Tag Kimberly Hart

A Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #103 Micro-Review – Lord Zedd on Life Support

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 103, cover, December 2022, Taurin ClarkeTITLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #103
AUTHOR: Melissa Flores
ARTISTS: Simona Di Gianfelice, Raul Angulo (Colorist), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer). Cover by Taurin Clarke.

RELEASED: December 21, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Beautiful cover by Taurin Clarke, who’s also currently doing covers for The Flash.

We get yet another surreal Lord Zedd moment in this issue, as he lays in the Command Center on life support. We also get Kimberly essentially fire-bombing a regular-sized monster with her zord. Melissa Flores has been thinking outside the box.

Simona Di Gianfelice Is a great fit for MMPR, especially when it comes to drawing the Ranger suits and zords. I’m less a fan of these ’90s era characters being fashioned like they’re in the modern era. But that’s an editorial decision, not an artistic one.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Secret Struggle” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***As big a Power Rangers fan as I am, I must admit: I’m a little behind on modern PR. Here’s where I attempt to fix that, as I check out episodes of Power Rangers Beast Morphers!***

Zoey, Nate, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Secret StruggleSERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E9 – “Secret Struggle”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jamie Linehan (Voice)
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Johnny Hartmann
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: April 25, 2020
SYNOPSIS: Steel tries to play matchmaker with Nate and Zoey.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Here we have the latest in what I’ll refer to as Beast Morphers‘ sequel episodes, i.e. episodes that follow up on plot threads from the first season. “Artist Anonymous” was, of course, a sequel to “Gorilla Art.” “Sound and Fury” got a sequel episode with “Beast King Rampage.” Now, this episode once again follows up on “Sound and Fury” by forwarding the Nate and Zoey romance.

After Steel finds out Nate and Zoey like each other, he flat out asks: “What’s the harm in dating?” Kind of an obvious question, isn’t it? Especially if you’re versed in your superhero media. Having romantic feelings for one of your teammates can impair your judgment in the field.

It makes me wonder: Are police officers and firefighters allowed to date one another? Assuming they work closely, of course. I imagine that, much like in the fantasy world of Power Rangers, it’s something that’s not necessarily encouraged. But what can you really do to stop it?

Zoey, Nate, image 2, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Secret Struggle

I visibly cringed when they had Nate and Zoey recreate the famous pasta moment from Lady and the Tramp. Between that, and the picnic bit with Ravi and Roxy back in “Believe It Or Not,” Power Rangers is embracing romance at its most stereotypical and superficial. It’s not the worst thing for a kids show to do. But it’s disappointing. If you go back at look at the more memorable romances in the show’s history (Tommy and Kimberly, Andros and Ashley, Wes and Jen, or even Ollie and Amelia in Dino Fury) they rarely if ever had to do any of that. You can do romance on a kids show without diving into that kind of thing. That approach almost seems lazy, truth be told.

I came into Beast Morphers under the mistaken impression that Nate and Zoey were going to get to kiss at some point. Obviously, I was mistaken. Are Tommy and Kimberly the only couple in the history of this show to get a proper kiss? If not, they definitely have the most notable one. And that was almost 30 years ago. It was the early ’90s, man. A different time.

I love how, in an attempt to prevent himself from overheating, the Blue Ranger uses a little hand-held fan. It’s hokey, and of course would never work. But it’s a funny visual.

Also funny? In the closing moments of the episode, as Evox/Mayor Daniels is running out of the building, all the good guys get briefly trapped behind the revolving door. Was that intentional? It must have been. Though in the Rangers’ defense, revolving doors do suck like that…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Boxed In” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***As big a Power Rangers fan as I am, I must admit: I’m a little behind on modern PR. Here’s where I attempt to fix that, as I check out episodes of Power Rangers Beast Morphers!***

SERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E8 – “Boxed In”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jamie Linehan (Voice)
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Cameron Dixon, Maiya Thompson, James Collins
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: April 18, 2020
SYNOPSIS: Devon and the Red Racer Zord are forced to run a Gigarone gauntlet.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I can’t even tell you how big a kick I get out of this episode being centered around the Pan Global Games, in essence the PR universe equivalent to the Olympics. From a writing standpoint, the games were simply used as a way to write Kimberly off the show way back in season three. And yet here we are talking about them more than 25 years later in season 27. As a long time fan, that attention to detail is really cool to see.

