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Preface
D.E.C.A’s Log, Astro Megaship, Stardate 2022.8:
“Hello, my name is D.E.C.A. I am the onboard navigation system aboard the Astro Megaship. It used to be occupied by a team of Space Rangers that all conveniently were raised by the same two ladies, which I found suspicious.
But, I’d rather take them over the Xurix that has occupied the Astro Megaship. None of them pick up after themselves. Not one of them has listened to my jokes either.
And then, all of a sudden, Andros, aka the shady one of the team, has the audacity to show up without even calling first. And then he brings an uninvited guest, another Red Ranger, with him, along with his pet too! And, then, Andros found Zhane’s pod and Zhane, my favorite Ranger of the team, suddenly woke up and became certified zombified.
This can’t end well. This might be my final entry.”
The Cover
It’s a good shot, shows off three Rangers and conveniently leaves out the main Red Ranger. Paints a pretty ominous scene for this final issue of the series.
The Story
So, Zhane’s acting weird. He says he sees dead people, including Jason’s mom. And then he activates the weapons array and destroys a random space station with people on it. The Silver Ranger announces that they are not going back to Safehaven. They’re going to KO-35.
On Safehaven, Journey and Kevor raid the weapons in the vault as the Followers of Vox reveal that they want to break out Garrison Vox because he saved their planet when he was powered up by the Grid. But, now the planet is in chaos again and they need him back. But, it’s too bad for them that they’re now going to have to face the worst thing they could face: teenagers. Journey manages to effectively defeat them with the weapons she “borrowed”, but now she has effectively aged again.
Meanwhile, as Zack and Trini follow the Astro Megaship, not!Zhane introduces himself as Spa’ark of Avadias, the Gold Omega Ranger. Andros explains that for the longest time, he heard stories about the Gold Omega Ranger, the Ranger that conquered death, and after seeing Jason’s message through the galaxy, he knows that it could be true. Spa’ark says that their plan now is to resurrect KO-35, wipe out the Xurix, destroy Dark Specter, and resurrect every other person in the galaxy who has been wrong. (Which sounds like a natural plan to have) Jason tries to convince Andros that this is a really bad idea and it’s proven immediately when Spa’ark stabs him in the back, effectively killing him. Spa’ark places the Gold Omega Morpher onto Jason’s body and now plans on using him as his host.
Soon, Zack and Trini land on KO-35 and find that the dead citizens of KO-35 have already been resurrected as zombies. And, they’re also not prepared for a zombified Jason, Zhane, and Yale. The two remaining Omega Rangers are effectively killed and Andros realizes too late that he dun goofed.
Andros manages to escape through the Master Arch and soon, the Mighty Morphin’ Rangers are hanging around the Command Center when Andros and the Safehaven gang come busting through saying the universe needs help.
Ending Thoughts
Mighty Morphin’s finale accomplished its series’ main goal of building up the world of the MMPR team by teasing what the future holds for some of our Rangers. And, I can safely say that Power Rangers’s finale accomplished the main goal of its own series.
From the start, Power Rangers has always been about expanding the whole PR universe, taking our Rangers to new places and experimenting with different plots that couldn’t be restrained by the typical setting of Angel Grove. And this arc has done that and more. Letting us interact more with the citizens of Safehaven, meeting Andros and getting involved with his mess, showing us an old legend of an ancient Ranger, and all of that culminating together with those final spectacular pages completely changing the tone of the story. Despite the issue being all bright and colorful, there are a few good moments where the tragic horror of the situation leaps out to the reader as every character’s brutal end (or beginning) is marked with a blood-red background.
Power Rangers #22 ends the series and our main cast as the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers are called in to stop the Countdown to Death.
Power Rangers #21 had our Journey wake up as her life was passing her by while our Zhane is awoken by something far more sinister.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Ok, so, regarding the White Emissary explanation, it does seem like a good way to explain why Tommy’s White Ranger suit is so similar to the Squadron suits, but at the same time, what does it mean for all of the future White Rangers? Does that mean that the real first White Ranger is Delphine?
- You guys finally see why Andros being so freaking shady is not a good thing? This all could have been avoided with one conversation. Pro Tip: If you have a plan that you don’t want to tell other people because they’ll tell you it’s stupid, it’s probably stupid. (The fact that other KO-35 citizens agreed to this plan too is stupid enough…)
- Jason’s final words: “They’re just using you to do what they—HHK!”
- Zack’s final words: “Oh, I see we’re not fighting fair—AGGGH!”
- Trini’s final words: “Jason? What… What’s happened to–?”
- Yale’s final words: “Growl!”
