This article is about a/an comic book issue in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios. |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #40 is the forty-first actual issue of the Boom! Studios comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which begins its numbering with Issue 0.
It is the first issue of the Necessary Evil story arc, the sixth story arc of the comics. The comic introduces Lord Zedd, Rocky, Aisha, Adam, and reveals the official story debut of both the White Ranger and the new comic exclusive villain, Dayne.
Synopsis[]
Last year, Shattered Grid made comic book history-this year NECESSARY EVIL changes what you think you know about the Power Rangers with a reveal that will have everyone talking!
The Power Rangers comic book event of 2019 begins here with the first appearance of the Power Ranger everyone's been asking about-the fan favorite White Ranger!
The all-new team of creators from record breaking Power Rangers; Shattered Grid; Ryan Parrot and Daniele Di Nicuolo present the return of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-but what happened to the universe after the defeat of Lord Drakkon, and what do our Rangers remember?[1]
Plot[]
The comic begins with a quick recap of the Shattered Grid Finale's final moments, with the ominous warning from the Emissaries about how reality will change a bit from the events that transpired. As the white light envelops the Rangers as they focus on restoring reality, a shadow of Lord Drakkon appears for a second and reaches out, then vanishes...
A year later, the Rangers are on the Tower Bridge in London. The Black Ranger is freaked out by the giant rhino-bird in front of them called Nefurious, but Kimberly, under a lot of pressure, scolds him and says to focus on saving the people trapped inside their cars as she tries to teleport people off the bridge one at a time. The Red Ranger warns the others that the monster is swooping down for a bombardment, but the team is saved by the arrival of the White Ranger, who slashes Nefurious with Saba. Tommy apologizes for being late as he had to get the news chopper away from the area, though Billy seems shocked for using them as bait to draw away Nefurious. Tommy jokes that seems the way he says it makes it like a bad thing. Tommy then gets serious and orders a "Beta Six" formation, where 3 Rangers clear the path of Z-Putties while the other three advance from behind and then Billy and Kimberly leap up and blast Nefurious in the air. The Yellow Ranger is impressed seeing it for the first time. Tommy asks Saba to give it all he's got and the saber obliges by powering up to maximum to initiate a supercharged finishing slash on Nefurious. Tommy asks the Z-Putties if they would like some more and the grunts all get scared and run away.
Back at the Command Center, the Yellow Ranger asks if that was their first flying monster they faced. Kimberly says that Goldar counts since he has wings...sometimes, as well as Chunky Chicken and a two-headed parrot. The Yellow Ranger wonders about the bizarre names, but Kimberly says she's lost track of all of them. Billy chimes in that he has a detailed database/spreadsheet on all the monsters they faced previously if they would like to review it. Tommy shows concern about the amount of Z-Putties in London, asking if any casualties were reported. Zordon reassures Tommy that the Power Rangers performed well as there were only minor injuries reported based on Alpha 5's observations.
Zordon especially congratulates their newest members, Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park and Aisha Campbell. While the trio are happy to receive praise, the veteran Rangers are more critical of their performance, as they made a huge amount of property damage. Kimberly thinks that since their enemies are growing bolder and sending out larger forces, there should be less margins of error as they are only six people against a "zillion". This angers Aisha and confuses Adam as Aisha thinks they will never be good enough to meet the high standards of the fabled Power Rangers. Tommy tries to be a good leader and be positive, saying that even an "ugly win" is still a good win and maybe with practice they can get better, so they should get up early and exercise in the simulator. The response is less enthusiastic as both Kimberly and Aisha walk away from each other, with clear tension between the two causing friction in the team.
When Tommy is alone with Zordon, he asks him to be brutally honest if he is terrible at his job. Zordon confesses that Tommy's teamworks skills were...improvisational. Tommy also confesses he feels weird with his new powers, on one hand, he is stronger, faster, more agile and even grew a bit taller. On the other, the supercharged sensation has made his body lack desire for sleep, never tiring or needing to eat food, which isn't normal. Zordon thinks this is a temporary side effect as Tommy's body adjusts to the power of the White Light, but if he is still concerned, Alpha will monitor Tommy's power levels and vitals to see if the powers need to be adjusted. Zordon tells Tommy he was chosen to be the White Ranger to be a guiding light of hope, no matter how dark the path ahead is for them.
On the Moon, a shadowy figure states there was a time he pitied the Power Rangers and their feeble attempts to defend their little Earth while he conquered the galaxy. But the time for compassion is now over. Goldar suggests using the Z-Putties again, which Finster agrees is a good idea as they are far more deadly than the older models. The shadow refuses such a notion, as a hollow victory is meaningless to him. Goldar suggests another monster be sent out, but the figure says that way always leads to the same result: failure. Rita Repulsa was a failure and that was her way, and he is not Rita. The shadow gets up from his throne to reveal it is Lord Zedd!
