 This article is about a/an comic book in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios.
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 is the concluding issue of Boom! Studios ongoing event Shattered Grid for the comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Synopsis[]
The epic conclusion to the first Power Rangers comic book event. Everything changes here![1]
Plot[]
The comic opens in the heat of the battle between the Ranger Sentries, the Power Rangers, Serpentera and several Megazords. Gia lays dead, with her still morphed corpse smoking after taking a blast from the enemy. Zack calls for the Rangers that have flight to give them some cover fire, as the Silver Space Sentries are pinning the ground forces down. Jack tries to order Kira to clear a path for them and asks the Mystic Force team to use their Megazord to try and advance to take out the tower, but Serpentera comes in and blasts them with its energy beam at point blank range, killing them all. Jason and Lauren try to figure out how to keep the situation from getting worse, asking Billy for a strategy to take out the giant dragon. Billy says he can't as it has no visible weaknesses, while he is also pinned down where the wrecked Megazords are with the two Trinis. Carter suggests that maybe they should try to improvise and create a new Megazord formation using any Zords that are still online.
Jen accesses the Time Force Database on Zord schematics and finds that they have a way to form a new Megazord. She orders RJ, Kat, Kendall and Trini to use their Zords and Black Dragon armor to fuse with the Hyperforce Megazord to power it up, utilizing the Black Dragon's size changing ability to make the Megazord the same size as Serpentera. Zack and Kimberly are amazed at the new Megazord, wondering what they should call it. Jen says if they live through today, they can name it as she commands her Hyperforce Rangers from the cockpit along with RJ, Kat, and Kendall. Jason gets an idea to take down the tower, he asks Noah to summon the Q-Rex Drill Zord to blast it.
The "Whatever We Are Calling It" Megazord holds down Serpentera while Jason tries to head for the tower, but the dragon breaks its grip and heads for Jason's position. Lauren tries to tell Jason to turn back, but Jason simply says he wants her to know that he feels the same way about her (implying that the two did develop budding romantic feelings for each other during their time together). Jason fires the laser and then the Q-Rex Drill is chomped in half by Serpentera. The Rangers watch in horror as Serpentera presumably kills the leader of the Power Rangers by crushing him from inside the Zord. But Jason's efforts were not in vain, as the tower is destroyed and the Sentries lose their connection to the Morphin Grid. The evil Zord chews on its "snack" as the kitbashed Megazord stabs it from behind in revenge, impaling it with the spire of the tower. The Ranger Sentries begin de-morphing as thier connection to the Grid is cut off.
Before the Rangers can process what happened after their bittersweet victory, a massive shake in space and time occurs. Jen freaks out as this brings back the trauma of re-living what happened to her team, seeing the fabric of space tear and a gigantic version of Lord Drakkon emerging from the rift, fully merged with the Morphin Grid. A blinding white light envelops all of them and they vanish into nothingness as reality begins to be re-written. At Drakkon's fortress, Grace's rescue team of Rangers save the imprisoned and de-powered Rangers and they head back to Promethea. The base is ready to leave when suddenly they see the Coinless Earth crack in white light as reality begins to unravel. Andros orders an emergency teleport jump, but the white void dissolves the base as they begin to move in a teleport until it ceases to exist.
Reality reforms and Lord Drakkon is talking to his "Parents," Zordon and Rita, who are now just ordinary humans and offering him to enjoy a homemade slice of pie. Doggie Kruger has been altered to be an ordinary Earth dog (a blue husky) and barks as he senses the city is in danger. Drakkon excuses himself and in a very Superman-like fashion opens his shirt, showing a red crystal embedded in his chest as he calls out "It's Morphing Time!".
An ethereal giant Falcon and Tiger are approaching the city, Jen, whose very life have been altered to be obedient to Drakkon, is Dragonzord awaiting her Lord's arrival as she and the unseen pilot of the Tigerzord have strict orders not to engage the beasts unless they hit land. Jen does not worry about the creatures, as their Lord can handle it. Drakkon comes in flying at super speed and uses his godly strength to defeat them. Drakkon descends to his adoring public and talks to Zack and Trini, who are now reporters who sing his praises. Drakkon tries to reassure his people that as long as he is around, they will be safe forever.
A voice only he can hear wonders if that is true even if the world he lives in is a lie. Drakkon then sees the person he hates most in the lens of one of the cameras: Tommy Oliver. Drakkon tries to maintain his composure in front of the press, asking them to do interviews at another time as he is going to retire early for the day and rest as he flies off. He then lands in his mansion and his butler Finster greets him, Billy tells Drakkon that he has finished modifying his car with Nitrous boosters and washing it, his life altered to be nothing more than a handyman for Drakkon's vehicles. Finster tells his master of the schedule for today, as he must visit the Drakkon Academy trainees on the grounds.
