(Disclaimer: Please buy the comic before reading this review available at your local comic shop!)
They can also be found by visiting findacomicshop.com or comicshoplocator.com
Preface
So, if you haven’t been reading the Power Rangers series for some reason, here’s what you need to know: Jason’s life kinda sucks right now. His mom just died and his dad wants to leave Angel Grove and tells his son to not freakin’ come with him. Meanwhile, on Safehaven, Andros, a shady Ranger with great hair, finds the Gold Omega Morpher, an object capable of controlling the dead in some way. This can not end well.
The Cover
Meh. Generic cover shot. Doesn’t mean much. Looks fine though.
The Story
Jason’s got enough “comfort food” from everyone else so Kim’s attempt to give him some is not that helpful. So, Trini decides that the best thing the two of them can do is give him space by doing an old-fashioned mall crawl. And, during that time, Trini decides now is a good time to fill Kim on everything. And, I mean, everything. Including what happened during Shattered Grid. That Drakkon kinda killed Tommy and multiple Rangers across time and space came by to help stop a disaster of epic proportions.
At the Command Center, Kim, still reeling from the fact that Tommy died before, tells Billy about their future and asks him if there are any upgrades he can give the team now to prevent a future where they die and are replaced by other Rangers. Billy accepts and soon Tommy is brought in on the secret too.
After some time, Kim and Tommy try out their new powers in their old pocket dimension, which they used to use for training. They fight Putties, old and new, with their new mode, the Metallic Armor! However, Billy soon learns that there’s a reason Zordon and Alpha haven’t introduced them to the mode yet. It’s volatile. So volatile it disrupts the pocket dimension. The one that’s connected to the Morphin’ Grid.
And, soon, Kim and Tommy aren’t able to teleport out and lose contact with Billy. The dimension soon morphs into a nightmare scape filled with villains they have never seen before…
Specifically, Trakeena from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Ransik from Power Rangers Time Force, Dai Shi from Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Sledge from Power Rangers Dino (Super) Charge, and Void Queen from Power Rangers Dino Fury
Ending Thoughts
Ok, I will admit, I didn’t see that coming, but I should’ve.
With the death of Jason’s mom, a lot of the character focus would be on Jason and how he is grieving through that process. Which left the rest of the Rangers with no real storyline to have. Until, thanks to Trini’s big mouth, some of them are left to deal with the fact that they could die, that they are replaceable with countless other Rangers in the future. So, Kim, faced with that idea, is trying to plan ahead and prepare for a future she is uncertain of. And, though we have thrown out a lot of Zordon’s rules, Kim’s breaking one of them right now: don’t escalate the situation until your enemy does. With the Rangers getting the Metallic Armor now before getting their Ninja Powers, the Morphin’ Grid finds ways to balance the scales and I think that’s an excellent story to have on the charge to Issue #100.
Now, on to the stuff that everyone else is going to be talking about, the Legacy stuff. The Metallic Armor is represented well with the art. You see the regular suits only for a page or two, but the glow around them and the lighting perfectly display the metallic sheen the original suits were going for. (And by that, I mean, the sparkles the suits were going for.) As for all of the villains, I love their inclusion here. Each villain is a fan favorite from their respective eras (Post-Zordon, Disney, Neo-Saban, and Hasbro) so fans old and new can find a villain they’ll enjoy. Since most of the Zordon era villains have already been seen in the comics already, we get a villain from Lost Galaxy, the season with the closest ties to the Zordon Era, which absolutely works with me. And, I will always give praise to the comics tying into the current season of Power Rangers airing, with the inclusion of Void Queen. It ties the franchise elements closer together and makes them stronger.
Mighty Morphin #21 returns to the comics’ anniversary event, Shattered Grid, by exploring a new aspect of it, warning our Pink Ranger of what’s to come and showing her how all that glitters is not gold.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Ransik, I know you’re a mutant and all that, but that doesn’t mean you should act like an animal, with that opening line and all. I mean, it’s not like you eat people to sustain the metal in your body, right… Right?
- Sledge, this is your third reappearance in the Power Rangers franchise. You have shown up every two years in a major PR story. How?
- Even though Dai Shi is a good villain, I kinda wished it was instead Mesogog since it would be cool to have all of the villains from the dino seasons (sans Mighty Morphin) come together. Plus, it would be interesting to have Mesogog fight a younger Tommy Oliver.
- This is the weirdest time. Recent PR villains are in the comics while the most recent PR season had one of the oldest villains guest stars. Amazing.
