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Preface
We have now reached the halfway point of Darkest Hour as we only have six months until the finale in August. And, we have a lot of comic content to sort through. This event isn’t the only thing we gotta look forward to. MMPR: The Return, Ranger Academy, and the Godzilla sequel we all didn’t know we wanted but we’re going to get anyway.
Point is we have a lot of momentum going in the next couple of months. Let’s see how this issue continues.
The Cover
Tommy, while I appreciate the choke hold into the ground you got going, sadly, you don’t do this at all in the issue so this is misleading.
Anyway, the cover looks cool. Next.
The Story
On Aquitar, Dark Specter’s forces invade the planet. The Aquitar Rangers attempt to morph, but thanks to Dark Specter’s upgrades, they immediately become corrupted by the Grid. News of this reaches Eltar and then to the Rangers on Earth.
At Promethea, Jason is put in charge of training a small group of civilians who volunteered to help fight. Most of them are alien refugees from Safehaven, but there are a few humans here and there, including Bulk, Skull, and Ernie. Alongside Taylor and the Omega Rangers, Jason helps the group through their first simulation, which they all do pretty ok at.
At the Bermuda Triangle, Billy, Kendall, Terona, and the Phantom Ranger all discover that the Power Eggs are actually pure, crystallized versions of the Morphin’ Grid. Using the Eggs as portable generators, the Phantom Ranger then refashions what remains of the Master Arch into a shield of sorts, allowing Rangers on Earth to morph without being corrupted. This allows the Hyperforce Rangers the time to go out and get more reinforcements, picking up Rangers from across time such as the Gold Zeo Ranger, the Blue Senturion, RPM Gold and Silver, Lost Galaxy Pink, Magna Defender, Dino Thunder Black, and Dino Thunder White.
After corrupting the Red and Pink Psycho Rangers to his cause, Dark Specter soon learns of this development and realizes that he can’t invade Earth because of it. Enraged, he takes his anger out on Alpha-1 and destroys it completely, knowing that the robot wasn’t fully aligned with him.
On Earth, the Phantom Ranger is brooding over his decision to create the Arch in the first place and bringing Dark Specter into their world inadvertently. While Billy points out that it was only scientific curiosity and it wasn’t his fault, the Phantom Ranger tells Billy to learn from his mistakes and that some actions aren’t worth the risk. Only a moment later does the Master Arch open again, popping out the Ranger Slayer with Drakkon’s White Tiger coin.
Meanwhile, Mistress Vile asks Tommy in his cell if anyone is capable of redemption. He says it is possible, stating that Dark Specter would never have the mercy possible for something like that. This then prompts Rita to release Tommy from his bindings, saying that whether he likes it or not, he’s going to be helping her out with something…
Ending Thoughts
As I said before, we’re now over the halfway point of the event which means it’s time for a classic ‘Assemble the Team’ montage!
We see on both sides, more Rangers and allies are being put into the fold. More Rangers becoming corrupted while civilians are training to fight alongside their heroes. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the moment in Shattered Grid. Only here, it’s a lot more condensed, allowing more time for character and explaining more of the intricacy of the Morphin’ Grid shenanigans. We haven’t seen everyone fully assembled yet for either side, but it does leave me to anticipate the next few issues.
Unlike before, the issue doesn’t feel super condensed, trying to put in as many characters as before. Instead, their character moments here intertwine naturally in the story.
Jason and Taylor bonding over leadership tactics is something I hadn’t thought of before, but it is remarkably enjoyable. Both of them essentially become demoted to second-in-command as their series progresses. They both know what it means to share leadership and rely on one another’s opinions. Taylor, having the most military experience out of everyone here, is the more logistical one while Jason finds hope in the situation. It’s a neat contrast.
Speaking of contrast, Mistress Vile gets her moment of ‘redemption’ with her realization that Dark Specter is not someone she should follow. She had been developing a relationship with Alpha-1 slowly throughout these issues. Dark Specter chose to break it to break her, but it did the complete opposite. In the end, she chooses to free Tommy from his cell, choosing to allow mercy in her comrades, something that Dark Specter would never do. Which means that no matter what she does, she’ll never be good in his eyes.
MMPR #117 assembles forces for a growing army for both sides as Mistress Vile frees the person she had long ago controlled to free herself.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- I believe this is the most we’ve seen of Aquitar so sad to say it’s undergoing an apocalyptic event right now.
- I really want to know more about that little guy holding that big Promethea gun!
- It’s brief, but I love that mosquito monster. Just giving it full-on legs and making it blood-red with its color scheme adds so much to the design.
- Only one page of the Psycho Rangers and they already cause problems. Yep, that’s them to a tee.
- I get that’s Blue Senturion, but just from that panel and that large visor, he looks more like his kid from the Sentai. (Oh, you didn’t know about that? Yeah, this franchise is weird.)
- That looked nothing like Dr. O, by the way.
- I didn’t mention it for analysis, but Billy and Phantom Ranger bonding is interesting especially when you know the behind-the-scenes of the original show where Phantom Ranger’s original identity was supposed to be Billy.