He visits, observing Jason and Lauren, indoctrinating youths to spread the word across the world of "peace" that their Lord brings and training in martial arts. Drakkon is pleased with their efforts in creating the future "protectors" of the world. Drakkon is called away as Finster informs his master that the beasts have returned to attack the city.
Jen is in the Tigerzord and struggling to deal with the spirit beasts, this time, a bear is among them. She tries to hang on, but can't handle it. Drakkon tries to intervene, but the bear spirit knocks him through several buildings. Tommy goads him again, saying that the reality Drakkon has made is not enough to fill the void and that he knows the truth about him.
Enraged, Drakkon proclaims that he is a god and fights harder and blasts the Tiger Spirit away and an ape sprit. But Tommy tells him he is not, as an exhausted Drakkon lands to rest. Drakkon demands to know why a ghost is tormenting him, with Tommy responding that he knows the truth, despite all Tommy's across the multiverse being good, he is the only one that is flawed and he cannot wield all that power he has. Drakkon rejects this, saying he overcame weakness and is strong.
Tommy again says that is not the truth, the truth is that Drakkon is all alone and feels that forcing people to like him will fill the loneliness he has. If he did truly have no weakness, he would have prevented the Rangers he kept alive from existing entirely or killed them but kept them around to have people to worship him. In all of existence, Drakkon is the only flawed Tommy Oliver because he refuses to be honest. Drakkon begins to lose his grip on his mental state again, lashing out at his invisible tormentor by firing energy blasts at mirrors and screaming that Tommy isn't real and eventually that his world isn't real.
A series of voices say that now is their chance to breach the barriers as Drakkon is distracted. A fist breaks through the dimension and enters the world. The ex-Rangers all encounter something which causes them to pause and go into a daze. Kimberly is working at a cafe, when she sees whom she presumes is Lord Drakkon and kneels before him. It is revealed to be Tommy, who pleads with her to remember as a green energy emits from his fingers. Kim's mind returns to normal, she morphs back into the Pink Ranger and she is surprised to see Tommy again, hugging him and crying. Angry, she realizes that Drakkon warped her life after he went into the Grid and wonders how Tommy is even alive. She also has memories of being with Lord Drakkon, but Tommy says that is part of reality being reshaped. The gang all reunite and decide to talk in the cafe, having all of their memories restored.
Drakkon is upset, wondering why the world is rejecting him and he is unable to defeat the spirit beasts as his own mind is turning against him. Finster suggests that he is simply tired and needs a nice drive, mentioning that Billy seems to be missing. This gets Drakkon's attention.
Tommy explains that before he and Kimberly met, another Pink Ranger appeared and shot him, her arrow contained a shard of the green chaos crystal. When Drakkon stabbed him, his crystal supercharged the one already embedded in him. He couldn't control the energy, so his soul left his body and entered another dimension. He was unable to intervene in the events that followed, only observe, until Drakkon fully breached the Morphin Grid. This doesn't explain why Tommy is alive and the Rangers are naturally confused.
Tommy introduces them to the Emissaries, explaining that once they regained their powers after he distracted Drakkon, he was able to reawaken their memories and restore their powers. The Emissaries are pleased to meet the Rangers as Zordon spoke highly of them and they regret that their own hubris allowed these events to get out of hand. They explain that their mission is to be the last line of defense to the Grid, but they were not prepared for Lord Drakkon or how powerful he would be. After their defeat, Drakkon stole a powerful artifact called the Heart of the Master, an energy crystal that could reshape reality if bonded with a Ranger's connection to the Grid. Drakkon used it to obliterate all alternate worlds in the multiverse and reshape it into a single universe and reality that was his to control. The Emissaries regained their strength slowly, enacting a plan to get inside this reality.
Tommy says that Drakkon is a man of self-doubt and loathing, thus he is strong only in body and not in mind. The Heart of the Master can sense Drakkon's doubt and created those animal spirits, manifested from those negative emotions. Once his doubt was strong enough, Tommy was able to enter into this reality as well as the Emissaries. The plan is to remove the Heart from Drakkon and use it to fully restart the Grid to get their home back. Otherwise, this reality will continue forever. At first, the team is ready and think they have the element of surprise, but Drakkon bursts in and in a fevered rage, says he intends to make sure to kill Tommy in a far more painful and permanent fashion.
The Rangers morph but Drakkon thinks this is pathetic, they could barely defeat him as a man, but now he is a god so what hope is there of victory. Drakkon demands that they kneel before him as he relentlessly pulverizes each and every one of them with his bare hands and energy blasts. While Tommy distracts him, Lauren and Jen use the Dragonzord and Tigerzord to blast Drakkon. Drakkon pushes himself to his feet and prepares to tear through the Zords to kill both of them. Tommy leaps up and grabs the Heart while Drakkon is distracted.