Goldar suggests they should finally leave the palace, but he is yelled at by Zedd to be silent as the overlord rants that when he banished Rita for her multiple failures, he hoped her minions didn't have the same level of incompetence and sadly was proven wrong. Zedd explains that he does not run away from a fight like Goldar, he simply changes the rules to his own terms.
In the training simulator, Aisha, Rocky and Adam are in a scenario where they are trying to escort injured civilians to a safe location under a time limit while under attack with Kimberly in her Firebird Thunderzord providing cover fire and leading them. Aisha gets a bit stubborn when a choice is presented of going towards a path where a giant monster is and a seemingly safe path clear of debris. She is supposed to follow Kimberly who is guarding their advance, but Aisha disobeys orders and goes right, leading to a Z-Putty ambush where the civilians all die as the three rookie Rangers are overrun by Putties. Outside, Tommy expresses disappointment that they failed, but Billy states that the particular simulation is a no-win scenario that even they never passed when they started. Even if the three obeyed Kimberly's orders, the "Monster would go smash and everybody dies". Billy tries to say that it takes time and they are almost like they were before the others left, but Tommy says that isn't good enough as Lord Zedd is a whole other level of danger to Rita and maybe if Trini, Zack and Jason were there it would be enough. But they cannot just be good or like they were before, they need to be better.
At Angel Grove High, Rocky and Adam wonder about the simulator, as it actually hurt them and Adam wonders what the pocket dimension even is, thinking it is some kind of advanced video game console. Aisha thinks it is just a place they are put in where their seniors think they are idiots. Adam tries to reassure her that yes, it is no fun being lectured or barked at, but the veteran Rangers have experience. Aisha gets even more angry saying she knows that. Before she moved to Angel Grove, Aisha worshipped the Power Rangers like Adam and Rocky did but now she isn't so sure she wants to be one, even trying to morph every once in a while to make sure it's real. Rocky understands, it is a lot to take in as they used to be worrying about normal things like getting a driver's license, not about the pressures of saving the universe. Adam admits to being homesick, as they moved here from Stone Canyon. He doesn't know anybody here and misses his teachers and friends at his old school and sometimes gets lost since he doesn't know his way around Angel Grove. Aisha agrees, they were forced to uproot their lives two months ago, change schools and somehow have managed to keep their secret superhero lives from their parents. Yet they have proven themselves as Rangers time and time again, so Aisha wonders why it feels like no matter what they try, it seems like it is never good enough.
On the Moon, a prison transport ship lands and four alien security guards exit out, hauling a steel crate. The captain tells an awaiting Lord Zedd that the prisoner inside killed six of his men enroute as he gets his bribe payment from the evil emperor, stating he was tempted to jettison it into space. Zedd says that he warned them not to try and "pet him" and orders them to stand back as he unseals the prison crate. He greets the figure that emerges from the crate, a Sirian named Dayne and wonders why he was in prison and hopefully it wasn't on purpose. Dayne says he likes a challenge and isn't able to turn one down. Lord Zedd gets right to the point, he wants hire the bounty hunter to kill multiple Earthling targets for a single contract. At first Dayne isn't impressed and asks why he was dragged from his cell just for "monkeys". But Zedd states they are the Power Rangers and if he isn't up for it..only for Dayne to change his mind and say that everything is negotiable to his old friend Lord Zedd, even a "small job" such as this even though he doesn't normally do that.
At the Youth Center, Skull introduces Bulk to his new girlfriend Candice, a punk girl with blue highlights in her hair. Bulk seems rather uncomfortable upon hearing this news, since his buddy hasn't been spending time with him for a few weeks and has been absent. Ernie walks by and thanks Tommy for helping volunteer to do Jason's karate classes, which Tommy is all too happy to do as its the best part of his day. Kimberly leans in, showing concern, asking if he has time to do that on top of everything else. Tommy dismisses her worries, as if Jason could juggle all that, so can he. Billy tells the two that he got word from Jason, Trini and Zack about their trip to Switzerland and he's going to videochat with them in a minute. Tommy declines to talk to them, simply telling Billy that he hopes they are enjoying skiing and walks away. Billy is surprised he's still angry at them for leaving, but Kimberly understands how he feels, they are fighting in a war while the others went off to speak of peace and seemingly abandoned them. Billy gets a video feed on his phone and Jason, Billy and Trini say hello and that they are on a quick break from "boring stuff". Billy lies about how things are going at home, saying the "new thems" are doing great and Tommy is doing fine as a leader. Kimberly can barely see them as their signal is weak, which Jason apologizes for as they are pretty "off the Grid".
The final panel reveals that the three are NOT in Switzerland at a peace conference, but on an alien world orbiting two suns far away from Earth and wearing black and gold Ranger suits with their respective colors, on a mission somewhere.
