This article is about a/an comic book issue in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios. |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #44 is the forty-fifth actual issue of the Boom! Studios comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which begins its numbering with Issue 0.
It is the fifth issue of the Necessary Evil story arc, the sixth story arc of the comics.
Synopsis[]
NECESSARY EVIL continues as the Omega Rangers return to Earth and meet the Power Rangers for the first time! But if they want to defeat Lord Zedd together, Jason, Trini and Zack will have to keep their identities a secret from their friends! Features the first appearance of the Omega Ranger Zords![1]
Plot[]
Continuing immediately where the previous issue left off, the Rangers struggle to break free from Dayne’s hold on them as alarms go off and the Thunder Megazord’s outer hull integrity is dropping from the plasma blade in its chest slowly tearing them apart. Rocky tries to suggest that they separate the Thunder Megazord to escape, but Billy says that the power systems have been compromised and the reserves are dropping, he is trying to reroute energy but he needs more time. Dayne sadistically grins as he prepares to breach into the cockpit with one final blow, saying that he will take their last words before he rips them out of the Megazord one by one, only for strange new Zords to suddenly descend from the sky to rescue the Thunder Megazord. The three Zords quickly overwhelm Dayne as Aisha and Kimberly think that Zordon called for backup. Dayne demands to know who his assailants are, but they don’t answer. After getting flung and landing on his head, Dayne tries shrinking down and running, contacting Lord Zedd to try and send Putties down to his location but the Omega Rangers stop him saying that they will not make it in time to save him. Dayne tries using his tar gun against Jason to blind him but he slices the tar apart with his katana.
The Mighty Morphin team emerge from the wrecked Thunder Megazord to watch the fight. Billy is fascinated by the Omega Zords, wondering what they are modeled after while Aisha asks Kimberly if they should help the other Ranger team. Kimberly is unsure because they don’t seem to need any help. Dayne desperately tries to keep fighting, only to be KO’d by a good whack on the head from Trini’s Omega Hammer. Jason radios XI for a containment unit canister to put Dayne in, only to have an awkward moment where their old friends come to see them and thank them for saving the day, unaware that it is them. The Omega Rangers just silently look at the Mighty Morphin team and then teleport to the Spectrum with Dayne, leaving a bad impression with Rocky saying that they were “super friendly”, annoyed that they didn’t even say hello. Kimberly thinks that they should ask Zordon about their strange new visitors.
At the Command Center, Zordon says he heard legends about the Rangers that they encountered: The Omega Rangers. An ancient faction of Rangers that were tasked with going into the most dangerous and remote areas of space, but they have not been active for centuries..or so he believed. The Stone Canyon trio do not take this revelation well, with Rocky in particular feeling that there might not be anything special about being a Ranger anymore. Billy wonders if they became active because of Lord Zedd, while Kimberly stresses about how badly they did against Dayne and how much trouble they could be in with what Zedd plans next if “Dog dude” was his first option. Alpha 5 gets readings that the Omega Ranger’s ship is still in orbit along with their Zords, Zordon tells his Rangers that they will continue to monitor their activities and attempt to establish contact. Tommy, now awake and doing alright, says that regardless of their reasons the Omegas are on their side and that they should be thankful for that. Kimberly is overjoyed to see him awake, Rocky is relieved and Aisha asks if he really feels okay. Tommy apologizes to everyone for letting them down and not being there, but after taking a breath, goes back to being positive and promises that he will never let anything bad like that happen to his team again.
On the Moon, Squatt, Baboo, Finster and Goldar are watching Lord Zedd from behind the door of the throne room . Squatt is concerned because Lord Zedd has not moved from his throne for over an hour and maybe they should go check on him. Finster is more cautious since Dayne failed to kill the Rangers and it is likely that Zedd is stewing in his own fury, so anyone foolish enough to enter his chamber will most likely be killed on the spot. Squatt says in that case they should send Goldar in while Baboo is relieved that Dayne was defeated and says good riddance to him as he was arrogant and insulting to them, believing that Dayne would get their names wrong on purpose. Finster says that he was a formidable warrior despite that, but Squatt worries as Dayne was easily taken out by these “new Rangers” and what hope do they have against them.
Zedd apparently heard their whispered conversations and angrily calls them morons, demanding that they show themselves immediately. Finster respectfully bows and asks Lord Zedd if he requires something from them while Squatt childishly boasts he got there first, only for Zedd to bellow all of them to be silent. He commands them to create new Dark Rangers since Dayne has failed him. Baboo nervously says that they would love to, but the Green Crystal was destroyed. Zedd furiously releases energy from his Z Staff before Baboo could finish explaining, saying that the Rangers were at their mercy, lying at Dayne’s feet almost ready to be vanquished and then the total conquest of Earth would have been his at last…until the Omega Rangers showed up. Lord Zedd refuses to regroup after coming so close to victory, they need a new evil army of Dark Rangers to repel the intruders. He pressures his minions to repair the Green Crystal as if their lives depended on it or suffer his wrath. They all flee from Zedd as Finster nervously says they will get started right away and they will not fail him.
