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Preface
Power Rangers Darkest Hour continues. And to continue forward, we have to go beyond the Grid.
The Cover
Hi, Ari.
Good piece showing the Solar Ranger crashing into the infection. Nothing really that special.
Next.
The Story
In the Void, Remi, the Orange Solar Ranger, tells the story of the “Beyond the Grid” arc to a group of kids before they evacuate as Ari and the new recruits of the Red, Blue, and Yellow Solar Rangers fight off the Thralls. Although they succeed in that fight, they still feel like they’re losing the war against Dark Specter’s forces and the infection that was quickly spreading across the Void. So, Ari comes up with a plan: to do what the Praetor did and sever the Void from the Morphin’ Grid. The rest of the Rangers disagree with the plan, pointing out that their universe was only able to start thriving again because of their connection to the Grid. Ari leaves, saying she needs a minute to think this through.
As the Rangers take their survivors to a safe place for the time being, Ari confesses to Remi that she doesn’t want to lose her or their adopted daughter, Shara. Remi reminds her girlfriend that she’s not alone anymore and asks her to make her plan a last resort since they still have hope before sharing a kiss.
You best believe I was gonna show this. Their first kiss was hidden in one of the trades so I’m glad I get to share it here!
As if on cue, they’re immediately attacked. The Green, Black, and Pink Solar Rangers are revealed to be infected and lead Dayne and the Thralls right to the others. Although Ari manages to fight them off, not all of them manage to escape without injury. Remi is infected as well.
Although Shara shares hope with another child that the Power Rangers always win, Ari loses all of the hope she has left. With no other choice, she plans on severing the Grid from the Void and won’t let anyone stop her as she explains this to an Anti-Kim in chains…
“This is officially a fashion emergency. You’ve been in too many outfits. Pick one!”
Ending Thoughts
For those of you who don’t remember, Beyond the Grid was an arc about hope. Being lost in the darkness, our Rangers struggled to keep hope alive to ignite the light needed to return them home. This was highlighted in our debut character from the arc, Ari, the Solar Ranger. A young scavenger always on the lookout for herself until she became the hero her world needed. For something like Darkest Hour, taking our heroes to their limits, this was the perfect opportunity to connect back to this arc.
And, this issue does its job as it shows off Ari in the best light. In the original Beyond the Grid event, her personality and character weren’t dynamic at all, generic compared to the rest of the Rangers there. Here, she gets the best highlight through her relationship with others: her girlfriend, her daughter, her team. She’s someone who cares about the people around her and wants to make the right decision in order not to lose them. She wants to believe in hope, but with Remi and half of her team now infected, she can’t afford any more risks and wants to believe in the more practical solution of keeping the survivors safe. It’s really good from a storytelling perspective, being put in the same position she was in at Beyond the Grid. Only this time, the decision is hers to make.
We actually have a guest artist for this issue, Valeria Favoccia. They have done a few comics before for franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Stranger Things. They even did a variant cover for the original Beyond the Grid arc. And, their art is phenomenal. Every character has a good style to them, marking the perfect balance between cartoon design and realistic details. Especially with all of the various alien characters and biologies, their appearances are distinct and memorable and that’s something that should really be commended. Even the action sequences are a strong display of this artist’s talents. Each fight has its own sense of verticality to it, where the Rangers are agile like shooting stars and use our perception to the books’ advantage. Like Remi’s introduction and how it actually flips the action around or Ari when she throws her Chakram in a way that it immediately tracks to the next panel with her holding it. It’s such an improvement over what Beyond the Grid attempted and I’m glad I could finally see a bit more of the potential of this universe.
MMPR #120 takes us beyond the Grid to a galaxy unknown where not even the Power can protect us now.
Random Thoughts from the Morphin’ Grid
- The recap for Beyond the Grid was good and summed up everything we needed to know.
- I don’t know how to feel that the new ‘recruits’ for the Solar Rangers essentially get the outfits that were based off the Promethea Rangers. It makes them look good, but, you know…
- But, hey! The Solar Rangers are actually using their weapons! 10/10 right there!
- Also, Salum and Maxie, the Red and Yellow Solar Rangers, are apparently a couple, making them the first all male couple to be Rangers. So kudos.
- Also, Ari and Remi have a daughter now. Good for them too, even though we’ll most likely never see more of this dynamic by the end of this series. (Let’s face it. With how she’s literally introduced in this big event, she is just here to make us feel bad about the situation. Let’s be honest!)
- It goes without saying that I love the unmorphed alien designs, especially Blue which supports a different body type than the others.
- Ari says that her team of Solar Rangers all have Morphers now so they don’t need the Solarix. As seen with Ari and Remi, they wear their Morphers on their left arm… Salum, the Red Ranger, apparently had his left arm severed off… Shouldn’t he be demorphed now?
- Even though I do like the issue, a part of me wishes this issue was given the Unlimited treatment. Too many good characters and moments given a brief introduction. With it jammed in here, it does sort of derail the momentum of the overall plot.
