It’s been a long road to “Charge to 100” as BOOM! Studios Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic has finally reached its 100th issue. During this journey, we’ve seen Ryan Parrott and Mat Groom take the franchise in new directions that we did not see in the characters in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. That includes bringing elements from future Power Rangers series like the introduction of Andros years before he showed up on the show. In addition to that, we’ve been introduced to new characters for the Power Rangers franchise like the Death Ranger, who is the final antagonist in Parrott’s run on the franchise. How will Ryan Parrott conclude his Power Rangers run? Let’s find out with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artists: Moises Hidalgo, Marco Renna, Francesco Mortarino, Dan Mora, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Eleonora Carlini, Miguel Mercado, and Hendry Prasetya
Colorists: Raul Angulo, Walter Baiamonte, Sara Antonellini, Sharon Marino, Tamra Bonvillain, and Matt Herms
SYNOPSIS
On KO-35 the Death Ranger now has Jason, Zack, Trini, and Yale of Saard under their control.
Over at the Command Center, Andros tells Zordon and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers about what happened with the Death Ranger and their zombie army. The team agrees to join Andros in saving their friends.
The Power Rangers all teleport to the ruins of the main city of KO-35. The Death Ranger, in control of the Omega Rangers and Zhane the Silver Space Ranger bodies, shows up with the Astro Megaship. The Death Ranger offers the Power Rangers a chance to join him but is turned down.
The Death Ranger uses the Omega Rangers and Zhane’s bodies and knowledge of their friends to try to mentally beat the Power Rangers during their fight. When that doesn’t work the Death Ranger summons all of the Omegazords, including the Gold Omegazord, to form the Ultra Gold Omegazord.
Journey and the Rangers Safehaven allies suddenly show up to provide backup. With their increased numbers Tommy tells his team to summon the Thunderzords and Dragonzord to fight the Death Ranger.
The Ultra Gold Omegazord completely overwhelms the Thunder Megazord and Dragonzord.
Seeing how things are going Tommy makes an offer to the Death Ranger, who is in control of Jason’s body. When the Death Ranger drops their guard to listen to the offer Andros grabs the Death Ranger and uses his morphing sequence to transform into the Red Space Ranger.
Doing this while holding the Death Ranger causes a kickback of Morphing Grid energy that sends Andros inside Jason’s mind. Going through all of Jason’s memories Andros does his best to get Jason to regain control of his body while fighting off the Death Ranger.
Through all of Jason’s memories, it is a talk Jason has with his mom that reminds him of who he is. Jason powers up and is able to punch the Death Ranger so hard that it destroys their Omega Morpher.
This causes a major kickback that causes the Death Ranger to completely lose control of the Omega Rangers and Zhane.
Still in control of the Ultra Gold Omegazord, the Death Ranger tries to defeat the Power Rangers before they disappear. The Power Rangers combine their Zords to create the Dragon Thunderzord and are able to defeat Ultra Gold Omegazord. Before disappearing the Death Ranger gloats that they know what is coming for the Power Rangers in the future and will be watching while laughing at them.
A week later, on Safehaven, Billy rebuilds the cryo-chamber inside the Astro Megaship. Billy then tells Andros that if Zhane is able to absorb enough Morphin Energy he will come out of his coma with time.
Elsewhere, Trini and Zack say their goodbyes to Journey, who has aged to the end of their lifespan.
After Journey’s funeral, Jason reveals to Trini and Zack that when he broke free from the Death Ranger’s control the impact caused him to sever his connection to the Morphin Grid. Jason mentions it is possible he can regain his connection to the Morphin Grid but it will take an unknown amount of time.
Trini tells Jason that it is okay as this is a chance for Jason to spend time with his father and he deserves time for himself after carrying them all for such a long time. Jason agrees and says his goodbyes before heading home.
While Jason leaves his dad a voicemail about returning we see that Trini is now the Red Omega Ranger with Kevor Vrin becoming the Yellow Omega Ranger. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Omega Rangers then set out to continue to protect the universe. End of issue.
REVIEW
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 works well on multiple levels. For one Ryan Parrott brings his long run to an end by bringing things back full circle to what it meant to create the Omega Rangers as part of the Power Rangers mythology. In the process, we see Parrott focus on one of the key characters in his entire run, Jason Scott Lee, and explore the history of the Power Rangers through arguably the franchise’s greatest leader.
