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Preface
Oh, yay.
Andros and Zhane. Two of the most iconic Red and Sixth Rangers from one of the most important seasons of the entire franchise. And, yet, they aren’t exactly high on my list of favorite Rangers.
It’s not a popular opinion. I am aware of that. It’s just there have been more Red and Sixth Rangers throughout the franchise that I have better identified with and compared to them, these two Rangers aren’t a priority for me. But, still, I am aware that there is story potential for the two of them, especially when it comes to their past fighting for KO-35 before they met TJ, Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie in Power Rangers in Space.
Which brings us to today’s comic that covers exactly that. Perhaps, this could be the story to let me see a whole new side to these Space Rangers.
The Cover
Andros holding his lifeless friend in his arms as Darkonda looms as a threat over them all. Good tragic cover. Displays exactly what we’re going to get with the book.
The Story
So, Flashback Land to KO-35 where Karone gets kidnapped as we have seen so many times before and Andros is like all sad face now. Both he and his good friend Zhane are now orphans, but the current Blue and Pink Space Rangers, Maavi and Dhaza, decide to adopt them and take them in as part of their family.
Years pass by and Andros wants to leave KO-35 to go search for his sister. With Zhane by his side, they decide the best way to do that is to join the Planetary Defense Syndicate. The two of them trained to become warriors. When they are finished with their training, they return home to find that their parents have decided that they want Zhane to be part of the next generation of Power Rangers as the Silver Ranger. Zhane offers for Andros to be the Red Ranger, but Andros absolutely refuses. He doesn’t believe that he should be a Ranger since he thinks he’ll abandon them the second he finds something about Karone. Both he and Zhane get into an argument about it and Andros leaves, saying that Zhane doesn’t understand him since he has no family left.
Weeks pass by and Zhane finds Andros again, telling him about a distress call about a monster stealing kids. The two of them take the Astro Megashuttle and fly off to the planet where they find Darkonda, the monster that took Karone originally. But, it turns out that a single guy with a knife doesn’t do a lot to a bounty hunter. Darkonda uses a Barillian Bug on Andros to erase himself from Andros’s memory and tells him that he and Dark Specter’s forces are gonna go after KO-35 solely to make Andros’s life miserable.
Zhane gives Andros the antidote for the venom and he also gives him the Red Astro Morpher. As Andros takes off after whats-his-name, he notices Zhane’s shuttle being attacked by other fighter ships. Choosing to leave Darkonda alone, he finds a child’s toy left in the wreckage and tossed it into the thruster of the spaceship, destroying it completely. Zhane apologizes for not helping out Andros more to find Karone, but Andros thanks Zhane for being a part of his family.
And, so, Andros becomes a member of the Space Rangers as Dark Specter attacks KO-35. One by one, all of the Rangers sans Andros are captured or killed. Andros places Zhane in cryostasis in the Astro Megaship in the hopes that he’ll heal one day. But, then the Astro Megaship is taken and then he hears about Jason’s call to the universe…
Ending Thoughts
So, in terms of the main story and how this relates to Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers, this comic did its job. It introduced Andros and Zhane to new readers that were unaware of the two before and gave a little more insight as to why Andros would want the Gold Omega Morpher. It also explained why the Xurix attacked KO-35, which admittedly makes the whole thing look dumb in retrospect.
For the story, in general, this story is all about Andros and Zhane’s friendship. Karone is only briefly shown, but don’t worry. She is mentioned over and over and over again because Andros is in this story is freakin’ obsessed with finding her. Andros is kind of a jerk here, devoting a lot of his time solely to finding Karone and nothing else. Even for someone like me who has seen the TV show in addition to this, there is almost no real reason shown for why he is obsessing so much with this to the point of pushing his best friend out of his life. It honestly makes me wish we had a scene or two of Karone and Andros as kids before the big kidnap so we can see just how deep their relationship was.