Speaking of the Olympics, I assume this episode was scheduled to coincide with the the 2020 Summer Olympics. Which of course, thanks to COVID-19, didn’t happen. Not on time, at least.

Wait…the Rangers themselves have to check the various Morph-X towers in Coral Harbor? Again, I find myself asking: Doesn’t Grid Battleforce have workers that can do that sort of thing?

I suspect there are some folks behind the scenes at Power Rangers who are wrestling fans. We see a Powerbomb and other wrestling moves used in this episode. Also, the commentator borrows several catchphrases Jim Ross or Michael Cole have been known to use on WWE programming, including…
– “He’s tougher than a $2 steak!”
– “Vintage Alphadrone!”
– “Business is about to pick up, here!”

The zord action in this episode was a step up from what we usually see. I suspect I’m biased toward it because of the lack of CGI sequences. They used the heck out of those zord and Gigadrone suits.

Ravi was a massive dick in this episode. I mean, I get it. That’s his arc. He has to be selfish about wanting to see the games, and then apologize for it at the end. But still. I mean, damn dude…

The other Rangers get caught in traffic, and thus are delayed in coming to help Devon as he’s trapped in the bizarre pocket dimension. I’ve posed this question before. But I’ll do it again: Do the Rangers not have a working teleporter? It’d be a heck of a time saver. Just sayin’.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Toy Chest Theater: Power Rangers by Michael Whisman

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Someone left a comment on this image from Michael Whisman that says, “This pic is a whole time machine.” They’re not wrong, are they?

I’m a sucker for the Power Rangers Lightning Collection. So why I saw Whisman had used the heads from some of the LC figures for this image, I bit. I’m not sure which figures he used for the bodies (though I suspect Jason and Tommy are Street Fighter figures). But it all looks fairly natural and seamless.

The Angel Grove Gym and Juice Bar never had an arcade machine, did it? It did have a pachinko machine in that one episode, though…

Power Rangers, Simpsons, Michael Whisman

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Mighty Morphin #22 Micro-Review – Forever Pink

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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Mighty Morphin 22, cover, 2022, InHyuk LeeTITLE: Mighty Morphin #22
AUTHOR: Matt Groom
ARTISTS: Moises Hidalgo, Raul Angulo (Colorist), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer). Cover by InHyuk Lee.
RELEASED: August 3, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Considering what happens with Kimberly in this issue, it’s kind of a wonder that there’s no trace of the Pink Ranger on the cover. (It is a really pretty cover, though.)

Kim gets some reinforcements from the future in this issue, leading to a team-up one might call “Forever Pink.” It doesn’t get a huge number of pages, but what we get is short and sweet. As far as BOOM’s Power Rangers comics are concerned, this is a red-letter issue for this team-up alone.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Weekly Comic 100s: Ranger Slayer, Joker War, and More!

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***”Weekly Comic 100s” keeps it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

DC’s decision to get in bed with Lunar Distribution is starting to feel like a mistake. Because out in my neck of the woods (the mid-west), it seems like Lunar is crapping said bed.

My local comic shop just went three weeks without receiving any product from DC. (Any DC books you’ve seen here in the last few weeks have been purchased digitally.) I’ve been going to comic shops for almost 20 years now and I’ve never see that happen. Not only is it unacceptable from a simple customer service perspective, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Retailers are already being hit by the fallout from COVID-19. The least publishers can do is put the damn books in the stores…

Bad form, folks. Bad form.

TITLE: Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer
AUTHOR: Ryan Parrott
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Raul Angulo (Colorist), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer)
RELEASED: July  22, 2020

Not really my cup of tea. But if you were into Lord Drakkon’s dark alternate universe, or the “Coinless” Universe as it’s now called, you’ll be into this.

