Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Hendry Prasetya
Release Date: 04/06/2016
Well, that’s more like it! I enjoyed this issue, it had a really nice flow to it, the Rangers finally showed glimmers of personality (especially Billy and Trini; Higgins did a great job with their characters here), and I’ve accepted that, for whatever reason, the characters aren’t going to resemble their television counterparts and I’ve accepted their new looks…except Zordon, he still looks terrible.
Rita Repulsa is still in Tommy Oliver’s head and that still feels like it’s going nowhere, but his encounter and subsequent fight with Scorpina was satisfying. I loved that cold Goldar insult he hurled her way. I wish more was done with Scorpina making threats against Mrs. Oliver; that seemed to be resolved a bit too quickly for my liking. It was neat to see Trini and Billy play off each other as Billy ran a diagnostic on the Dragonzord; a big criticism I’ve had with this series so far is that the Rangers aren’t defined enough, but this was a great step in the right direction. I almost want them to explore a possible romance between Billy and Trini, and that’s something that was nowhere to be found in the show. Speaking of possible romances, is it just me, or is there something being hinted at towards Jason and Kimberly too? Maybe I’m just reading too much into it, but as much as I’d love to see Trini and Billy have something happen, I feel totally opposed to them pushing Jason, Tommy, and Kimberly into a love triangle for cheap teen CW-esque drama.
It’s nice to see that most of my biggest criticisms are being addressed in the third issue of the series, but I’m getting tired of Rita being in Tommy’s head. Tommy’s still not fitting in with the group, but there’s not really a valid reason here; Billy even brings it up in the comic when he tells Trini, and I’m paraphrasing a bit here, “You’re all good looking, and you’re all into karate and stuff. I’m the outsider, all of you should be getting along just fine!” To Billy’s point, there’s just not enough here for me to believe in the whole “Tommy is an outsider” story Higgins is trying to get us invested in.
Hendry Prasetva is nailing the action scenes. I’m happy we get some great stuff in this issue; previous ones have been severely deficient. I wish we could have seen some Zord action, but the fight between Scorpina and Tommy were intense and awesome. Like I stated earlier, I’m finally at peace with the way Tommy, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, and Jason look, but Zordon is butt ugly and atrocious. My favorite panel in the book is an underwater shot of the Dragonzord; Prasetya really knows how to draw giant robots, and we’ve only had a taste of said giant robots fighting villainous monsters.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2
- Story - 8.0/108/10
- Art - 8.5/108.5/10
The Verdict
To wrap this all up, I feel like this issue is by far the best one up to this point, but it’s not where it needs to be yet. There’s five Power Rangers on the team, and I only feel like I know two of them. This issue had action and cool fight scenes, but it’s mired by the “Rita Repulsa is in Tommy Oliver’s head” stuff. We need to have a better reason for Tommy to be an outsider if that’s where we’re heading with this story, because the Rita thing isn’t working, in my opinion. The art is wonderful, and the writing has improved quite a bit; I’m judging it less based on my fandom for the 90’s show, I promise. I’ve accepted that it’s meant to stand on its own, and I’ve accepted that. There’s some vast potential in the series, you see so much of it in this issue, and hopefully in the next one we’ll see more.
