Darkest Hour started by throwing a massive curveball with Dark Specter appearing much sooner in the Power Rangers timeline. That is all thanks to Mistress Vile, formerly known as Rita Repulsa, defeating the Power Rangers and Lord Zedd. In the process Mistress Vile handed over Zordon’s soulless body to Dark Specter claim as his new vessel. With Grand Monarch of Evil loose and the entire Power Rangers Multiverse in flux what happens next? Find out with our review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #112.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Hendry Prasentya
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
SOLICITATION
“If three relationships at their breaking point weren’t enough chaos for Trini, Zack, Kimberly, and Tommy, Aisha and Matt have dark magic and possession to contend with!
Will their combined efforts be enough to break the evil spell, or will interpersonal conflict leave Matt to his vile fate?” – BOOM! Studios
REVIEW
Given the impact of Mistress Vile helping Dark Specter make his grand entrance Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #112 was a bit of reset. Every character has been so disoriented by the villains winning they needed to find their footing in the chaotic situation they are in. Doing that is easier said than as part two of Darkest Hour further drives home there will be no time to rest for our heroes.
With Darkest Hour being a year-long event it is smart to not have Dark Specter and Mistress Vile physically appear in every issue. They are made to be even more dangerous because they aren’t around. Instead they loom over everything that happens because of the spot all the Power Rangers find themselves in. They’ve been defeated and split up across unknown locations. Giving time to let the setting that was created breathe added to how Dark Specter and Mistress Vile created a hopeless scenario.
It also helps to elevate the overwhelming number of Mistress Vile’s Chaos Putty Patrollers. While the Power Rangers and Omega Rangers are still able to defeat small numbers of them that was not enough. Mistress Vile’s powers are so great that she can send an infinite amount of these Chaos Putty Patrollers that their numbers make up for their powers. This is where Hendry Prasentya artwork shines as he gets across how unending the army of the Chaos Putty Patrollers army is. For every Putty Patroller the Power Rangers defeated ten more would spring up out of nowhere.
Flores did an excellent job playing into how overwhelming the situation to get across how exhausting Darkest Hours is to the Power Rangers. Everyone is being pushed to their mental and physical limits from the beginning. This is a great utilization of how far all of the Power Rangers and Omega Rangers have come that it has come to this. The threat level has gotten to a level where they are taking on this end of the universe-type threat. All of this while being split up and not having Zordon or Alpha 5 to help them out right now.
Splitting the team up the way Flores also sets up how we are going to see different combinations throughout Darkest Hour. Here we have Tommy, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, Aisha, and Matt working together. While they’ve worked together there was something about the visual of this combination that felt different. This was a team formation that came out of necessity given the lost situation they are in. Which in turn goes back to how overwhelming the numbers that the Chaos Putty Patrollers have.
At the same time, Flores makes sure to pick specific pairings that further long-term dynamics. With Zack and Trini we see their growing flirtation to each other. This plays in well to their natural chemistry with each other and feeds into fans who read the Power Rangers: Pink series where we saw they were together in that possible future.
On the opposite side of things there is growing tension between Tommy and Kimberly as they question each other’s decision making. Flores does a good job working into how recent storylines have forced the Power Rangers to often split up, which has led Tommy and Kimberly to naturally lead the split teams. Because of that they have had different experiences while dealing with the same conflict. That comes to a head here where Tommy and Kimberly are not on the same page in how things went with Mistress Vile. Which made Kimberly’s reaction when Tommy sacrificed himself so she and the others can escape so intriguing to see what it’ll mean when they meet up again.
Then there is continued growing relationship between Aisha and Matt. Aisha does a good job at making sure to not let Matt escape from answering why he killed Grace Sterling. Even while confined Matt wanted to ignore his decision but Aisha made sure he spoke about still having trouble with fighting against Mistress Vile’s control. This allows better insight to how Mistress Vile utilized even greater more dark magic to corrupt Matt so destroying the Sword of Darkness was not enough to fully break that control. That in turn made the fact that Matt was able to fight the control and work with the other Rangers highlight that there is still a hero inside him. That inner battle for Matt and how Aisha can help him is yet another interesting sub-plot to follow.
With all that said, the biggest development in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #112 was with Billy meeting a spiritual version of Grace in the Morphin Grid. These scenes in the Morphin Grid was a great way to confirm that Matt in fact killed Grace while keeping things moving forward. Grace’s talk with Billy works well to establish why he as the Blue Ranger will be the most important character in Darkest Hour. Tapping into what the Blue Ranger represents the problem solver and how Billy is special because he potentially has the greatest connection to that trait in the Morphin Grid.
The ending for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #112 being Grace’s last gift to Billy being a case with what appears to be Tenga Warrior eggs a unexpected development. Flores continues to emphasize that nothing in the Power Rangers history is off limits. Whether its past, present, or future, Darkest Hour is a storyline that could tap into all aspects of the Power Rangers history. The Tenga Warrior eggs discover is yet another exciting example of this.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Melissa Flores and Hendry Prasentya do an excellent job getting across how bad things are already at the start of Darkest Hour story throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #112. All this is accomplished without the need of Mistress Vile or Dark Specter physically appearing in the second chapter. The overwhelming numbers in the villains army is enough to get over the hopeless situation all the Power Rangers find themselves in. It all lead to an ending where even more questions as to how the Power Rangers can overcome everything thrown their way that makes you want to read the next chapter asap.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10