I was hoping for something more tightly focused on this alternate version of Kimberly. But the scope of this story is more about the Coinless Universe at large. Fair enough. I just wish they’d called this issue something different.

This issue gives us something I never thought we’d see, though in hindsight seems obvious for a universe like this: Ghost/Zombie Power Rangers. It was inevitable, I tell you!

TITLE: X-Men/Fantastic Four #4
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson & Ranson Getty (Inkers), Laura Martin (Colorist), Joe Caramagna (Letterer)
RELEASED: July 22, 2020

This one ends on something of a whimper, rather than a bang. Which is to say it more or less ends the way you think it will, with Franklin ending up where you think he will.

Still, the appeal of a mini like this is to see characters from different books rub against each other. X-Men/Fantastic Four does that.

There’s also a curious little scene at the end with Reed Richards that I’m curious to see if they follow up on.

TITLE: Batman #95
AUTHOR: James Tynion IV
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)
RELEASED: July 21, 2020

We kick off with kind of a dumb “retroactive foreshadowing” scene with Batman and Alfred. “Good thing Alfred will always be here,” and all that. Lame.

It occurred to me during this issue that “Joker War” is just a sophisticated version of that New Batman Adventures episode, “Joker’s Millions. That’s not a knock. I’m just sayin’.

Now that Joker knows Batman’s secret, it’s extremely foreboding to see him messing around with movie theaters. Especially the one Thomas and Martha Wayne went to with Bruce before their murder…

TITLE: Shazam! #13
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
ARTISTS: Dale Eaglesham, Michael Atiyeh (Colorist), Rob Leigh (Letterer). Variant cover by Julian Totino Tedesco.
RELEASED: July 21, 2020

Well damn. If this book is ending in September, we’re not going to get a pay-off for this Superboy Prime stuff are we?

As the book really cranks up the father/son drama with Billy and his dad, I’m struck by just how great Dale Eaglesham has been on this title. It’s clean. It’s expressive. It’s versatile. He fits Shazam like a glove, to the point that this series has become one of my favorite takes on the character. Frankly, his work with Michael Atiyeh is worth the cover price on its own.

TITLE: Shazam!: Lightning Strikes #1
AUTHOR: Dan Jurgens
ARTISTS: Travis Moore, Nick Filardi, Marshall Dillon. Cover by Evan “Doc” Shaner.
RELEASED: July  17, 2020

Now that the Shazam! book is ending, I’m particularly grateful to see the Big Red Cheese join DC’s line of digital-firsts.

What we get here is nice and kid-friendly. One of Billy Batson’s classmates is bragging about knowing Shazam. So Billy shows him up precisely the way you think he will. From there we segue into a fight with a villain.

Travis Moore’s Shazam looks a lot like Zachary Levi in the movie. I wonder if that’s intentional, or just how the character came out…

TITLE: Wynd #2
AUTHOR: James Tynion IV
ARTISTS: Michael Dialynas, Aditya Bidikar (Letterer)
RELEASED: July 22, 2020

So far, this book feels a little bit like Saga for young people. It’s got whimsy and wit, but a lot less sex stuff.

After reinforcing some of the world-building they did last time, this issue cranks up the emotion with the prospect of separating Wynd from his adopted family. It’s very well done, and has me invested in not only Wynd, but his sister Oakley.

We also meet a character called “the Bandaged Man.” I really dig how he’s designed, though that may just be my love for Batman: Hush sneaking through.

TITLE: Action Comics #1023
AUTHOR: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTISTS: John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson (Inker), Brad Anderson (Colorist), Dave Sharpe (Letterer). Variant cover by Lucio Parillo.
RELEASED: July 21, 2020

This is typically the part of “Weekly Comic 100s” where I complain about John Romita Jr. So here you go: I don’t like JRJR’s art here.

I just wonder if this book is getting over-crowded with Super-people. Remember, that’s part of what prompted the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. Superman didn’t feel as special because he had too many sidekicks, cousins, stringers, etc.

At the end of this issue Jimmy Olsen says, “Guess we’re not putting out a paper today.” That line should have had a lot more weight to it. If you’re a newsman, that’s blasphemy.