In Earth’s orbit on the Spectrum, Jason, Trini and Zack discuss Lord Zedd and their concerns about the new Mighty Morphin team. Trini realizes that if they arrived just a few seconds later, their friends would have died. Jason understands how she feels but they might jeopardize the new timeline if they reveal themselves according to the Blue Emissary and lose their Omega powers as punishment, those are the rules. Zack is getting tired of this excuse while Kiya weighs in her opinion that the new Mighty Morphin team is ill prepared to handle Zedd despite Jason having the confidence that they can handle it. Zack and Trini agree with her and insist that they need to do something.
Later, Jason opens a comm link to the Blue Emissary to give a report, stating that the assassin Sirian Dayne is in their custody and ready to be transported to The Vault. Blue asks how Jason’s friends are, which Jason shows concern about because they are in bad shape. Blue tries to say that he has their sympathies but Zordon is resourceful, only to be cut off mid sentence with Jason saying that his friends almost died today, their Zords are wrecked and Angel Grove is in ruins again. Lord Zedd grows more and more aggressive in his attacks every day. Jason is fine hunting and capturing the Empowered for the sake of the safety of the universe and Earth, but he can’t just leave things the way that they are. Blue sees a vision of a “throne of flesh and steel” and then understands what Jason wants, curious about the fact that he doesn’t ask about staying on Earth to “protect them”. Jason says that he requests permission for the team to do something far more dangerous.
Back in Angel Grove, Bulk does another livestream of Ranger Station, asking people their opinions on the new Power Rangers that appeared today. One bystander says that he is over seeing Rangers now and wonders how many do they need, an angry conservative rants that more Rangers means more property damage which drains taxpayer money away from schools to clean up the city, Candace loves the Blue Omega Ranger’s outfit as it has such a cool color and plugs to like, comment and subscribe to the channel for her boyfriend. Ernie says that anyone who is willing to do good in these difficult times is okay in his book..even if its Bulk and Skull. The two ask Ernie if he has theories on who the Omega Rangers are, which Ernie can’t really answer and speculates that they are friends of the original Power Rangers.
Further back in the Juice Bar, Tommy asks his teammates that they should all get together tomorrow and do PD training. Aisha is annoyed, asking if he is just going to ignore what happened, with Adam trying to calm her down. Kimberly and Billy being the veteran Rangers, try to reassure Aisha that they have had close calls before, but she throws it back in their face asking if they ever had a situation where Tommy came close to dying that required a save from another team of Rangers. A rift forms between the veterans and the new members as Kimberly says that everyone came out fine, but Rocky says that they are fine until they are not, he understands that they are new to this but wonders if one of them has to die first before the team admits that they are in over their heads. Tommy worries about that statement as he sees them all arguing.
Back on the Moon, Finster painstakingly tries to put every shard of the destroyed Green Crystal back together as the others watch, he is about to put the final shard back together when an explosion occurs and the Green Crystal falls apart. Goldar blames Finster for doing something wrong with the Crystal, but he says that someone else can try then, Squatt tells them both that it was not the Crystal as he points to the Omega Zords that have burst into the palace.
The Omega Rangers disembark from their Zords and Jason reviews the plan, they keep hostiles in front of them, watch each others back and according to Zack, have fun. They split into teams of two, taking out the Putties. Kiya is not impressed given the stories her teammates told about the Putties as she defeats them with ease, but Jason says that is because they have a mainline to the Grid but they are still annoying to deal with so she should try to not let them gang up on her.
Once the path is clear, the team regroups into Diamond Formation and charge towards the doorway, Finster creates some more Putties of different types to slow the Rangers down and overwhelm them, Trini suggests that they summon the Zords but Jason refuses. Kiya and the others clear a path for Jason to get through to Lord Zedd’s Throne Room as they deal with the Putties.
Zedd has been expecting the intruders, surrounded by Z Putties to guard him, but they are sliced to ribbons by Jason’s Omega Katana. Zedd is surprised to see that the Omega Rangers are not a myth, ones who hunt in the shadows and lock people like him away for all eternity. He admits that they may have bested his “dog” but he is something else entirely as Lord Zedd lunges at Jason to attack…
“NOW, LET’S SEE HOW FARE AGAINST TRUE EVIL!”
To be continued.…
Covers[]
Errors[]
- to be added
Notes[]
- On the Giant Robot Comics Exclusive variant, Bruno and Mia from the popular toy review channel "MMPRToys" are featured as passengers of the ferry.
- When the Omega Rangers are on the moon, Kiya asks what a Bandora is. Bandora is the Sentai Counterpart of Rita Repulsa.
References[]
Footnotes[]