Ryan Parrott and Francesco Mortarino continue to expand and explore Power Rangers lore in Power Rangers #5. Classic characters from various seasons are introduced into the comic’s continuity, and the mystery of the Empyreals grows more clear. Readers will find themselves ignoring any minor flaws to enjoy the simple fun of this issue.
Parrott Proves Powerful
Parrott does get off on a wobbly start here. Readers are thrust into the story with a bit too little explanation from the ending of the last issue. It’s not very detrimental to the reading experience as readers are brought up to speed quickly, but it makes for a jarring beginning.
Following that, Parrott quickly introduces readers to the western style world teased in Power Rangers #4. It’s cool and populated with aliens and smugglers that allow the story to sink into a classic sci-fi tone. Jason and Zach start the story in disguise, a classic trope that works well here as the colorful disguises and light tone give readers a sense of adventure that propels the story.
The meat of the book most consists of two types of moments: character moments and lore introductions.
On one side, Parrott uses their first encounter with an alien card shark to shine a light on Zach and develop his capabilities outside of just being a Ranger who can fight. It’s a charming moment that follows up on his success last issue. It also gives the persistence of character, which helps make each of these rangers feel fully formed.
Parrott also takes time to develop Drakkon. In a simple interaction with Trini, he recounts an anecdote from his youth, which creates a sense of empathy for him. Readers get the sense that this also exists as development for his bond with Trini, which still walks the tripwire between being genuine and manipulative.
In other moments, though, the book is able to get a pop out of readers with reintroductions of classic Power Rangers characters. Classic villains from series outside of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show up, and it’s an exciting interplay of disparate stories. This is especially true as readers are meeting younger versions of these characters which they hadn’t been privy to in the televised series.
The only issue here is that it’s not clear that the continuity lines up for all of the things Parrott is doing. This mostly stems from the timelines of multiple Power Rangers series existing in the same world not always making sense. It’s likely that this is simply something that will be explained down the road, but as for now, it lends a small amount of confusion to this otherwise exciting story.
Mighty Mortarino Makes Moments
Mortarino brings the same knack for exciting and energetic action to this issue as he has throughout the whole series. Everything is smooth and dynamic, which is something that helps serve to establish some of the books new characters in exciting ways.
He also contributes a lot of new alien designs which, while they could have felt out of place, play perfectly into the Power Rangers aesthetic and serve to make the world feel more defined.
It’s often Mortarino’s work that helps sell the tone of this book, which can’t be understated. Often he helps walk the line between the campy, childish tone of the original series and the classical sci-fi tone the book wants to evoke. It’s not hard to imagine that without his specific work, the correct balance wouldn’t be struck nearly as often.
Parrott and Mortarino deliver another fun entry in the Power Rangers series. It expands the world in exciting, if confusing ways. Somehow though the flaws of this issue seem to be just more of a reason to keep going and see what’s happening. In that, it seems there might not be much of a flaw at all.
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