Boom! Studios 2016
Story by Brenden Fletcher & Kelly Thompson
Written by Tini Howard
Illustrated by Daniele Di Nicuolo
Coloured by Sarah Stern
Lettered by Ed Dukeshire
Kimberly and Goldar have to work together to escape the War Zord, while Trini and Zack, along with Serge and his sister, work to find a way to prepare the village against Verto's onslaught.
While this doesn’t change that fact that I find the television series very silly and a mashup of both the Japanese version, the fighting sequences, and the American actors it does change how i’m feeling about the franchise in comics. So far we’ve seen Kimberly at her school gymnastics tournament feeling more lonely than and become embroiled in the plot by Goldar and Verto’s plot where she gathered her friends to help her out. It’s been a character growing story as much as it has been an action packed one. It makes me think of the Rangers more as young adults and less as these kids who dance around in these armoured outfits.
Verto has betrayed Goldar and trapped him and Kim in the War Zord while Trini and Zack face him trying to free the kidnapped villagers. I like what Tini is doing here with the Kim and Goldar as he’s still the bad guy and even though they are in the same predicament he’s willing to fight her first and escape later. Even knowing that they should team up and get out of here and go after Verto instead. They’ve a common enemy at this point so that just seems logical but since when are villains logical?
Another aspect of this story that I like is that while Kim was able to turn to Zordon he’s basically fading fast right now unable to help them. This means they have to rely on the skills they’ve already learned and their brains to get them out of this mess. Having to stand on their own two feet for a change instead of relying upon someone else to help get out of it. That’s a great message to send that sometimes you are on your own and need to do your best with what you know.
The interior artwork here is okay it’s not as tight as i’d like it to be but Danielle does a good job with the page layouts, angles and perspective. I’m a huge supporter of the use of backgrounds to really flesh out the story more fully and i’d like to see her use them more. Still there’s a nice creativity in what we see the villagers turned into and that’s nice to see.
I also like that this story doesn’t feel dragged out too long to fit a six issue run. It’s got the right amount of pacing, action and characterisation to keep things moving along nicely. That alongside the lessons that might not be overt really make this an interesting tale. Having been a little too old for the series when it debuted on television in this medium I think there’s a much better opportunity to explore the franchise and it’s denizens. Meeting new people, making new friends and being reminded that anyone can be a hero through their actions and deeds is a great way to showcase what the Rangers are all about.