The end of the eight-year era for BOOM! Studios Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is here. With such a giant ending it can only end in one way, an oversized one-shot comic book. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 is that comic book. Melissa Flores and company have done well building up this conclusion for the Darkest Hour event to be a culmination of everything that has happened in this series. Given that this is the end of this series there is no telling whether it will conclude by lining back up with the TV show continuity or go in a completely different direction. Let’s find out with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Simona Di Gianfelice
Colorist: Raul Angulo and Jose Enrique Fernandez
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: DARKEST HOUR #1 SOLICITATION
IT ALL ENDS HERE! With the Morphin Grid in peril, the people of Earth are left without the Power Rangers to protect them. The ultimate battle against Dark Specter will play out with unexpected consequences, while an unexpected group of rogues, villains, and Rangers make strange company…
But even if they win… can they rebuild everything they’ve lost? Fan favorite Rangers writer Melissa Flores (Spider-Gwen: Smash) and acclaimed artist Simona Di Gianfelice (Firefly: Return to the Earth That Was) deliver the epic finale that everything has been building to!
REVIEW
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 delivered exactly on what one would hope for from an ending of such an epic story. The scale of the final battle was nailed to make sure that the emotional notes were all hit as needed. Though some of the last minute things that took place in the last few chapters did impact the height this finale could reach it did not take away from the satisfaction had with this conclusion.
The scale of this final battle is what is the most captivating part of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1. Melissa Flores and Simona Di Gianfelice made sure that the feeling that this was the endgame for Darkest Hour never left the reader. Everything with the war against Dark Specter has been building to this. That was especially emphasized in the final conversation between Billy and Zordon. There was no more chances for gambling. It was either the Power Rangers defeat Dark Specter right now or the entire Multiverse would be controlled by the villain.
With that in mind, it did really emphasize how this version of Dark Specter is the biggest villain in the franchise. While the Power Rangers were able to push him back, ultimately everything up until now was to simply stall Dark Specter. He grew to powerful for any one group to defeat him. Adding in Lord Zedd and his crew to the mix further emphasized Dark Specter’s unstoppable power level.
The situation as it was made the final goodbyes before the Power Rangers left for the final battle. All of the interactions are the ones we expect. There are some that felt recycled as we’ve built up to this final chapter. But even if we’ve gotten similar Tommy and Kimberly scenes it did not take away from the feeling that these were special.
They especially worked given that unlike in past events Tommy and Jason weren’t the ones leading the charge. Because of their respective sacrifices this was the first time we were not just waiting for Tommy and Jason to do their savior thing. It was time for the other Power Rangers to shine, in particular Billy and Kimberly.
While this was the final battle it was good that Dark Specter wasn’t suddenly overwhelmed. Throughout the final battle there was still this feeling that Dark Specter was in control. Flores and Gianfelice really emphasized that Dark Specter wouldn’t be defeated by simply rallying the troops. He is to powerful to defeat him in a straight up fight, even if we got a bunch of crazy combos and team-ups, which we got here.
The only part of the build to the resolution that did not work was the delay that the Solar Rangers had to commit to while waiting for the others. Everything about the Solar Rangers place in these final few chapters felt last minute. We had so much development in their story that their role just felt like it was to separate Ranger Slayer from the others. Given Ranger Slayer Kimberly Hart’s journey there could’ve been better ways to handle her holding off Dark Specter alone without the Solar Rangers.
That said, the final resolution being the remaining Power Rangers all morphing together to release the maximum power of the Morphin Grid was a cool, unexpected way to defeat Dark Specter. This works as a nice callback to how we’ve seen every time the Power Rangers morph in large groups it would cause an explosion behind them. Zordon as the one that helps channel all the released Morphin Grid energy further added to how Power Rangers In Space’s “Countdown To Destruction” helped inspire this ending.
The ending with a flashforward showing an older Billy reflecting on what happened does create questions for the future of the franchise with BOOM! Studios. The way Billy phrased things it does confirm things weren’t reset to fit the TV show continuity like Shattered Grid did. It does leave us wondering where things will go from here.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 delivers a satisfying ending to the epic story Melissa Flores, Simona Di Gianfelice, and company created. More importantly, the scale of this finale hit on what the payoff needed to be for the eight-year journey we’ve experienced from all the creative teams that worked on this franchise under BOOM! Studios. It all further highlights why this entire run something that all Power Rangers’ fans should experience.
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
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