 This article is about a/an comic book issue in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios.
|
Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn #1 is the first issue of a three issue comic miniseries published by Boom! Studios. It is a sequel to the Ranger Slayer one-shot published one month earlier.
Synopsis[]
After the shocking events of Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer, Kimberly is determined to purge the world of Drakkon's legacy, starting with Deadlock; the prison tower where Drakkon held all those who opposed him.
But even the Ranger Slayer has no clue of the true power kept in Deadlock-and what unlocking the doors will set into motion.
As Kimberly investigates the worst of Drakkon's secrets, she sets in motion Drakkon's final plan-one that will pit her against a fan favorite Power Rangers villain![1]
Plot[]
It has been some time since the defeat of Rita Repulsa and Lord Drakkon is still thought dead when in actuality he had shifted universes. In the wake of Kimberly's coronation, the Coinless has been disbanded with the leadership going into the hierarchy of Kimberly's entourage. However, even though Kimberly Hart has been declared heir apparent to Drakkon, the people of the world are rampaging in the streets since the man they feared above all others is dead and have begun to slaughter the Ranger Sentries. In her throne room, Kimberly is contemplating just how much the world has ultimately changed at which point she realizes that little has actually changed. Her Ranger Sentries have gone from being one the most feared forces in the universe to being the flunkies of what many considered a broken and helpless regime. The people have just gone from rising against what many considered a God to fighting against an inept legion of ordinary humans. Finster 5 continues Kimberly's pet peeve of calling her "Empress Ranger Slayer," which she immediately corrects, as there was a problem that requires her input.
A punk ambushed Adam Park on his way home and has punched him in the face so hard that he has become permanently blind in his right eye and Adam is understandably angry about this. Nameless Punk hates having to share Earth with the "notorious bootlickers" that make up the Ranger Sentries whilst Zack and Trini realize that they had fought for peace yet they had basically just exchanged one enemy for another. The punk believes that the Ranger Sentries are all either trying to suck up to Drakkon (and now Kimberly) for power and authority or were cowards trying to save themselves. Kimberly challenges Nameless Punk's attitude towards Adam and his Sentries by telling him that they were doing this to save thier families but the punk denies this because she had been Drakkon's right hand man and believes he would kill her after she cryptically told him that she was telling him to change his ways.
Though she remains on the council as Kimberly's bodyguard of sorts, and military commander/adviser, Scorpina remains gung ho about killing and likes his suggestion but Kimberly refuses the idea at which point Scorpina yells at Zack (also reluctant to let the punk be executed) that her soldiers were dying or living in fear and this could be a show of power. However, Kimberly knows that this would just be a rallying point against the Empire and the last of the Earth's defences would be gone although the punk pulls a blaster from somewhere and shoots her in the back. Luckily, her armor means that she has been left her completely unfazed and the punk is quickly disarmed by Adam with the aid of two nearby Tyrannosaurus Sentries which guard the throne room. Despite the attempt on her life, Trini pleads for his life since this was merely "a mistake" whilst Scorpina argues that this would just give future wanna-be assassins the idea that they would get away with a slap on the wrist if they failed. Despite being pinned to the ground, the punk accuses her of just being a fascist like Drakkon, a "Drakkon by another name" if you will. Deciding that tact was necessary instead of a blaster, Kimberly asks what Drakkon would do to wanna-be assassins and Finster 5 responds that he would send them to a place known just as The Deadlock although Kimberly does not know what that is.
