Growing up in the 90s was a bit of a crazy time for me. I was a military brat, and I have spent time moving from place to place every other year sometimes. No matter what state or country I was in, I could tune in to my tv and hear the words, “IT’S MORPHIN TIME!”
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is the American version of Japan’s longest series of Super Sentai genre shows. Super Sentai always had a different set of hero’s each new season with a new storyline to keep it fresh for their audiences. Saban had an idea that they could use the fighting stock footage and incorporate it with their own storyline and teenagers with attitude.
In 2016, my interest in Power Rangers was piqued again. It wasn’t because they were going to have their 23rd season of the show at that time (Power Rangers Dino Super Charge). Boom Studios had decided to create the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic that stars the original six rangers.
The main difference between the television series and the comics is that they left out a lot of the corny dialogue and focused more on specific storylines with each ranger and the freedom to add any type of action in the art without being handcuffed to stock footage.
The comic series was firing on all cylinders when they revealed the first major villain appearance of Lord Drakkon. Lord Drakkon is from a parallel universe version of Tommy. In the TV series, Tommy was brainwashed by an evil sorceress named Rita Repulsa. She gave Tommy the power of the green ranger, and after some lengthy battles, the team freed Tommy’s mind, and he became the 6th ranger.
However, in the Drakkon universe, the Power Rangers failed, and Tommy remained evil and started his quest to rule the multiverse taking every power coin to power himself up and an army he created.
This storyline was so huge that they created a fun fighting game called Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. They also had promotions where they got Tommy from the tv series (Jason David Frank) to star in a few trailers where he plays Lord Drakkon wearing that iconic suit from the comics.
After that storyline, I actually fell out of collecting comics due to being busy with work and moving to a different area. However, during COVID, I started collecting comics again and was amazed at what was happening in the series.
The comics separated two ongoing series at the time (Go Go Power Rangers, a series focused on the events before Tommy joined, had just ended). Mighty Morphin with Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Kimberly, Billy, and Aisha. The other series was simply Power Rangers (I was more focused on this one), where Jason, Trini, and Zack are having their own adventure in space!
In the original TV show, around the middle of season 2, Jason, Trini, and Zack left the team to go to a peace conference in Sweden (show)/Switzerland (comic). In the comics, they expanded where it was a cover story for them after being selected to become the Omega Rangers from a higher power connected to the Morphin Grid. Not only protecting Earth but also many different planets across the known universe.
What attracted me to this series is the expanding lore and the Omega Rangers outfits (never seen on TV or the Super Sentai lineup) and how the original trio deals with new threats and lying to their family and friends on their secret mission.
The series just finished up a major moment with the 100th issue of Power Rangers, where in the last few issues, the Mighty Morphin and Omega Rangers are facing a villain that could resurrect the dead, known as the long-forgotten Omega Death Ranger.
What makes the comic series awesome is that you do not have to be a Power Rangers fan to enjoy the comics. The art style with the action scenes and the storyline is always fresh, and I love talking about it. Check out the first few volumes by going to your local comic shop or downloading them on your mobile device.
The crazy part is that there has been a wild crossover with Power Rangers! There were Justice League/Power Rangers, Power Rangers/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Part 2 of the series has started), and Godzilla vs Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
I also wanted to give a shout-out to my friends Aaron and Candace for hooking me up with an autographed comic and a short video from Jason David Frank before his passing. It was a complete shock not only to me but to the whole fandom. Once a ranger, always a ranger.
