[DreamSword]

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Volume 1 (+Issue #0)

Despite what the unedited reading order might tell you, this is a weak starting point.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, while not the first comic BOOM! Studios would make for the franchise(that'd be MMPR: Pink), is what would start off what is now a subset of Power Rangers all its own.

This one being written by Kyle Higgins and illustrated by Hendry Prasetya, and you can immediately tell the entirely different vibes this comic has from Go Go.

The tone? Darker. The art? Grittier. And the overall focus of the book is more centered on plot than characterization. The book was even advertised as "The Untold Epic of the Green Ranger" back when it first started getting published. And in that regard, this also isn't very friendly to newcomers.

BOOM's' MMPR is much more written for older fans who grew up with the original 90s TV show and wanted to see some other aspects of it explored and made darker. And that's not inherently a bad thing, mind you, but there's a surprising amount of people who use(d) the comics as a vehicle for getting into the franchise as a whole, and this comic is not the best for that, I feel.

This entire entry arc is all about the ins and outs of past wrongs and what's needed in order to achieve redemption. And while that in and of itself, can make for some compelling drama, it only hits as hard as it can if you're already familiar with all the characters involved. Tommy and his origins specifically. Sure, the books tells you the baseline of what you need to know, but that is nowhere near as strong as actually seeing it play out.

And while Tommy is most certainly the main character in all of this, that's not to say the other characters are entirely left out. We gets bits and bobs here and there with everyone else, such as Billy's' self-esteem issues(which are kinda weird when you factor in Go Go but whatever), or Kim trying to balance her emotions with cold logic in this whole situation. But again, none of that is really a main focal point. The overall plot, with Rita, her machinations, and how they affect the Rangers as a group specifically, are the primary focal point.

As a result of that, I do feel that the overall characterization does suffer some. Where it hits worst in my eyes is Zack, wherein his fun loving and heart warming personality is pretty much entirely absent from this book. Now, that's not to say Zack in MMPR proper never had moments of seriousness, concern, or critical thinking; He was second in command for a reason, afterall. But here, as an introductory piece, you wouldn't even know that his more lighthearted side was even a thing if you hadn't already seen the original show. I really do feel like that's a huge misstep for both character and world building.

I'm also really not a fan of how this volume concludes either. The entire thing has been about Tommy coming into his own and learning what exactly he has to contribute to the group while also being shown ways in which he can in turn lean on everyone else. But everything ends with Jason, the only other person in the group other than Kim who had trust in him, doubling back. Which not only spits in the face of the message, but is also really out of character for Jason himself. I get that the comics are a darker take, but so is Go Go, and there atleast, most of the core aspects of the characters were preserved while still introducing new things. Not so much with this book.

So, yeah. I don't think the start off to the comic is exactly bad or anything, but it's definitely weak in alot of aspects, and rereading it now, years later, I am firmly reminded as to why every time I was asked where to start by people who wanted to get into them, I told them to start off with Go Go Power Rangers specifically. Things will certainly get better with time, but for me, the first big step that BOOM's' new universe takes is a big of a weak one.