[DreamSword]

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Volume 5

By this time in the comic's' run, Go Go Power Rangers was in full swing, and as such there was a bit more of a concentrated effort to incorporate elements that linked the two, such as the mention of Matt here.

And, with the Drakkon arc now over, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is given a little bit of breathing room, which is even reflected in the arc starting off with noting how Rita has all but disappeared for months. Thus, the Rangers instead focus on helping out in other efforts.

There's some interesting takeaways here in how each Ranger reacts to the new freedom they've been granted. Some continue to work themselves way over(Jason, Billy, and Tommy), some try to more focus on their home lives(Kimberley), and others struggle to figure what exactly it is they want to do from here on out(Trini and Zack).

But peace doesn't last for long, as sure enough, not only does Finster makes his reappearance, but there's a new face of antagonism known as Grace Sterling.

Grace is a character who drew alot of ire back when she first debuted. We'll get into it more and more as the storyline moves forward, but in the context of this volume, she's a government agent who wishes to work directly with the Power Rangers, with Zack and Jason being at odds on if they should trust her or not. And it's at this point you might guess that continuity between the comics and the show kinda starts going off the rails.

There's of course the Rangers now having knowledge of future aspects such as Saba, there's now a direct link to both In Space and Lost Galaxy in terms of plot elements being introduced, and you know, the whole "disappeared Zordon" thing. It's funny looking back on this, because at the time, alot of fans didn't mind some variance here and there, but as the comics continue to spiral into their own thing, fans would begin to find more and more issues with the concept. And I can't entirely blame them for it either.

But before even talking in detail about all that, I do wanna note one notable thing.

While the overall tone of the comic is still darker than what you'd find in the show, it does notably lighten up some. Probably to better match the tone of Go Go as well as some of the lighter aspects of the show. It's a smart move, I think, as it helps to better draw readers into the world and the characters. Or atleast, it worked on me. But that's not to say the comic still doesn't get intense, as this volume culminates in an issue that many fans still have conflicting feelings about to this day. A prequel issue that reveals that Grace was the Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger before Jason was.

And yeah, I myself have conflicting feelings about it too. On the one hand, there's the continuity break as to how space works in the show, as well as retconning our heroes being the first Rangers(though funnily enough MMPR the show itself retconned this ages ago), as well as the retcons that both Rita's' dumpster and her Moon Palace were already established on the moon despite the source material saying otherwise. There's also the question of how Grace knew where the Command Center even was despite only entering and exiting it via teleportation. It's alot of sudden developments and changes for the sake of a plot that won't sit well with many.

But on the other hand, Psycho Green is not only a really cool concept, but would later go on to be a fully fledged character that alot of fans would love. The artwork by Daniele Di Nicuolo looks fantastic, and the comic answers the question of why Zordon chose five teenaged friends over a select group of elites in the first place. Basically, it's alot easier to form a team between people who are already comfortable with eachother and work to increase their fighting prowess, rather than gather a bunch of randos and just hope that they learn to get along despite their intense differences. While I certainly get the complaints, especially concerning how suddenly important Grace is, I come out liking things more than disliking them in this case.

But regardless, it is certainly a shift in the status quo, and we'll be quick to see just how much this alters our story going forward.