TITLE: Detective Comics #1023
AUTHORS: Peter Tomasi
ARTISTS: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy & Norm Rapmund (Inkers), Brad Anderson (Colorist), Rob Leigh (Letterer)
RELEASED: July 21, 2020

A team-up between the Joker and the Court of Owls? Now that’s the stuff of nightmares.

Detective Comics hasn’t felt like a Tomasi book in awhile. There’s a certain refinement that’s missing. In particular, Batman is a little too talky for my taste.

In this issue, Batman performs brain surgery on Two-Face out in the streets of Gotham (Because why not?). The comic book science regarding how Harvey’s brain is being messed with is a little confusing. Not that I’d put too much stock in it. At the end of the day, he’s still Two-Face.

TITLE: Billionaire Island #1
AUTHOR: Mark Russell
ARTISTS: Steve Pugh, Chris Chuckry (Colorist), Rob Steen (Letterer)
RELEASED: March 4, 2020

A brutally honest, unfiltered look at where our society may be going sooner rather than later. And in all honesty, a clever premise for a book. I was expecting things to get Survivor-esque right off the bat. But they’re taking the time to build to that.

The most unsettling part of this issue? Our lead villain puts his opposition (journalists, etc) into a giant hamster cage. Complete with an oversized water dispenser. The sad thing? That doesn’t even seem that far-fetched anymore.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Toy Chest Theater: Power Rangers Edition, Vol. 1

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By Rob Siebert
Out-of-the-Closet PR Fan

Power Rangers and toys. For the longest time, I hid my love of both. And yet as an adult I’ve learned to celebrate both. For my money that’s a beautiful thing.

Most of the figures you’ll see here are from Hasbro’s “Lightning Collection” line. Whether you’re talking about classic characters from the ’90s or the ones from the current Beast Morphers series, they’re the best PR figures ever produced.

See, these Hasbro people? They ain’t no dummies.

They know Tommy, the original Green Ranger, is going to be their big seller. Or at least in the very top tier. So they don’t necessarily want to give it to us right away. But of course, they like money. So what do they do? They split the difference with “Fighting Spirit” Green Ranger, i.e. a Green Ranger with that weird gold gimmick on his helmet. Because we know that’s not the true Green Ranger. And of course, they know we know.

Semantics aside, this is a great shot from Brazilian photographer Andre Gurian. It’s very reminiscent of something you’d see in promotion of Power Rangers Legacy Wars. Only here we have a setting with a much better texture to it, and lighting that’s a  little more moody. It’s got the more mature feel that adult fans think they want Power Rangers to have. But of course, will never get.

This, on the other hand, is much more in tune with what Mighty Morphin Power Rangers looked like. Gary Foster puts our two heroines front and center, bright colors in all their glory and surrounded by the vaguely undead looking Putties.

The poses are what make it, though. The Yellow Ranger’s in particular. It’s very ninja-esque. It feels like we’ve captured the moment right before that initial explosion of the fight.

Basketball photos are one of Noserein‘s trademarks. Go to his page and you’ll see basketball court shots of Golum, Baby Groot, Lord Voldemort, not to mention Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Here of course, we have the Power Rangers and the Putties. It’s just now registering with me that the Putties are actually the stars of this one. The Rangers are all background players, and the two Putties are clearly in the foreground. And don’t tell me this could never have happened on the show. Frankly, I’m surprised it never did. The Rangers and the Putties in a game of three-on-three to decide the fate of the world.

Hey, I’d watch.

Of these images, this is the only one that doesn’t feature figures from Hasbro’s Lightning Collection. If I’m not mistaken, these guys are all from Figuarts.

Power Rangers Ninja Storm doesn’t get a lot of love these days. But I really love this shot from our old friend satoshi_k. Once again we’re playing with foreground and background, as our Red Ranger is being pursued by the Thunder Rangers. And yet he’s prepping for a fight, as evidenced by his hand being on his weapon.

Here we have Devon, our current Red Ranger, hitting a high octane kick to…to…what the heck are these things? They aren’t the foot soldiers from Beast Morphers. Originally I thought they were Skrulls. But apparently not.

