Mighty Morphin is a new series that launched alongside another series, Power Rangers, kicking off an expanded approach to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers titles. Writer Ryan Parrott is behind both and he clearly has a vision for the series. The third issue of Mighty Morphin is out this week, juggling Zordon’s past antics 10,000 years ago with the team fighting off Lord Zedd’s latest attack. To say this issue reveals a lot is an understatement and it continues to show Parrott has plenty of cards up his sleeve.
Once again, this issue opens with Zordon exploring an alien world to better understand their people. It’s a key scene as it continues to reveal Zordon is no extreme fighter, but instead a calm and peaceful person who has quaint goals he’d like to achieve. Readers know his hope to become a farmer, for instance, will fail since he’s a floating head in a jar these days. Parrott uses this calmer opening to smash cut to some exceptional fight scenes with the Power Rangers you won’t want to miss.
Marco Renna’s lines with colors by Walter Baiamonte (and assists by Katia Ranalli) zip with great energy and manage to cake each panel with many enemies for our heroes to fight. Most fight scenes have flat colored backgrounds, but given the number of Putties in each panel, you’ll hardly notice. There is a lot going on in this opening fight scene, including the mysterious Green Ranger, super-powered Putties, and a double cross you won’t see coming. Its fast-paced, colorful, and well-done choreography keeps your interest up with every punch and kick.
It’s great fun to glance across the page and see all the characters looking cool.
Credit: BOOM! Studios
Color adds so much brightness and fun to this book it’s hard to put down. The stark color backgrounds add to it, but there’s plenty of well-placed shine and lighting added to the cool looking Power Ranger costumes. The opening scene has an added calmness thanks to the warm colors. Much of this book’s energy and fun vibe is attributed to the colors.
As Lord Zedd continues to put pressure on the Power Rangers, Parrott reveals a bit more about the Green Ranger that’s quite clever. This reveal is entwined with some character drama that mixes things up and gives Zordon something unexpected to deal with. I’m no Power Rangers expert, but the idea seems rather original and adds a new layer to the protectors of Earth.
Meanwhile, the team is not taking defeat from Lord Zedd well. Parrott and Renna spend some time with a few of the Power Rangers after one of them is taken out. These are passionate young heroes who sometimes make tough decisions. Younger readers will relate to these passions while adults will appreciate these characters aren’t stoic experts in the realm of keeping their emotions at bay. That human element is key to a book where giant robots fight in the city streets. Props to Parrott for giving Bulk and Skull something to do too, which further adds to the on-the-ground element while all hell breaks loose.
The only fault I could find in this issue is the ending, which feels tacked on. Likely the page count forced the story to smash cut from an important character interaction to the big cliffhanger. The fact that it leads into a sequence we’ve seen a thousand times in the series — the bad guys get big and the Rangers power up — adds a bit to the let down of the sudden ending.
Mighty Morphin #1 was a great first issue and this third issue continues the trend. This book is nearly wall-to-wall action, but still spends quality time with the characters in between the fight scenes to add a human element. Mighty Morphin juggles pure action, human moments, and clever ideas to perfection.
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