But, at the end of it all, the story served as a good origin for Andros to become the Red Ranger, showing that he’s not too far gone in his quest and that he’s willing to help out when needed. From some of the imagery especially towards the end of the issue, you could see some romantic undertones to Zhane and Andros’s relationship, but regardless, it is well handled, depicting Zhane as someone who’s willing to help out his friend even when they might not be willing to help him. And, now, in the current timeline, Andros now sees himself as someone who hasn’t done the right thing for his friend who was always by his side from the beginning. His actions for finding the Gold Omega Morpher become justified and that will be an important detail for what’s about to happen in the main storyline.
Art-wise, I love the color pallet for this. The bright colors match the light-hearted yet serious tone of each scene and that should be commended. But, the art overall feels inconsistent. There are two artists for this book and it shows. On one page, readers have the main simplistic cartoonish style for the book but then on the very next page, readers get thrown from a more abstract style. It clashes every time and throws the readers out of the story. Not only that but there were a good few panels and moments where the art didn’t convey what the scene was going for. For example, there was a panel where Zhane had tears in his eyes while talking to Andros, but the tear was so far off the side of his face I legitimately thought it was meant to show he was sweating. Tiny details like that can distract the reader from enjoying the comic fully.
Power Rangers Unlimited: Countdown to Ruin doesn’t fly higher than ever before with its inconsistent art and some odd writing, but it is still worth it to set controls to outer space and learn all about these two Rangers from KO-35.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- So, why don’t I like Andros? I’ve said it before and the comics are emphasizing this point to me: he is shady. He does whatever dirty tricks possible just to get his single goal done. And, that’s not the character I want to get invested in. But, it’s not just that. From the TV show, he keeps doing the same thing. He never grew from this. He always snuck off on his own without telling anyone about something important for the entire team. Even during the Countdown to Destruction, I distinctly remember being annoyed when everyone is planning on how they can stop the full invasion and Andros snuck off to immediately get Karone without telling anyone his plan. He only talked to Ashley because she noticed him slinking off. It annoyed me so much.
- Why don’t I like Zhane? I feel like I should because he was very different from other Sixth Rangers at the time. Tommy and Jason were very serious with their roles, always meant to be seen as the badasses of the team. Zhane was more chill and laid back and just did whatever he wanted. He was still the cool guy of the group. And, I guess, that’s part of the reason why I started not to like him. Zhane wasn’t present most of the time (due to Sentai reasons) with a very vague idea of what was so important for him to leave the group for. And then, when he was there, he did questionable stuff like literally waving goodbye to his friends while they were fighting a gigantic monster and letting his friends think he was dying just to get special treatment. Honestly, I don’t hate him (not as much as Andros), but yeah, he’s a lower priority for me now.
- So, as of now, this is at the bottom for me in terms of Power Rangers Unlimited one-shots. Heir to Darkness is #1, followed by Edge of Darkness, and now this issue.
- I will say that even though there are issues with the art, I will absolutely praise some of the meme-worthy stuff got here like the Grant Gustin meme.
- I know that hologram of the Rangers is a very poor redraw of one of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers promotional images. But, since some of the colors are switched, I gotta know whether that’s an actual team that they’re showing off.
- Maavi and Dhaza, if I didn’t mention above, are more Rangers that are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, being in a lovely marriage. I am perfectly ok with that. However, all of their adopted children just so happen to be the ones chosen to be the new Space Rangers. There’s something a little suspect about that.
- I gotta wait before I judge the fact that Maavi was telling children about the Gold Omega Morpher because I don’t know what exactly the bedtime story is with that. It might be like the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy or it might be like the story of the Holocaust. We’ll find out soon.
- And, yes, they imply Zhane uses an Astro Morpher rather than the Digi Morpher he uses in the show. That change was necessary because… I don’t know. Kids these days don’t know what flip phones are?
- We’ve seen morphed Rangers before without their helmets. That’s nothing new. But, is this the first time we’ve seen them without gloves too? That just makes it weird, doesn’t it?
- I legitimately want to know what Andros was doing to search for Karone because it honestly felt like he was just moping the whole time.
- Wait, did Zhane really have to give Andros a boost to get into the Megashuttle? That’s how that works?
- I am convinced Andros used his telekinesis on that toy because I refuse to believe a simple throw like that could take down a spaceship. (Orion at least had a slingshot when he did it.)