It was appropriate that when all was said and done that one of Parrott’s big focuses with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was completing Jason’s arc. From the beginning of BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comics Jason has had some of the biggest character developments. Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy arguably have had just as much of a focus during this run. But really the consistent narrative has been on Jason’s place as leader of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Omega Rangers. That is something even Trini and Zack recognize with their commentary at the end of this issue walking the tightrope of meta-commentary while staying in context to what happened in this issue.
What made Jason’s arc so meaningful is that it all came back to his family. Throughout his run Parrott, along with Kyle Higgins before him, has peeled back the layers of Jason’s character by showing us his home life. It is why the death of Jason’s mom was such a big moment in the comic books. And we see here how it’s that relationship Jason has with not only his mother but his father that is such a key part of who Jason is. That being what helps Jason break free from Death Ranger’s control made the artwork that shows him through all his forms even more satisfying.
Speaking of the Death Ranger, while the Death Ranger did not reach the level of Lord Drakkon or the Empyreals they were still presented as a big-time threat. What made Death Ranger stand out is how they forced the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to fight the Omega Rangers. Adding in a more evil look to the Omega Rangers’ costumes while the Death Ranger was controlling them was a nice touch. It got over how the Death Ranger had an attention to detail that it wasn’t just using the knowledge Jason, Zack, and Trini have on their friends but also using the presentation to look scarier.
While the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Andros did have a hard time with all of this Parrott made sure to emphasize how they were trying to not hurt Jason, Trini, Zack, and Zhane’s bodies. This is where the artwork really shined as it got across the struggle was just as much mental as it was physical for the Power Rangers.
Escalating the battle to Megazord level was also a nice touch to help differentiate a major part of the battle from other big endings to a story arc for this series. Seeing the overwhelming power of the Ultra Gold Omegazord created more urgency for how the Power Rangers could overcome the Death Ranger and save their friends in the process. Which all made the reveal of the Dragon Thunderzord a get-hype moment that was appropriately saved for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100. The design for the Dragon Thunderzord was great and was showcased when defeating the Ultra Gold Omegazord.
Andros’s role in resolving this story was very much needed for his character. One thing that has been surprising to see during this time period with the Omega Rangers has been how much of a darker character Andros has been. We’ve seen him take some questionable actions as he could be held responsible for this entire event going down in the first place. Redeeming Andros’ character by having him help Jason break free from Death Ranger’s control was well done. Using that as him accepting being the Red Space Ranger once again helps push him to be in the spot we found him when Power Rangers In Space began.
Resolving everything with the reveal that the ramification of the Death Ranger’s defeat was Jason losing his connection to the Morphing Grid was satisfying. Parrott handled this entire decision well to be a natural part of Jason’s arc. Trini and Zack are there to help Jason realize this isn’t an end but as he can still move forward with his life a cool moment between friends. The door is still left open for Jason to return at some point. But for now, Jason can finally get the long deserved rest and relaxation he has deserved after all the events he has led the Power Rangers through.
The final shot revealing that Trini is now the Red Omega Ranger was a great final shot. Parrott has really done a great job in building up Trini’s character to be seen more in the leadership role Jason and Tommy are known for on the team. Her becoming the Red Omega Ranger is a great next step for Trini and I hope we see more Omega Ranger adventures in the future with her as the lead and Zack as her second in command.
Individually the art team for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 all delivered artwork that fans of the BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comics will find familiar. The problem is that with eight artists contributing to this one issue there was a lack of consistency from sequence to sequence. It does take you out of the story in the first read-through as there are big changes in the art style. It wasn’t until the second time I read through this issue that the artwork looked better because I knew what to expect. On the positive side, the major moments of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 like Jason’s various forms and the Dragon Thunderzord formation all hit the high notes you expect these scenes to hit.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 is a great conclusion to Ryan Parrott’s long run on the franchise. There were a lot of meaningful moments for all the characters involved. Jason Scott Lee’s arc in particular was satisfying with how things ended up for him when all was said and done. The ending left me just even more excited to read what the next Power Rangers creative team has in store for the franchise. That is all a sign of a successful run by Parrott as he leaves the Power Rangers series as strong as when he picked it up from Kyle Higgins before him.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10