Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is one of those video games that feels like it’s tailor-made for its fanbase. Besides revolving around the Power Rangers, its time-travel story and its retro aesthetic, not to mention the side-scrolling beat’ ’em up mechanics that were a large part of many ’90s games, it’s a blast to play. Now Rangers fans can enjoy an official comic to go alongside this game with Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind #1.
Rita’s Rewind #1 follows a story that’s similar to the game. After the events of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once and Always, Robo Rita travels back in time to help a young Rita Repulsa finally kill the Power Rangers once and for all. The current team of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers jumps back in time to 1993, but have to avoid causing a paradox since the original MMPR team is still active.
This simple, but effective setup lets writer Zoe Tunnell deliver a story that hits hard in the action and emotional departments. The modern MMPR team mostly uses their wits and karate skills – and in Billy Cranston’s case, his immense intellect – to battle the monsters that Robo Rita and Past Rita throw at them. There’s also some inside jokes about ’90s fashion and the fact that before Lyft or Uber was a thing, people had to walk to where they wanted to go.
The emotional part comes from the fact that Minh, the current Yellow Ranger, has a chance to potentially connect with her late mother Trini. One of the best parts of Once and Always was how it explored Minh’s journey to become the Yellow Ranger, while also paying homage to the late Thuy Trang. Tunnell continues this storyline by building up to a moment that’ll crack even the hardest of hearts. It’s those types of moments that make Rita’s Rewind #1 worth picking up, if I’m being honest.
Also pull-list worthy is the art by Tango. Tango’s work captures the high-octane, animated style of the Rita’s Rewind game, as he gets the chance to illustrate various parts of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers history. There’s the Juice Bar where the Rangers hang out, which has to be the most ’90s location ever, and the towering mass of Rita’s castle on the moon. Thanks to the eye-popping colors from Adam Guzowski, it feels like a true Power Rangers tale.
But it’s only topped by the action sequences featuring the Rangers themselves. Whether they’re unmorphed or morphed, the way Tango draws them is a sight to behold. It moves with a fluidity and an intensity that has to be seen to be believed, and doesn’t just capture the frenetic energy of the game but also the original Mighty Moprhin Power Rangers series.
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind #1 doesn’t just build upon the video game on which it’s based, but the Power Rangers mythos in surprising ways. Whether or not you’ve played the game, this is worth a read, and it might even get some readers to play the game (which I highly recommend).
