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Preface
It’s time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Power Rangers!
Wait, what do you mean it’s the 30th anniversary anymore? We’re not in 2023? Oh…
Yeah, so 2023, the 30th anniversary of Power Rangers, was… different, to say the least. Instead of the traditional year of adapting a Sentai season, the franchise gave us an okay anniversary reunion with some of the original MMPR actors, a fun albeit short season concluding the show with Cosmic Fury, and a comic event that only started to get into the anniversary aspects near the late end of the year with Darkest Hour. Hasbro… was mostly radio silent through it, not having any plans for Power Rangers and putting it on hiatus. And, that’s where we are now. The comics are now the only driving force for the franchise until we hear something about what comes next. Not exactly the best way to celebrate an anniversary, is it?
Though, that’s part of the reason why this comic is welcome in my opinion. Once and Always is a good anniversary special, but couldn’t necessarily be a full MMPR reunion due to the loss of actors as well as other issues. A story like this being helmed by one of the original cast themselves, Amy Jo Johnson, has the potential to be something extraordinary.
The Cover
Great cover. Not a lot else to say.
The Story
Twenty-two years ago, the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers finally defeated Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd and saved the world one last time before the team broke up. That was also the day the moon blew up.
A week ago, an all-grown-up Jason is attacked by an unknown figure at the Command Center. The stranger steals Jason’s Power Coin, saying that he is the “past come back to haunt him” and “the future”.
In the present Angel Grove, Billy, now head of a telecom company, is on stage in front of a huge crowd, announcing the opening of the Trini Kwan Memorial Park and Youth Center. Another one of the speakers who came to dedicate a speech in Trini’s memory is Zack, who revealed to the world that he was a Power Ranger, lying about everyone else’s to preserve their identities.
The only person in attendance who chooses not to give a speech is Kim, I mean, Emma Phillips. For some reason, she has a new identity and doesn’t want anyone to call her by her old name. She leaves in the middle of the memorial service, but when she tries to leave some flowers on Tommy’s grave (Tommy having died at the same time as the Power Rangers’ final fight), she reluctantly accepts Zack’s offer for dinner to catch up with him and Billy.
At a small diner, Kim is still distraught with grief over what happened years ago when she learns that both Zack and Billy have been using their Power Coins in their daily lives. In Billy’s case, he used the Power Coin to try and research teleportation methods for everyone while Zack had been using it to provide clean energy for a charity event he runs. Kim feels betrayed, especially since they all made a promise not to morph after what happened last time. But, before she could storm out of there, Zack reveals the real reason why he invited her out.
Jason had been working as a firefighter until he blamed himself for a series of arson fires that a lot of people died in. As a result, Jason decided to morph again, fighting crimes as a vigilante before he became a one-man army against terrorists. Recently, Jason visited Billy and Zack to stop them from using their Power Coins because he wanted to have all of the Morphin’ Grid’s power to himself so that he could stay morphed permanently. However, Billy soon discovers that there is someone else tapping into the Morphin’ Grid. Jason went after them but has been MIA ever since.
It’s then that Billy and Zack tell Kim that they think they should become Power Rangers one last time to find Jason. Kim immediately leaves the cafe, going out to get a taxi. Billy pleads with her to help since the Pterodactyl Zord is the only operational Zord left, but she declines, saying she’ll never be a Power Ranger again.
Kim takes off to the airport, arriving in Canada the next morning in her cabin in the middle of nowhere. However, as all seems calm, a girl knocks on her door.
Her name is Selena. Trini is her mom’s cousin.
Selena then shows off the Yellow Power Morpher, saying that she wants to become the next Power Ranger.
Don’t you just hate it when someone leaves a cardboard cutout on your doorstep?
Ending Thoughts
We got Old Man Tommy before with Soul of the Dragon, but now we have Old Man Kimberly!
This premise is something that has been done before in other superhero media. Heck, we did it before with Soul of the Dragon. Hero retires after an incident, becomes old and grizzled, and years later, something happens that forces them to fight again. So, a lot of the story beats for this issue were easy to predict and I do imagine that it will be this way for the rest of the series.
But, even still, the world that Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson present here is so fascinating. Keep in mind that the original first season was never supposed to go this far. MMPR was originally supposed to end at Doomsday, 40 episodes in. No one ever thought it would expand so far beyond that with different Ranger teams and returning cameos. So, just seeing the premise of what if it was just about MMPR, what it could have been without all of the other teams, is enticing. The characters here feel like the original MMPR characters and still retain a friendly chemistry between them, even when Kim, being the focus character for the series, is vocal about not wanting to be a Ranger again.
Nico Leon does the artwork for the issue. This is his first time working on a Power Rangers comic, but he does have history drawing for numerous Marvel series. And, for this series, his artwork is so amazing here it’s legitimately my favorite aspect of the whole issue. The style is a good mix of realism and fiction, capturing the fact that, unlike other kids’ shows, Power Rangers was live-action. I heard that Nico constantly referenced the show itself to nail some of his artwork and it shows, giving us almost 1-to-1 character designs from the likenesses of the original actors. We may not have gotten that much action in this issue, but even so, reading this felt like I was watching a movie.
MMPR: The Return #1 is a captivating return to Angel Grove, showing what’s left of our heroes 30 years later and teasing another fight on their doorstep.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Jason’s new morphed outfit… It’s dull. I don’t care for it. (Like why does he need bandages over his gloves?)
- Once and Always never told us what Trini did for a living, but I can see her being part of the United Nations and serving as a mayor of Angel Grove. It’s cool. I like it.
- Jason’s future has also never been expanded on, but in some way, I can see this being his future. Maybe not with terrorists, but doing other Ranger stuff.
- Kim obviously wouldn’t have the angst and grief here in the prime timeline, but I wouldn’t mind her living in a cabin and having a relaxing life.
- Billy got a downgrade though. Going from his own technology company to a telecom one is pretty lame.
- Although I can see how Zack’s future here is a bit more fun, expanding on the fame aspect of being a hero, something that Power Rangers has honestly never dived into that well, I still prefer his Once and Always job as a politician.
- Speaking of Zack’s job, has anyone ordered him to use his Morpher to go after Jason? Sure, it would cause legal ramifications if he did, but considering Jason is actively infiltrating other countries, the discussion would be brought up.
- Many of the characters here do resemble their real-life counterparts, which is phenomenal to see and they look just like them. Even for characters that are sadly still not here, like Ernie, I think look great. The only real exception is Bulk and Skull in their brief cameo. I don’t know if we’ll see those two anywhere else in the series, but based on their appearance, I would hate to think that they never developed from their roles as bullies.
- Speaking of Bulk and Skull, what the heck are they doing in that flashback?
- Also, Zack teaching Billy hip-hop kido in the background is awesome.
- I’ve been silently scanning the graveyard scans, wondering if Harvey Garvey is also buried in this timeline.
- Ok, I get the teleporting food to hungry communities or teleporting people away from a disaster. But, how in the world do you teleport a hurricane away? It’s just air!
- With no doubt, this comic will draw comparisons to the MMPR Special: Once and Always. Not just because both are supposed to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the franchise, but also due to the similarities between the two utilizing the MMPR team while dealing with themes such as grief. It’s difficult to fully judge this now, but it will be something to keep an eye on, especially since it’s written in memory of Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank.
