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Preface
This is usually the part of these Power Rangers Unlimited one-shots where I discuss my personal opinion on the main character of the story. I can’t do that with this one. This story is about the Death Ranger, an all-new Ranger in the comics’ universe. We haven’t gotten to know him that much, but I am interested in seeing what his backstory could be.
Instead, I’ll focus on everyone else’s reaction to the Death Ranger. And how it was crazier than you would have thought.
You see, the Death Ranger’s suit was revealed on a cover shown off back in May. Now, that grabbed a lot of people’s attention as the Omega Ranger’s main design is spectacular enough that the added skeletal mouth in the helmet made the Death Ranger look like a badass villain. And then, Paul Allor, the comic book’s writer, went on Twitter and mentioned that the Death Ranger’s pronouns are “they/them”, confirming that the Death Ranger was nonbinary.
That drew even more attention to the character as the Death Ranger is now the second non-binary character in the Power Rangers franchise (after Ori from Power Rangers Universe). I can’t sum up the reaction from Twitter so enjoy all of these Tweets that got hundreds and hundreds of likes and retweets that showed people’s support for the character.
Needless to say, the character was pretty hyped up, but now we should ask if their origin story is as exciting as people believed it would be. Time to find out…
The Cover
Our main character is seen as this lone figure with their future form looming over him as wisps of their dark power come from his dead eyes. But, the main character isn’t in any danger. Rather, they are about to be a danger to everyone as indicated by their menacing shadow.
If you need me to tell you that this is an awesome cover, then I don’t know what to say…
The Story
Once upon a time, there lived 5 Power Rangers in a little safehaven. Bledso, the brave Red Ranger. Apophee, the strong Black Ranger. The Puram, the smart Yellow Ranger. Haza, the friendly Blue Ranger. And, Spa’ark, the mysterious Gold Ranger.
All of them lived in harmony, defending the galaxy from evil until Haza got sick… from being stabbed. The Blue Ranger’s body was soon put into the ground, ready for her spirit to ascend beyond.
But, Spa’ark was a special Ranger, you see. Their species’ can talk to their lost loved ones through what they call “The Legacy.” However, they can’t talk to Haza. They couldn’t find her. For the first time in their life, it seemed like they had to deal with something that was unfamiliar to them. Something called grief.
But, Spa’ark didn’t want to deal with that dumb emotion. Instead, they searched for Haza. They read. They studied. They cooked. Until they found the power they needed inside of a Langolier. And, with that, Haza was brought back to them all.
But, the other Rangers weren’t happy at all. They didn’t celebrate like Spa’ark would have thought. They thought what Spa’ark did was crazy. Insane. The other Rangers wanted to keep Spa’ark in their room until they figure this all out. But, Spa’ark wouldn’t let that happen. Not when Haza just came back.
And, so, both Spa’ark and the trio of Omega Rangers all morphed into action, friend vs friend. With an army of the dead at their side, it seemed like victory was all but assured for the new Death Ranger. Until Haza stepped in to save all of her friends. The dead suddenly turned on their master and broke their link to the Morphin’ Grid.
The dead were able to sleep once again and from the fight, Spa’ark was soon to join them. But, they couldn’t. Even after Haza said that she wanted to rest. That it was cruel for her to say goodbye to them all, but it was how the world worked. Spa’ark couldn’t let it go. Instead of leaving completely, their soul went into the only thing capable of preserving them… the Gold Omega Morpher.
As for the rest of the Omega Rangers, they moved forward. They lived with having to see two of their friends gone from their lives and the guilt of how they disappeared. They recruited another Blue Ranger, but not a Gold Ranger. They stored the Gold Omega Morpher in the vaults of Safehaven, where it would stay for all eternity… until now.
Ending Thoughts
This… is the bedtime story you tell your kids?! Seriously?!
Regardless of how I feel about telling kids this before going to bed, this story is fantastic. Spa’ark is an interesting tragic character, someone whose entire life and culture are based around this idea of the “Legacy”, a phenomenon where people who died still live on in this ‘pool’ of consciousness where they can be contacted by the living. Only when Spa’ark loses Haza and the “Legacy” doesn’t apply to her, does he realize that it’s not how it works for everyone else. So, rather than confront the sorrow and grief they were experiencing, they went out of their way to avoid their feelings entirely. By creating something that wouldn’t allow someone to die. But, by doing so, Spa’ark doesn’t give anyone the chance to stay dead. Even after what Haza said to him, that’s what he’s continuing to do in the main PR story. This backstory depicts the Death Ranger, our current villain in the main series, in a tragic light and offers so much explanation as to why they feel like they’re doing the right thing.
Spa’ark isn’t the only character I enjoyed seeing in this issue. All of the other Omega Rangers are fascinating too. Sure, they only show just the bare bones in terms of personalities, but their character designs and what the comic does paint a cool idea of what this team was like before the events of the comic. We most likely won’t see any of the original Omega Rangers again, but I believe they would have been fun to explore.
In addition to Spa’ark, Xi also has a presence in the story, as a robot that’s brand new and constantly doubting himself. It’s so different from how he was portrayed at the start of Necessary Evil. But, now that we’re seeing the overall timeline for Xi, it changes how the readers see the character. Xi started off as someone like Alpha 5, wanting to help the Rangers but being a bit nervous about how they helped. But, because of what happened with Spa’ark, they withdrew in themselves and couldn’t handle the weight of their failure. So, when centuries pass by, and Xi is given another chance by the Blue Emissary to help the newest team of Omega Rangers, Xi found a chance to redeem itself. It toughened up and asserted himself more with the team. And all of that worked up until when Xi was destroyed by Drakkon and once again, Xi is forced to accept the fact that it failed again. It’s probably the reason why it didn’t want to regain its memories when Trini rebuilt it because it didn’t want to relive that again. I could go on more about it, but readers should acknowledge what Xi has been going through.
The art for this issue is handled by two different artists: Kath Lobo, who handles the main story with the Death Ranger, and Anna Kevovsky Chandra, who returns to handle the framing device of Maavi telling the story of the Death Ranger to a young Andros and Zhane. Both art styles work well with each other through the bright color palette even though they’re both distinct from each other. Chandra’s style is more animated while Lobo’s style goes for more of a basic realism with very broad strokes but not much detail in it. Either way, both art styles are solid and help make this story a great read.
Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger #1 is an excellent origin story for the Death Ranger and an emotional tale exploring the cruel fate of death and how attempting to stop it is futile in the end.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Ok, so, the question is… how did Maavi even know about this story? Since Xi was deactivated, that could only mean one of the original Omega Ranger trio spilled the beans. But, which one of them is the dumbass? Like, it’s an emotional story for the three of them. Who would ever bring it up and casually mention that the morpher powerful enough to resurrect the dead was still intact?
- Now that I know the story Andros and Zhane were told, I still think they’re idiots for thinking it was ever a good idea. An undead army that attacked Power Rangers the second the Death Ranger lost control? Oh my god, what a great idea!
- Shouts out to those of you who got my Langolier reference!
- None of the Rangers are wearing their Morphers in their civilian forms and that goddamn bugs me.
- So, I love all of the alien designs in this story. But, my favorite? It’s gotta be Apophee, the Black Ranger. Power Rangers are always the slender athletic type so to have something go against that and be this hulking muscular brute is so refreshing to me.
- I don’t have any problem with The Puram’s design, but I gotta ask. How does it affect her vision that one of her eyes is covered by the helmet? You’d think that would raise some concerns, right?
- Oh yeah, the Omega Rangers all have blasters… WHY HAVEN’T WE SEEN THE PRESENT RANGERS USE THEM?!