To be continued...
Appearing[]
Featured Characters:
Red Ranger | Rocky DeSantos |
Black Ranger | Adam Park |
Blue Ranger | Billy Cranston |
Yellow Ranger | Aisha Campbell |
Pink Ranger | Kimberly Ann Hart |
White Ranger | Tommy Oliver |
Red Omega Ranger | Jason Lee Scott |
Black Omega Ranger | Zack Taylor |
Yellow Omega Ranger | Trini Kwan |
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Lord Zedd
- Rita Repulsa (mentioned)
- Goldar
- Baboo
- Squatt
- Dayne
- Nefurious
- Two-Headed Parrot (mentioned)
- Chunky Chicken (mentioned)
- Z Putties
Locations:
- Earth
- Angel Grove
- Command Center
- Pocket Dimension
- London
- Moon
- Safehaven
Zords[]
- Legend:◆ piloted mecha
- Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord ◆
Covers[]
Errors[]
- to be added
Notes[]
- Dan Mora's Story Variant Cover: As soon as the Rangers join hands in the final moments of Shattered Grid, the Emissaries Three depart. They converse as they enter the timestream that the realities are being restored to balance and Zordon's Rangers are impressive for mortals. The Red Emissary states that they must never underestimate the mortals anymore or subject reality to their whims again. Blue defends the Power Rangers, stating they eliminated a threat they overlooked. Yellow points out it was a threat that mortals created in the first place. Red says that it is time for them to all depart and this time there can be no oversights, all of reality must be inspected bit by bit and there will be no mistakes.
- In the SDCC Diamond variant cover, Kimberly is holding a volume of the Cyborg 009 manga in her hands. This is particulary meta as both Cyborg 009 and Power Rangers original source material Super Sentai are creations of Shotaro Ishinomori.
- Further strengthening the connections of Power Rangers to Cyborg 009 is the fact that Johnny Yong Bosch voiced Joe Shimamura in the English dub of the Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman OVA crossover. Mr. Bosch's character of Adam Park makes his debut in this issue.
- It should also be noted that the month the variant was published and sold at SDCC was also the anniversary of Cyborg 009's first publication in July of 1964. 2019 is the 55th anniversary of its creation.
- Both of the Legends Comics and Games covers are homage covers: The first is a tribute to Spider-Man #300 while the other is a tribute to Superman #233 by Neal Adams.
- In the fourth wall breaking SDCC GameStop variant, Tommy is reading a MMPR comic issue while in the cockpit of White TigerZord, with a copy of Issue #21 of Go Go Power Rangers nearby on the Zord's console.
- A Make A Wish cover by Goni Montes was sold at SDCC, featuring an original Orange Beast Morpher Ranger. This was a collaboration between Hasbro, the Make A Wish foundation and Boom! Studios. The cover was created to fulfill the wish of a young boy named Tyler from New Jersey, who wanted to be the first official Orange Power Ranger. In addition to the artwork, Tyler got a custom Ranger costume to wear and a special message from the Ranger cast of Beast Morphers and one from Jason David Frank.[2]20% of all proceeds from the purchase of the variant was donated to the Make A Wish foundation.
- This issue reveals that the team currently have the Thunderzords, as the training simulator showed Kimberly using her Firebird Thunderzord.
- Kimberly mentions Chunky Chicken in the past tense from the episode Big Sisters as well as the Two-Headed Parrot from Two Heads are Better than One. Both monsters are from the early era when Zack, Trini and Jason were still on the team.
- Rita Repulsa has already been banished by this point and the writers of the comic expressed interest in making Lord Zedd as he was intended to be before parental focus groups interfered in the original TV series (scary, menacing and a more competent and dangerous villain than Rita).
- Tommy mentions he feels taller when using the White Ranger powers, this might allude to the fact that his Sentai counterpart KibaRanger would grow in size to fit into his costume.
- Changes to the universe from main continuity after Shattered Grid revealed so far:
- Based on the opening tease, there is possibility that Lord Drakkon might still be alive.
- Adam wears piercings on his face, including a lip ring.
- Aisha is more stubborn in personality and doesn't get along with Kimberly.
- Tommy is resentful of the departure of Jason, Zack, and Trini and is having difficulty in his new role as a leader, feeling pressure to succeed and being in Jason's shadow, even going so far as to be like him by taking up his duties.
- Lord Zedd is more determined to kill the Rangers, hiring a bounty hunter to terminate them.
- Zack, Trini, and Jason are now covert black ops Rangers going on missions, dubbed the Omega Rangers according to trade descriptions of future issues. The Swiss peace conference is the cover story for their absence from Angel Grove.[3]
- Candice, Skull's new girlfriend, is straining Skull's friendship with Bulk.
References[]
Footnotes[]