Either way, I love the implied motion in the way both our primary figures are posed by ZurEnArrh1906. It’s very easy for your mind to fill in the gaps, see the green guy go flying, and even hear Devon’s boot make contact with his torso.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Weekly Comic 100s: Kylo Ren, Doomsday Clock, Batman Finale

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Yeesh. Talk about a loaded week. Big finales, big debuts, and some Star Wars backstory we’ve been waiting years for. And of course, with big issues, come big upticks in pricing. Mostly at DC. They actually had the gall to charge $4.99 for the Tom King Batman finale. Oye.

But next week is largely a throwaway week. (Unless you’re Marvel. Kudos to them.) So I’ll be able to play a little catch up. So next week’s batch will include Family Tree #2, Shazam #9, Star Wars: Empire Ascendant, Batman/Superman #5.

But for now, we’ve got a lot to get to…

TITLE: Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #1 (of 4)
AUTHOR: Charles Soule
ARTISTS: Will Sliney. GuruFX (Colors). Travis Lanham (Letterer). Cover by Clayton Crain.
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

I was ready to be mad at this issue for giving us stuff we should have gotten in one of the movies. As it turns out, this was benign.

In The Last Jedi, Luke says that after burning down the temple, Ben Solo left with some of his other students. Here, we learn that doesn’t quite mean what it sounds like. We also learn who the Knights of Ren are, which is welcome information.

Not the strongest first issue I’ve ever seen. But the intrigue around what happened to Ben Solo is enough to bring us back for more.

TITLE: Doomsday Clock #12
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
ARTIST: Gary Frank, Brad Anderson (Colorist), Rob Leigh (Letterer).
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

From the beginning, we’ve known this book has been building toward Superman vs. Doctor Manhattan. A symbol of hope against a symbol of cynicism. The implication being that Superman would ultimately get through to Doc, and bring about a change of heart.

We do get a scene like that in this issue. But it’s so brief, and frankly a little contrived, that it was hardly worth the two years of build-up.

That’s right, folks. Doomsday Clock #1 came out in November 2017. It’s taken us more than two years to get here. Really takes the edge off, doesn’t it?

TITLE: Batman #85
AUTHOR: Tom King
ARTISTS: Mikel Janin, Hugo Petrus, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer). Cover by Tony Daniel.
RELEASED: December 19, 2019

Here we have yet another big finale that ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Tom King is a good writer. I believe that. But for whatever reason, this “City of Bane” story went on way too long, and he ended up overstaying his welcome on Batman. The truly sad part? There’s a good story in here if you rifle through it, and maybe rearrange some pieces.

On the upside? Mikel Janin’s work on Batman has been consistently great. As far as I’m concerned, he’s welcome back in Gotham any time.

TITLE: American Jesus #1
AUTHOR: Mark Millar
ARTISTS: Peter Gross, Jeanne McGee (Colorist), Cory Petit (Letterer). Cover by McGee and Frank Quitely.
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

A 14-year-old Hispanic girl becomes the modern-day Virgin Mary in a story written by the guy who did books like Kick-Ass and Nemesis? Sure. Sounds harmless enough…

Maybe it’s me, but the art in this book seems a little weird. Like the proportions are just a touch off. It’s minor, just just prominent enough to be noticeable.

There’s a lot of intrigue here, given the sensitive topic and Millar’s penchant for the outlandish. While there’s nothing blasphemous in this issue (at least as far as I can see), I figure it’s just a matter of time.

TITLE: Spider-Man #3 (of 5)
AUTHORS: J.J. Abrams, Henry Abrams
ARTISTS: Sara Pichelli, Elisabetta D’Amico (Inking Assistant), Dave Stewart (Colorist), Joe Caramagna (Letterer). Cover by Olivier Coipel.
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

Tony Stark pops up in this book, and now our story has an Avengers angle to it. That’s disappointing. This is a story about the legacy of Spider-Man, and the strained relationship between a father and son. So why not keep the lens focused on Spidey’s world, and not open things up to the larger Marvel Universe until later? We need to be focusing on Ben right now. Not some wacky take on Tony Stark as an old man.