The two enter a black void unmorphed, as both share the Heart's power now and must fight for control of the Heart. Tommy emerges victorious as he has the faith of his friends and the strength of having their love in his heart, while Drakkon never accepted that and instead used fear and his anger from loneliness as his drive. Reality begins to break apart and the Emissaries help the Rangers into a portal to escape the void. Tommy, being the hero that he is, offers to help Drakkon and says that he doesn't have to be alone. Drakkon is disgusted by this sentiment and refuses to accept Tommy's hand, letting his existence and the world he made crumble around him as a white tiger spirit comes for him.
The Rangers enter the heart of the Morphin Grid, which the Emissaries reshape into the Command Center to make them "feel more comfortable". Lauren wonders why the Emissaries don't just stand there and restart the universe using the Heart of the Master. They explain that they are unable to, it requires a Ranger's direct connection to the Grid. With the Heart's power, they can reshape reality however they wish, create a new world or revert things back to the way they were.
The Rangers realize this means that all the people they met, battles fought and events they have seen will never have happened. Zack worries that Drakkon could come back if they reset the multiverse, that the Coinless will suffer again. The Emissaries assure them that it is for the best and things will return to normal as best as it can. But there will be some changes due to the structural damage of space and time, like a broken pane of glass that is glued back together, not all the pieces will fit exactly as they were. This worries Kim, as she is reminded of Jen's words on history being altered and what it cost her. Lauren is understandably upset, as she doesn't want to forget all that has happened.
Jason on the other hand sees it as a choice to make a selfless sacrifice and making the hard decisions for the good of all, putting their own needs aside to serve a greater cause. Even if they don't remember, it doesn't mean that what they did never mattered or did not have meaning. Trini agrees with Jason and they all agree that it is for the best. The Emissaries instructs the Rangers to place their hands on the Heart to activate it.
Jason tells Lauren he will miss her even if he forgets, and she says the same. Kimberly thinks this still sucks as she will forget Tommy's first date with her and she has so much she wants to say to him after getting him back. Tommy kisses her as they begin. Kimberly then smiles and says that at least this time they are not saving one world...they are saving ALL of them. The Heart activates and a bright white light envelops all of them as the Rangers are sent back home to a restored reality that is not 100% quite like the one they knew...
The End
Covers[]
Jamal Campbell
Jamal Campbell
Warren Lau
Warren Lau
Trevor Hairsine
Trevor Hairsine
Trevor Hairsine
Dan Mora
French Carlomagno
Goni Montes
Reprints[]
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volume Eight
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Deluxe Edition
Notes[]
- In Power Morphicon 2018, Kyle Higgins said he may as well have called this comic "Drakkon Wins"
- In an interview, Kyle Higgins said the one regret he had about leaving the Power Rangers comics as its writer is he wanted to do more with RJ and Jungle Fury for Shattered Grid, as he likes RJ. He also regretted not doing enough with Mystic Force.[2]
- On the solicitation of the special variant holofoil wraparound variant cover, the Red Beast Morphers Ranger is featured on the cover fighting a Tyrannosaurus Sentry. This marks the first appearance of a Beast Morphers Ranger in licensed media ahead of their televised debut.[3] However, they make their comic appearance two weeks before in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 29.
- The true main cover once again concealed a certain detail on it to prevent spoilers in trade advertisements. In this case, it is Lord Drakkon's Evolution III helmet being hurled out of the broken dimension wall, as well as a variant cover of Lord Drakkon's Evolution III form standing atop the battlefield.
- Gia, Kira, Jack, Shane, and the Mystic Force Rangers presumably died in battle before the universe was altered into Drakkon's reality and then reset, as the first image of the comic is Gia's body lying on the ground and later, the other three are blasted at point blank range by Serpentera as the Titan Megazord is destroyed.
- A new Hyperforce Megazord combination made a brief appearance in the comic. This Megazord utilized Kat's Super Zeo Zord, Kendall's Plesio Zord, R.J.'s Wolf Zord and Alternate Trini's Black Dragon Armor. Jen explains that Time Force has a database on all past Ranger Zords with schematics, allowing her to devise this fusion after Carter suggests they improvise somehow to stop Serpentera. It went unnamed in the comic itself but the retailer that sold the variant cover which depicted the Megazord revealed the name as Mega Megazord, as designed by Dan Mora.
- This marks the first time a Megazord has even been able to critically damage Serpentera, as the evil Zord was far too powerful in the TV show to ever stop. Any Megazord that tried almost got defeated, only surviving due to sheer luck due to the power drain of the massive mecha's energy cells.
- The comic ends with a preview of Issue 31 and advertising for Beyond the Grid, showcasing the fate of Grace and the Rangers on the Promethea base.
References[]
Footnotes[]
