to Ninja Steel reminded me that this writer has seen another season besides MMPR and I’m curious what other references we might get.
- Since this is a new writer for the series, I do want to point out that a lot of the characters’ personalities and dialogue still feels as natural as it was in previous issues. That said, the only one I am questioning is Grace. Don’t know if it was intentional or not, but she was being a lot pettier here than I would’ve thought.
- What to bring for intergalactic road trips: clothes, snacks, flashlight, foot powder, and a good chunk of DVDs / movies you won’t mind watching millions of times.
- If Aegus V isn’t secretly Aquitar, then it’s a wasted opportunity.
