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Preface
Power Rangers Darkest Hour continues. And more changes can be seen on the horizon…
The Cover
Well, two Rangers posing in front of the planet is a simple image that we surprisingly have never gotten before. Add that it the planet turns into the MMPR coin makes it even better. And then, it being split across the middle from the jagged corrupted Morphin’ energy ties it in perfectly with Darkest Hour.
The Story
While Rita is buried in another dumpster, given up on escaping, Billy is still losing sleep over the loss of Grace. Before he can try to do something about it, he comes across a fight between Kendall and Kiya. Kendall is trying to stop Kiya from taking the Power Eggs, but Kiya claims she’s doing them a “favor”. As Billy steps in and knocks Kiya out, the rest of the Rangers try to train as much as possible. The couples of the teams find comfort in each other with kissy faces.
In her jail cell, Kiya reveals what she has been doing since we last saw her. She basically went on her own to try and find Rangers to recruit, but the only ones she was able to find became corrupted. So, she decided to try and take the Power Eggs and use them to trigger an explosion within the Grid, shattering it. Even though it’s a huge risk, she thinks it’s their only plan, which Billy overhears.
Billy then decides to pitch an alternate idea. Using both the Tiger Power Coins from both Tommy and Lord Drakkon, Billy can empower Rangers and allow them to fight outside of the barrier. Even though this will essentially leave Tommy unable to morph, he agrees to the plan, noting that his job is to protect his team. And, so, when Angel and his forces come to take back the Master Arch, the Rangers morph, getting all sorts of White Ranger-esque forms.
Angel tries to retreat when the barrier comes back online, but Aisha grabs Anti-Kim’s Bow of Darkness, firing an arrow at Rocky and Adam, curing them of their infection. At the Command Center, Anti-Kim points out that although they managed to free Rocky and Adam, it’s not going to be the solution to end all of this. Billy tells the group that they need a pulse of pure Morphin’ Grid energy to decorrupt the entire Morphin’ Grid. Kendall says that in theory, if all of the remaining Rangers morph at the same time, that could be the pulse that they need. But, the energy won’t be enough. Anti-Kim realizes that they can use the Void (home of the Solar Rangers), use the planet where all of the Zeo Crystals reside, and use that to amplify the energy they need.
However, they have one problem waiting for them. Dark Specter is going to the Void himself…
Ending Thoughts
This issue is one of the strongest we’ve gotten so far just on how much it balances the character states of a wide cast of characters and advances the development of the overall plot and situation.
Like in the scene where all three couples talk to each other in scattered conversations, it shows a lot of the characters’ chemistry with each other while being compressed to a point where it doesn’t lose its momentum with the overall story. And, it’s not just the couples that get the focus. Billy’s hallucination and Tommy’s sacrifice are integrated well into the story and show the kind of heroes they are. The most ‘random’ portion of the story lies in Rita’s scenes and how she has given up as it’s just interjected in random spots through the issue. Even so, the scenes themselves are so well done, showing a vulnerable side to Rita with her giving up on the fight.
The art does this issue justice as well. Rita, inside her dumpster, has a warmth to it with its colors and backgrounds. It perfectly shows her in her own little world, not wanting to join the fight anymore. It contrasts so much with the environments in the fight scenes, having more vivid color to them, but there is a twinge of darkness that can’t be annoyed. Plus, I actually love the White Ranger designs for everyone. Granted, it is literally just the White Ranger suit but with different cuffs and a colored chest piece with the same helmets. But, I like the uniformity of it all, making a full team of Rangers with the same design and showing that they’re united against this threat.
MMPR #119 gives the Rangers a White Light in their Darkest Hour as they turn to the Void for the final showdown.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- Cosmic Fury, no! That’s what I actually said upon seeing them. I thought since they were the newest team, they would be one of the reinforcements, but nope! Thanks a lot, Kiya! I blame you for that!
- We went green in the very first arc of the series and now we’re going white in this arc. Think about that…
