Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual Review - Lord Drakkon Advances!


Previously in Power Rangers: Lord Drakkon, Tommy Oliver from another reality one where instead of joining the Rangers after the spell was broken decided to stay evil with Rita. Now he is loose as he sets out to destroy and take the power from the Power Rangers. When Kimberly and Jen the Pink Time Force Ranger are too late to save Tommy the Grid has fractured! Now Lord Drakkon is hoping dimensions attack other Ranger teams. How long before that fracture shatters? What will happen now? Find out next in this review of MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL!

Featuring fan-favorite teams from across the Power Rangers universe—Zeo, In Space, SPD, RPM,  Ninja Steel, —the entire fabric of reality is under threat as Drakkon invades!

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL
Title: POWER RANGERS: ZEO
Writen By: Kyle Higgins
Art By: Marcus To
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Main Cover: George Caltsoudas
Incentive Cover 1: Dan Mora
Incentive Cover 2: Matt Taylor


The five Zeo Rangers, Kat, Tanya, Rocky, Adam, and Tommy are all fighting a group of Cogs discussing a present for Jason who is leaving the team after losing the Gold Zeo Ranger powers while someone watches them. Tommy teleports out to grab the present from his home. Back at the Power Chamber the Rangers are all gathered including Jason where they present him with a repaired Tyrannosaurus Power Morpher complete with coin. He is warned though that the Morpher was only cosmetically fixed by Billy and shouldn't be used for Morphing.

As the party dies down, Jason is sitting up on the roof of the Command Center thinking about how much he is going to miss everything when Tommy joins him. The two have a heart to heart about and Tommy asks Jason what did they think when he first joined their team. Jason tells him that it was rough at first but he proved himself by making the choice to be a hero instead of running away. Jason says his final goodbyes and leaves while the rest of the team finishes cleaning up. Tommy hangs back and sees a Zeonizer on a console before he teleports away.


We find out that the Tommy we saw at the party was actually Lord Drakkon using a holographic disguise. He has the real Tommy who he replaced Tommy after he teleported away from the battle with the Cogs. Drakkon tells Tommy he was surprised to see him there and that he was curious as to why they all look up to him before showing him Adam's Zeonizer and tells him he didn't hurt anyone before he uses Saba to kill Tommy once again.

This was my favorite story to be honest. I loved how the team gathered to say goodbye to Jason and the heart to heart with Tommy, even though it turned out to be Drakkon. We also learned possible things here. Jason, Zack and Trini will leave, Jason will return as the Gold Ranger and he apparently doesn't have a functional Morpher after the Power Transfer (or does he?) as many of us theorize. But the big thing is that get more about how time as fractured, it apparently broke these other dimensions at the point where Billy & Tommy returned from the Coinless Universe and Lord Drakkon must not have crossed over, or at least never got freed from Prometha. And where is Billy at the party? I mean he fixes the Power Morpher and Coin and isn't invited to the party or something?


MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL
Title: POWER RANGERS: SPD
Written By: Caleb Goellner
Art By: Patrick Mulholland
Colors By: Raúl Angulo
Letters By: Ed Dukeshire
Main Cover: George Caltsoudas
Incentive Cover 1: Dan Mora
Incentive Cover 2: Matt Taylor

We join the SPD Rangers at some point during their season the B-Squad, with Jack leading them is training with the C-Squad with whom they share a rivalry on some level when Lord Drakkon with his new Samurai powers attacks. The team is backed into the base where the B and C Squads have to work together to release R.I.C. 2.0, a giant Zord-like version of the R.I.C. unit created and piloted by Boom. R.I.C. 2.0 attacks Lord Drakkon and his troops who retreats not expecting the fight they had put up. Doggie tells them, their strength is in their unity now they are more united than ever.


This story surprised me because I thought Drakkon would have defeated each team in this annual, or at the very least do what he did in the Zeo story and steal a Morpher from each team, but this story shows that isn't going to be the case. This also had me wondering how they did it so easily, when the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers of two world had such hard times with it. But this was a solid story and a testament to the team and the fans of the series.


MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL
Title: POWER RANGERS: RPM
Written By: Anthony Burch
Art By: Dylan Burnett
Colors By: Jeremy Lawson
Letters By: Ed Dukeshire
Main Cover: George Caltsoudas
Incentive Cover 1: Dan Mora
Incentive Cover 2: Matt Taylor

RPM like the SPD takes place sometime during the season. We have a man in a green & white leather cycle jacket riding a motor cycle being pursued by an army and is granted entrance to Corinth. Once inside he removes his helmet and we see it is Drakkon and he tells Colonel Truman he needs to speak to Dr. K as he has information that can help them defeat Venjix. Dr. K overhears through the Colonel's ear piece and tells him to allow him through waving the screening process.


