I often get asked what I love about Power Rangers. Besides literally growing up with the franchise, and apart from the giant robots and karate fights, Power Rangers is, at the end of the day, about finding your people. All of the Rangers teams, from the original Mighty Morphin roster to Cosmic Fury, have found their friends and/or a makeshift family after they band together to save the world. It’s a theme that Power Rangers Prime #3 touches upon.
But in a world where Power Rangers are public enemy #1, Lauren’s potential team of Rangers is landing on the “dysfunctional” side of the family dynamic. While Mark, Jun and Orion are more than willing to help Lauren get her powers back, Valentina is butting heads with her – and considering she’s dating the leader of the VR Troopers, it isn’t long until our heroes will encounter opposition. Not helping matters is the fact that Rita Repulsa is carving a trail of destruction.
Melissa Flores knows how to write some great character interactions; her script is full of them, whether it’s Lauren and Valentina butting heads or Bulk struggling to keep along with Rita (and her endless arsenal of put downs.) She also continues to introduce looks at this new world, with twists that’ll surprise long time Ranger fans. The Power Rangers’ Command Center gets a surprising new status quo, and there’s a cameo from another deep-cut Rangers character.
Flores’ biggest change concerns Rita herself. Specifically, the source of her magic has changed – and that change leads her to encounter Lauren and the others. This also leads to a plot development I freely admits that I never saw coming. But in this world? It makes perfect sense, and it’s a microcosm of why Prime is a comic for both longtime Ranger fans and newcomers alike. The former will see a familiar tale play out in a new way, while the latter will find a Power Rangers story that they can follow along with.
BOOM!
Flores’ script is brought to life by Yg, who continues to show his flair for action sequences. A standout is the fight that Lauren and Rita get into. At first glance, it seems like Lauren is outmatched: she doesn’t have access to her Ranger powers, she’s trapped in an unfamiliar place, and Rita is a bonafide witch. But she still holds her own, with Yg drawing her delivering some ferocious kicks and punches while dodging Rita’s spells.
Fabi Marques makes Yg’s artwork pop with flares of color, which shifts depending on the scene and the characters involved. When it’s Rita, eyes will be drawn to her due to her pure white gown and hair, which is a surprising contrast to her glowing red eyes. When it’s the VR Troopers, light glints off their metallic armor, which carries the same red/black/silver color scheme despite their wildly different designs. Marques even colors the background behind Lauren and her friends in a way that hints just who will end up with what Ranger powers down the road.
Power Rangers Prime #3 continues to shake up the Power Rangers mythos in new and interesting ways, including a team up no one saw coming. But it’s also a reminder to longtime Ranger fans that there are some things that’ll never change with this franchise, no matter what medium it takes.
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