On the upside, we get further into who Cadaverous is. Good stuff, with Pichelli’s art on point.

TITLE: Suicide Squad #1
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
ARTISTS: Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Wes Abbott (Letterer). Cover by Ivan Reis.
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

While it lacks the impact and sizzle of a Jim-Lee-drawn debut, this issue has some intrigue to it. We’ve got three mainstays in Deadshot, Harley, and King Shark. But we’ve also got a big group of new characters. They kind of look like what Marv Wolfman and George Perez would produce if asked to produce a modern team of superheroes.

Mind you, some of them are dead when we close the issue. But if even one of them sticks for a decent amount of time, that’s an accomplishment.

TITLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #46
AUTHOR: Ryan Parrott
ARTISTS: Daniele Di Nicuolo, Walter Baiamonte (Colorist), Katia Ranalli (Color Assistant), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer). Cover by Jamal Campbell.
RELEASED: December 18, 2019

A few little things I noticed that aren’t out of character per se, but perhaps show how these characters are different in this time period…

– Tommy’s more relaxed demeanor now that they’re seemingly no longer Earth’s last line of defense.

– Kimberly stepping up into more of a leadership role with the three new Rangers.

– Trini’s more sarcastic personality. It’s not how I would write the character, as she’s normally more reserved. But we can chalk it up to her gaining confidence through her experiences as a Power Ranger.

Follow Primary Ignition on Twitter, or email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com.

MMPR: Shattered Grid: 25 Morphinominal Moments, Part Five

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

As it turns out, these last five moments from Shattered Grid all happened in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #30. So a major tip of the hat to author Kyle Higgins, penciller Daniele Di Nicuolo, inker Simona Di Gianfelice, colorist Walter Baiamonte, and letterer Ed Dukeshire.

Furthermore, we need to send a major thank you to Ryan Parrott, Dan Mora, and everybody at Go Go Power Rangers. That series is great in its own right. But it’s provided some really nice supplemental material for our main story.

And thanks to everybody at BOOM! Studios for giving us better Power Rangers comics than we ever could have hoped for!

With that, it’s back to action!

(Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four.)

26. Zordon and Rita

We’re starting on a subtle note here. Zordon and Kruger come to ask for Rita’s help in stopping Lord Drakkon. Rita responds as you might expect. But in trying to convince her, Zordon says something I didn’t expect…

“We have known each other for millennia, Rita. I would not be here now if I believed there was another way.”

What gets me about those lines is the sentence about them having known each other for so long. I doubt Kyle Higgins meant for it to stand out. But hearing Zordon appeal to his long-standing familiarity with Rita was interesting. Remember, these are two enemies. He’s the one who trapped him in a time warp, and he’s partly responsible for her being locked away in a dumpster for 10,000 years. And yet, in this hour of dire need, Zordon essentially uses their rivalry to appeal to her better judgment. It almost makes you look at the franchise’s original mentor and villain in a new light…

27. Rallying the Troops

Before the climactic battle begins, Jason gives a big rah-rah speech to all the Rangers who’ve come to help. Admittedly, it didn’t do much for me. What did, however, was this shot of all the Rangers and Megazords. There’s a lot of history in this panel…

28. Kimberly and Tommy
While Tommy obviously has a crucial role in Shattered Grid, let’s not forget that the Tommy Oliver of the BOOMverse, the Tommy our heroes knew and fought alongside, was killed. Plus, Kimberly held him as he died. Pretty heavy stuff. So when Jason hands her the Draggon Dagger, and puts her in charge of the Dragonzord, it’s a nice moment. But this has appeal in a larger scope as well.

From a character standpoint, there’s an argument to be made that Tommy should have given his powers to Kimberly at the end of “The Green Candle.” Obviously, the show was limited by the Japanese footage it had to work with. So it ultimately had to be Jason that got them. But it would have made a lot of sense for Kimberly, Tommy’s love interest, to be the one he passed his powers on to. All these years later, this is a nice tribute to a character fans still love and remember.