As it turns out, The Deadlock is a prison so impregnable that "ultra-max" doesn't even begin to cover it which was personally built by Drakkon to house only his worst enemies to leave them to be forgotten forever. Being more humanitarian than Drakkon, Kimberly plans to break into it and save the prisoners from the prison both to free people wronged by her former master and to show that she was not nearly as psychopathic or as fascistic. The plan is for Scorpina and her soldiers to protect Zack and Trini whilst they lead an invasion of the cells and Kimberly and the others invade the main plaza. Scorpina is impressed but will blame her if any soldiers die which gets Zack to say he is surprised she isn't totally heartless and Adam reaffirms this and a running joke begins as Scorpina tells "Alan" to shut it. The attack then commences and they blast open the main doors and quickly dispatch the robot guards with Scorpina having her soldiers reluctantly defend the former Coinless. A robot lunges at Kimberly and she front-flips over it but ends up plunging into a hole so deep that her attempt to call for Finster 5 to tell her where she had gone results in her losing the signal altogether. She comes to a massive ominous glowing red door and realizes that, if even Finster 5 didn't know this was when he was pretty much Drakkon's right hand man, this had to have been a pet project he built by himself with the aid of only the robot guards. Recognising it was either very dangerous or very injured, she decides to remain cautious and tries to take a less violent approach.
Above ground, Scorpina tries to find a better name for the combined Coinless/Ranger Sentry alliance until they suddenly come across a massive black head and realize that Drakkon was having the prisoners construct another Zord for him. The punk from earlier then tries to execute Adam which she berates him for since he was supposed to be on the same side as her with his response being "old habits die hard." She threatens his life because of "my own old habits" before Adam thanks her but she refuses to save him a second time as Zack and Trini free the prisoners. However, after however many years in cages 24/7, the prisoners have gone completely insane and believe this was a firing squad to take them out so they start attacking the former Rangers although all are promptly knocked out and dragged back to the lobby.
Back at the mysterious door, Kimberly realizes that the door was the most reinforced in the whole building which meant he was desperate to keep whatever was inside in there but easily kicks the door right off of it's hinges. Much to her shock, a masked figure seemingly in a Ranger suit is restrained in the center of the room. This Unknown Ranger wakes up to Kimberly's surprise while, above ground, the alliance starts to regroup with the last of the out cold prisoners being brought into the lobby. They then notice Kimberly's disappearance which Scorpina wonders if she had been slain only for Adam to rebut that she was the same Ranger who perhaps even Drakkon had feared so it was unlikely only for Scorpina to rebut that she shouldn't be told that since it'd just inflate her ego. Trini tries to contact her but she just says she's "looking into something personal" before signing off which Zack dislikes. Below, Kimberly talks to the Unknown Ranger and wonders if they were Drakkon's prisoner at which point the Unknown Ranger asks her to go but she refuses since she won't leave a prisoner alone in this place. He asks again but she once more refuses both for humanitarian reasons and out of curiosity relating to why he was kept so secure. The Unknown Ranger then attempts to attack her and mistakenly says that he "must leave" but is knocked flat with a kick to the face. This knocks the Ranger out cold and drags him out whilst telling Finster 5 to prepare a hospital room. Scorpina wonders who this newcomer is but Kimberly says just "another prisoner" yet the doors behind Kimberly slam shut which Trini recognises as meaning that the communications array of the prison was powering up. Whilst Finster 5 tries to track it, Scorpina asks why Kimberly was so sympathetic but Trini rebuts that she was likely just waiting to "sting" Kimberly in the back and Scorpina just calls her bigoted since she didn't actually have a stinger.
Back at the palace, the remaining Coinless are happy to see them return until seeing the Unknown Ranger. Shortly thereafter, the entourage and punk close in around the Unknown Ranger and wonder who he is but Kimberly knows that he must have spent years in that cell. Zack worries it might be Ranger Slayer 2.0 but Trini says they have to believe it's just another victim of Drakkon's with Kimberly wondering how they could be so happy to execute a clearly tortured prisoner. Adam tries to explain that Scorpina was just pointing out that the Unknown Ranger attacked her but Scorpina tells "Aaron" that he'd die if he ever tried to speak for her again. Sometime later on, Kimberly kneels before the restrained Unknown Ranger and he wakes up and asked where Drakkon is and is surprised to learn that he is dead. Kimberly tells him that they were going to try and get him out of the suit but the Unknown Ranger has no memory of his former name but Kimberly reassures him that the torture messed with his head and wonders if he remembers why Drakkon kept him prisoner. Luckily, the Unknown Ranger can clearly remember that and the comic flashes back.