At the base the Rangers present Dr. K with a cake and she tells them she doesn't want it as it reminds her of her time at Alphabet Soup which calls back to the RPM episode "Doctor K". As Drakkon arrives at the base his troops enter the city using a device that was on his motorcycle and begin to attack as the Rangers head out to fight him. Drakkon approaches Dr. K to join him on his mission citing what she has done with the Venjix Virus and becoming essential this world's ruler having them so dependent on her is perfect. Dr. K refuses to which Drakkon informs her it wasn't an offer and that he has teamed up with Venjix. Dr. K seems to be willing to go but is really just getting a weapon with which she blasts Drakkon and destroys him. The Rangers return reporting they defeated the soldiers and notice Drakkon was blown up to which Dr. K then tells them he was a Venjix Android. When asked if she knew if he was one before shooting him, Dr. K takes her cake and leaves crying as she eats a piece.

I liked how this actually tied into the series itself, playing off of key moments like the "Doctor K" episode and her birthday. With the RPM Rangers successfully defeating Drakkon's army and their tech still there, I can see this being a significant instrument in defeating Drakkon with Dr. K maybe reverse engineering the tech and finding ways to defend and defeat it. I would love to see the big brains of the seasons like Billy, Kendrix, Dr. K etc gathering together in the ultimate think tank to work it out. Another solid story and the gritty art really lent to the vibe and feel of what RPM is about.


MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL
Title: POWER RANGERS: IN SPACE
Written By: Adam Cesare
Art By: Hyeonjin Kim
Colors By: Joana LaFuente
Letters By: Ed Dukeshire
Main Cover: George Caltsoudas
Incentive Cover 1: Dan Mora
Incentive Cover 2: Matt Taylor

The In Space story like the previous two takes place at some point during the season and apparently before Zane joins them. Drakkon infiltrates the Astro Megaship taking over D.E.C.A. and attacking Alpha 6 when the Rangers realize they have been boarded and T.J. is separated from the team in the airlock investigating some problem there when the attack happens. The tema minus T.J. morphs to take on Drakkon but he defeats and depowers them, then T.J. manually initiates the Megazord transformation sequence knocking Drakkon's army around. Drakkon finds T.J. who escapes him through the airlock floating in space with a mask on.

This one was an interesting story for me because In Space is one of my favorite seasons so to see them again was great. They really grabbed the chemistry of the team early on with Andros being a bit more impulsive, acting before he thinks.  I also liked that T.J. gets to shine here, it really shows why he was a Red Ranger, something that In Space showed a few times. It also leaves us on a cliffhanger with will he survive, will Drakkon get an Astro Morpher or not. I am hoping T.J. uses his Turbo Morpher or at the very least Lightning Cruiser flies in for the save.


MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL
Title: POWER RANGERS NINJA STEEL
Written By: Becca Barnes & Alwyn Dale 
Art By: Simone Di Meo
Colors By: Joana Lafuente
Letters By: Ed Dukeshire
Main Cover: George Caltsoudas
Incentive Cover 1: Dan Mora
Incentive Cover 2: Matt Taylor

The final story takes place in the Super Ninja Steel era, despite the title saying just Ninja Steel. So this is after Odius returns and the Rangers have their powers back. Brody is shaken from a dream where Odius defeats them and he wants to give them the edge by splitting his star again and giving Mick, and his father their Ranger powers back, but the team tells him it was just a dream that the Nexus Prism hasn't wanted to create any more stars. Brody leaves and is attacked by Lord Drakkon in his Samurai mode, where he morphs but is demorphed by Drakkon's cannon. He decides to repeat what he did and splits his star but this time nothing happens. The Nexus Prism doesn't show up and neither does any new stars, his star is just broken in three. The rest of the team arrives and Drakkon retreats with a piece of Brody's star. Mick uses the Nexus Prism to repair Brody's star while Drakkon gives his piece of it to Finster 5.

This could actually work into the Anniversary episode, and I am really hoping it does. I hope Saban realized how big of an event this was shaping up to be. This could be why 10 former Rangers are on the episode, Drakkon and 9 other former Rangers sent to help defeat him alongside the Ninja Steel Rangers, this would be a great conclusion to the Lord Drakkon/Shattered Grid story. I mean we do have two show writers writing this story.

Overall this is another issue that far exceeds the hype of the event. I can see a lot of strings coming together here, and a lot of potential like I said that could even bring in the show. I know this is ambitious, but the event did extend to HyperForce and even done a live action trailer, so this isn't outside of the realm of possibilities, but admittedly it is a long stretch. The whole team here kills every little moment just drives the excitement and makes this a must not miss event.

I give this an over all of 4 3/4 out of 5 Power Bolts!


Copies of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9 will be available for sale in April 25, 2018 at local comic book shops or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers like comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and the BOOM! Studios app.

Currently, Power Rangers is celebrating 25 continuous years on the air, making it one of the longest running kids’ live-action series in television history with nearly 900 episodes aired to date. Created by Haim Saban and launched in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the franchise celebrates its milestone anniversary year with the 25th season, Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel currently airing on Saturdays at 12 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon in the U.S.
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