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Preface
We have now begun the countdown to Darkest Hour!
What is it? I’m not sure.
It’s the big event for Power Rangers’ 30th anniversary, primarily for the comic storyline. It’s a storyline for this team of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and features other teams such as the Drakkon Rangers and the Hyperforce Rangers all trying to stop whatever Mistress Vile is planning. But, other than that, it’s unclear what exactly the event is about. It’s very different from Shattered Grid’s announcement where it was immediately said that every Ranger team would make an appearance in that story.
All I know for sure is that this is the story of Mistress Vile trying to end the Power Rangers once and for all.
(What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary than trying to kill Power Rangers?)
With all that said, let’s get started.
The Cover
You know that feeling when you’re doing something wrong and your mom opens the door to your room and you know that you’re in so much trouble?
Yeah, that cover gives me that vibe.
The Story
So, Rita’s assembled forces start attacking Safehaven for their Master Arch. This includes Dayne, the Death Ranger, and the Death Ranger’s assorted group of Ranger Zombies: the Wild Force Red, Blue, and White Rangers. The Omega Rangers morph and fight them off as there is no reasoning with the bounty hunter looking out for himself or the crazy dead guy trying to kill the world. (And, the zombies don’t have any thoughts on the matter because they’re zombies.)
Back on Earth, the Vessel takes a stand against Mistress Vile…
That doesn’t do much.
Shortly after, the Mighty Morphin’ Rangers arrive at Promethea and there’s no trace of Mistress Vile anywhere. There, they run into the Z Ranger, who gives them Terona as a temporary form of truce for now while he goes to Safehaven to protect their Master Arch from Mistress Vile. However, Terona then reveals to the Mighty Morphin’ team that there’s another Arch and that’s where Matt, Rita, Grace, and the Vessel are.
It’s in the Bermuda Triangle. Because, of course, it is.
On Safehaven, the fight continues until Serpentera arrives. Or more precisely, Serpentera in its fighting form. However, it’s for naught as the Z Ranger realizes he’s a dumb dumb and that Mistress Vile isn’t there.
It’s in the Bermuda Triangle. Because, of course, it is.
She’s in the Bermuda Triangle. That’s where the Master Arch is. Because of course, it is.
The Mighty Morphin’ team tries to stop her, but it is too late.
Mistress Vile has already performed her spell on the Arch.
The Darkest Hour has begun.
Ending Thoughts
The main character focus for this issue has been Grace as she plays catch up on what has been happening so far. There are small character moments here and there like Tommy and Kim’s argument, but this issue is all about showing how cool Grace is, being defiant against Mistress Vile while attempting to comfort the real Matt underneath Rita’s spell. It’s a good show of her character that we haven’t gotten in a while. I hope there’s more for her to do, but again, we don’t really know what Darkest Hour is all about.
That’s the thing about this prelude. It takes its time to show everything happening, the big battle on Safehaven, the MMPR team meeting Z Ranger, and the villains heading to the Bermuda Triangle, but it feels less like adding important details for the story and more like padding until we get to the big cliffhanger ending of Rita activating her spell. The return of Death Ranger and Dayne and the appearance of the Wild Force Rangers should be important, showing how far Mistress Vile’s reach has extended, but I’m sitting here, shrugging as to what exactly is the point in having them here. The scenes on their own are good but put together, it doesn’t get the readers as excited as they should. (Especially since the idea of what this event will be is still unclear.)
The artwork is as solid as ever. For all of my complaints about how I’m still not fully engaged with the event, the colorful visuals are still amazing with beautiful detailing and depth. The final visual of darkness spreading through space and time cracking through the light until it reaches the devil behind it all is such a simplistic but perfect demonstration of what exactly Rita’s power is accomplishing. In addition to that, I actually love the page of Zack and Trini going outside their Command Center to watch the villains teleport down from their ships. Not only does the scene work with the bright ominous red lighting, it’s reminiscent of the scene from Shattered Grid where the Rangers are at the Command Center, watching all of the Rangers teleport straight to them. It serves as a great contrast between both moments, where the Shattered Grid moment instilled hype while the Darkest Hour moment instilled fear of what’s to come.
MMPR #110 officially begins the Darkest Hour, a time of uncertainty for the future of the Power Rangers as we know it.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Sorry, this took a week to get out. I was busy the whole time and gotta say, waiting that long to just be like, “Ok, sure.” might have affected my opinion a little.
- Aisha: “Hey, I get enough fighting from my mom and dad at home.” Are we just going to gloss over that? I feel like that’s the genuine first detail about her life we’ve gotten… ever in these comics.
- Also, is it just me or did they color Rocky’s hair like Jason’s?
- So… I guess Danny is okay? I mean we saw Taylor was fine from the Hyperforce story, but Danny’s nowhere to be seen here. It would be weird if the Death Ranger kept that secret for some reason. Just Danny… We don’t even know if Merrick is supposed to be here because of different timelines and all that!
- Also, wait for a second. When the Omega Rangers were turned into the Death Ranger’s minions in MMPR #100, they still talked and tried to manipulate the other Rangers into joining them. Why are the Wild Force Rangers completely mute here? Yeah, the Wild Force team doesn’t know these new guys so they wouldn’t have a lot to say, but it would make their appearance more than just a gotcha moment.
- If the name for the Serpentera’s fighting form isn’t the ‘Serpent Terror Zord’, then it would be disappointing. It would fit the theme of the Thunderzords’ naming convention. Plus, it would be a fun pun for its original name.
- Also, yeah. Serpentera already does have a fighting mode so I’m not sure why this one looks so different. At least for the Dragonzord redesign, we got the reasoning before as to why it looks different. If it was Grace collecting the wreckage and then rebuilding it, 1.) Was it a priority for you guys to make it fully operational right now?! Seriously?! 2.) Y’all couldn’t have thought of anything else?