29. Enter Serpentera
Serpentera was essentially the Death Star of the Power Rangers universe. It was Lord Zedd’s personal zord, and had enough power to annihilate a planet. And it was huge. One of the biggest zords in the show’s history. As you can see at left, it could literally hold a Megazord in its massive jaws.

As any PR nut knows, Serpentera went out like a chump in “Forever Red.” But it gets a nice chance to shine during the big battle in Shattered Grid. We don’t see much of the actual zord, but that’s half the beauty of it. It’s so big, it can’t even fit within the confines of the comic book!

30. Siphoning the Power
We end on yet another reminder of just how much history we’re mining for Shattered Grid.

Lord Drakkon’s big plan is to steal morphers from each Ranger team, and get inside the Morphin Grid itself. In the above panel, we can see he’s assembled some kind of power siphoning device and plugged it in to the various morphers he’s collected. Represented are in Space, Lost Galaxy, Dino Thunder, Megaforce, Dino Charge, among others. I absolutely adore the attention to detail. This is as much an indicator as any of what a labor of love Shattered Grid is.

So once again, thank you to everyone involved. I can’t wait to see how it ends!

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MMPR: Shattered Grid: 25 Morphinominal Moments, Part Three

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

So as we continue to work our way through Shattered Grid, I’d like to highlight the fact that these are in (mostly) chronological order. We’re going through these moments in the order we read them. We’re certainly not ranking them in any way.

(Part One. Part Two.)

11. Jason and Lauren (MMPR #27)
As Shattered Grid progresses, an unexpected and perhaps unlikely romance begins budding between Jason and Lauren Shiba of Power Rangers Samurai.

Why Jason and Lauren? Eh, why not? It makes a kind of sense, as they both know the pressures of leading a team of Rangers. But part of its appeal is in just how out of left field it is. After all, when you’ve got a bunch of hormonal teenagers in the same space for a lengthy amount of time, this kind of thing is bound to happen, isn’t it?

12. Ranger Slayer vs. Alpha 5 (Go Go Power Rangers #10)

Like the evil Green Ranger before her, the Ranger Slayer, under a spell cast by Lord Drakkon, invades the Command Center. But while Tommy simply incapacitated Alpha 5, this version of Kimberly has a more…physical approach.

We certainly never saw Alpha take a beating like this on the old show, and for good reason. Seeing our robot buddy beaten up like this would have scarred most of us for life…

13. Zack talks to himself (MMPR #28)
Way back in MMPR #5, Kyle Higgins established that before Rita chose Tommy to be the Green Ranger, she tried to tempt Zack into the role. While he obviously refused, Zack never tell his teammates about Rita’s offer. Until he does, at the encouragement of his counterpart from Lord Drakkon’s timeline. Issue #28 gives us a nice little callback to that.

By and large, I maintain that the BOOMverse’s take on Zack is too moody and broody. But the idea of him being Rita’s original pick for the Green Ranger remains a really interesting idea.

14. Bringing Down the Dome (MMPR #28)
Over in the world of Power Rangers RPM, Dr. K is quick to answer Zordon’s call to action from issue #27, as she’s developed technology that can fend off some of Lord Drakkon’s arsenal. But the domed city of Corinth has been fending off his attacks for hours. Jason and Lauren are sent in to help (see above), but Drakkon has reinforcements of his own.

What follows is a battle filled with characters and zords from across the franchise’s history. It’s so expansive that it’s truly a shame it all has to be condensed into one issue. Still, we get a hell of an exclamation point in the end, as Dr. K and Jason have to bring down the dome protecting Corinth.

15. Future Kimberly, Present-Day Juice Bar (Go Go Power Rangers #11)

Once the Ranger Slayer comes to her senses, she aligns herself with our heroes. They wind up taking her to the juice bar, sitting her right next to her past self. And of course, no one recognizes that there are two Kimberly Harts in the room.

Still, it’s interesting to not only see future Kim getting to re-live her past, but watching her tell present-day Kim to enjoy it all while it lasts. And kudos to Dan Mora for drawing future Kim on the balance beam (shown left). That’s something we saw quite a bit of on the show. But we’re obviously seeing it from a whole new perspective here.

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