Sometime before the events of Shattered Grid, Lord Drakkon confronts the Unknown Ranger inside his cell and mockingly tells him that whatever he just went through wasn't too horrendous while the Unknown Ranger just says that he'll kill Drakkon. However, Drakkon simply tells him that he designed the cell to be completely inescapable but he was happy to have someone to rant at and bounce ideas off of since everyone else around him was either a brainwashed slave, a yes-man, a robot, or lived in fear of questioning him. The Unknown Ranger manages to break free and delivers a beating to Drakkon, telling him that he was going to die but Drakkon took great glee in finally having a worthy opponent before getting backhanded into the air. Drakkon reveals to his opponent his demented ideas about how to achieve absolute peace which Cream rebuts is through a dictatorship and peace instead of the usual methods. Having finally had enough, he knocks out the Unknown Ranger by electrocuting him through his suit before stating to the body that disagreement was healthy if he still won and wished to show the Ranger "something."
Later, Drakkon shows the Unknown Ranger images of the Dino Charge Rangers fighting the Vivix and reveals that he wants to conquer the multiverse with the Ranger watching while he crushes every ounce of evil and resistance across creation. Drakkon will then return to the Unknown Ranger and ask how he'd stop Drakkon. As the orb showing the Dino Charge Rangers shifts to the Ranger Operators fighting Grinders, Drakkon says that he may resist but the Unknown Ranger will eventually break before electrocuting him once more. The Unknown Ranger asks why he would help Drakkon sabotage fellow Rangers but the response is further electrocution and Drakkon just saying that he'd continue to return every year until he gets a proper answer. Eventually, he manages to break the Ranger who answers that he'd try blitzkrieg tactics to wear down the Ranger Sentries which impresses Drakkon so he doubles his patrols given that a whole team of Rangers would be needed to make that strategy remotely effective. The Unknown Ranger then wonders why Drakkon always came to him personally with Drakkon responding that it was hard to talk tactics when one is surrounded by people who won't question him for various reasons and so he could neither gloat nor ask advice from them since they'd just tell him to continue his current strategy. He then leaves until the next day but not before the Unknown Ranger asks if he'd be like a pet with the response being that Drakkon electrocutes him whilst saying that he was more than a mere animal since he was a symbol of his past triumph over the Power Rangers in his universe.
Back in the present, Zack, Trini, and Scorpina have witnessed the recounting on security cameras with even Scorpina being somewhat shocked at Drakkon's behavior. Adam calls it terrifying but Zack rebuts it was standard for Drakkon and asks why he joined with Adam's answer being that he had a wife and child that were sick and Drakkon promised to help them. When Zack sarcastically responds that they must be so proud of him joining a fascist army, Adam reminds him that he said he had a wife and child. Finster 5 then enters and asks where Kimberly is with enough desperation to answer honestly but then ask what the hurry was. Meanwhile, the Unknown Ranger finishes up his story and asks for Kimberly's story but she refuses since he was technically her prisoner in her palace. Horrified at the realization that he was out of The Deadlock, the Unknown Ranger starts thrashing which confuses Kimberly since she thought it was PTSD but is punched through the air as the Ranger breaks free of his restraints. Luckily, Finster 5 activates a forcefield and enters before nearly using the name Ranger Slayer again although he corrects himself to "Kim." He reveals that he has tracked the signal sent by the Deadlock via a satellite and that the signal had been sent into space and Kimberly asks what. Finster responds that it was a coded message sent into the Andromeda Galaxy and, although he doesn't know the intended target, knows that it must have been sent to an intelligent life-form that could understand at the very least simple English. Kimberly asks why he assumes that with his response being that the message was just three words.
It's all yours.
To be continued...
Covers[]
Errors[]
- To be added
Notes[]
- This comic officially names the Lord Zedd Zord as the Zerrzord by Finster 5. It was not named in the afore-mentioned one-shot.
References[]
Footnotes[]
