Melissa Flores and Adam Gorham ended the first half of Darkest Hour with the death of Lord Drakkon at the hands of a corrupted Ranger Slayer. That death created even more questions as to how the Power Rangers have any hope in defeating Dark Specter. The Grand Monarch of Evil has remade the Morphin Grid into his own image. The power he now wields is unlike anything we’ve seen. Now heading into the second half of Darkest Hour how will the Power Rangers respond? Find out with our review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artists: Simona Di Gianfelice and Marco Renna
Colorist: Raul Angulo and Jose Enrique Fernandez
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
SOLICITATION
“Things are desperate on Earth as Mistress Vile attacks, with Rangers from different universes and civilians alike teaming up to keep the carnage at bay, but some special objects may be the key to keeping the planet safe… even if it won’t last for long.
As Billy and the HyperForce Rangers rush to repair the Master Arch, they’re only able to pull a single ally from the heart of the Morphin Grid as Dark Specter’s power grows…” – BOOM! Studios
REVIEW
Melissa Flores, Simona Di Gianfelice, and Marco Renna do not miss a beat with the start of the second half of Darkest Hour. They make sure to reinforce that Dark Specter is the ultimate villain of the Power Rangers franchise. Everything in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117 carries that idea forward to some compelling results.
Dark Specter’s reign during Darkest Hour is emphasized right away with the opening of his takeover of Aquitar. There is no holding back in how Dark Specter continues his takeover of the universe. The visual of the corrupted Aquitar Rangers capturing the Aquatarians has a chilling quality.
Through all of this Flores adds an interesting wrinkle of Dark Specter learning more about what happens in the future. Specifically, he learns about how in the original timeline Astronama used the Psycho Rangers to weaken and destroy him. This develop further builds Dark Specter as the endgame boss. The ending can’t simply reset things to so the continuity was like it was in the TV show. We are in all new territory, including Dark Specter being more powerful than he ever has been.
That is further driven home with how Dark Specter continues to treat Mistress Vile with disdain. That disdain escalates throughout Mighthy Morphin Power Rangers #117 until the downfall of their partnership. The more powerful Dark Specter has grown the more he has lost patience for failure. Learning about what Astronama would do clearly impacted how he decided to make sure to shutdown Mistress Vile’s attempt at betrayal. Doing that by destroying Alpha 1 right in front of Mistress Vile.
While Dark Specter made this a message of absolute loyalty it had the opposite effect. Flores does a good job at making sure while Mistress Vile is breaking away from Dark Specter it does not mean she is on the Power Rangers side. Instead, Mistress Vile is looking to make a third party in this war. The added power of the Zeo Crystal to her staff is a nice touch to give her a power up in the process.
Going to Tommy Oliver is a great way to continue the connection between him and Mistress Vile. While not emphasized Flores makes sure to continue to emphasize that Tommy’s White Light powers is key to this story. We see this by the fact that Dark Specter easily corrupted Delphine, the White Aquitar Ranger. It was a subtle way to get over to continue to make Tommy important while he has been taken off the table.
This element also gets an additional angle with the return of Ranger Slayer towards the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117. With her return also comes the White Tiger Power Coin she got from Drakkon. There being two Power Coins that can tap into the White Light power is a curve ball that the Power Rangers needed to add to their arsenal.
The developments with Dark Specter and Mistress Vile are nicely paced out with what the Power Rangers are up to. While they don’t continue their attack on Dark Specter they aren’t just standing around down on themselves. The surviving Power Rangers from the Multiverse are shown actively working on how they can counter Dark Specter.
In this we see how effectively the Power Rangers utilize their numbers to make sure they are protecting people. Billy, Terona, Kendall, and the Phantom Ranger are showcased well in developing a way to counter Dark Specter corrupting the Morphin Grid. This is a story that the Power Rangers can’t simply gain a power-up or rally more people. To defeat Dark Specter they need great minds to figure things out for the rest of the team. Billy, Terona, Kendall, and the Phantom Ranger leading this effort was a great call.
At the same time, we see the other Power Rangers continuing to save people. Utilizing the equipment that Promethea created was a good way to get non-Power Rangers involved. Specifically, we get to see Jason step up once again to show even without his powers he still has a heroes heart. With this emphasis on him it wouldn’t be surprising if we eventually see him regain his connection to the Morphin Grid.
Throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117 Simona Di Gianfelice and Marco Renna deliver big event worthy artwork. The power Dark Specter shows does make you question if the Power Rangers and Mistress Vile have any hope of defeating him. He is shown to be pure evil. At the same time, Gianfelice and Renna get over how the Power Rangers do not let that stop them from being heroes. That makes the brief action we do get standout even more.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117 is a strong start to the second half of the Darkest Hour event. Melissa Flores, Simona Di Gianfelice, and Marco Renna deliver so many great character and story developments throughout this issue. It all works to get even more excited for what comes next.
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