Things have quickly escalated with the latest Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover. That’s all thanks to Rita Repulsa and Krang teaming up to take over Earth. To do so they’ve united all of the Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles’ enemies to work for them and lead a full-on invasion of Earth. To counter the Power Rangers have found a way to share their powers with their Ninja Turtles allies. But given the numbers on Rita and Krang’s side, this appeared to not be enough. That was until Shredder made his return at the end of the last issue. How will Shredder turn things in the favor of one of the sides? Let’s find out with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Raul Angulo
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
SYNOPSIS
Shredder takes on Scorpina and Bebop to buy Alpha 5 the time needed to teleport Zordon safely out of the Command Center.
Unfortunately, Raphael is unable to stop Ranger X (Casey Jones) and Baxter Stockman from using a device to disrupt the Power Rangers’ connection to the Morphin Grid.
This causes all of the Power Rangers to lose their powers and force them and the Ninja Turtles to retreat as Rita Repulsa’s forces overwhelm them.
Rita and Krang then take claim of the Command Center that Krang plans to use to conquer Earth.
Meanwhile, in the sewers, The Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles agree to an alliance with Shredder after Shredder reveals how Rita and Krang betrayed him.
Three days later Billy and Donatello have figured out how to combine the remaining power in the Power Coins with Mutagen. With this Jason, Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Zack morph into the Mighty Mutant Power Rangers, taking on the forms of their respective Power Coins.
With this, the Mighty Mutant Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles fight off Rita Repulsa and Krang’s forces.
In the middle of all the fighting, Casey finds Leonardo and Tommy. Casey reveals that he was previously captured and tortured by Rita and Krang. Due to what he experienced Casey decided to work as an inside man for the Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles. Casey then gives Leonardo a device to reach Dimension X.
Master Splinter joins the fight and tells his sons to go to Dimension X with Shredder while he stays back on Earth with the Mighty Mutant Power Rangers. End of issue.
REVIEW
Using what took place in the first two issues Ryan Parrott and Dan Mora deliver on what the middle chapter of a big event should be with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3. We get our heroes on the ropes as the villains, in this case, Rita Repulsa and Krang, look unstoppable. This all leads to alliances being formed and greater power being needed to overcome all the odds.
What makes Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3 work well is that not until the Casey Jones reveal do we get an idea of how our heroes can turn things around. Even with Shredder entering the story for a save it does not make things any better for the Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles odds. They were simply lucky to survive this battle in order to continue the war to save Earth from Rita and Krang’s invasion.
Creating this atmosphere in which the villains hold all the cards is what makes the scope of the story even bigger than the predecessor. Parrott and Mora use the villains’ win to make the invasion by Rita’s forces a success. This leads to a status quo where our heroes can only go into hiding while they figure out what to do next. And quickly that is used to show what would happen to Earth with Rita and Krang finally achieve their goals of conquering the planet.
Adding to what this invasion’s success means to the villains is Rita and Krang’s explanation to Casey Jones why this was important. Parrott nails how what’s made Earth such a focal point for both universes is not because the planet itself has significance. Rather than villains like Rita and Krang who come from worlds that have experienced massive advancements, it is a slap in the face that, in their eyes, people from a primitive planet like Earth continue to defeat them. This works well into putting over what both the Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles continue to accomplish as heroes.
This leads to how we see both hero teams continue to push forward even with the Power Rangers losing their full connection to the Morphin Grid. This opened the opportunity to once again show how important Billy and Donatello are to the team as they use the three days to figure out how to integrate Mutagen into the Power Coins. This leads to the hype moment with Jason, Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Zack becoming the Mighty Mutant Power Rangers. It is a moment that was exactly what was needed to get to that next level of a big event. Parrott and Mora use the Power Rangers to tap into their new forms instincts to have cheesy fun that will bring make fans smile.
With all that going on it made the obvious reveal of Casey Jones acting as a double agent work because you forgot about this element in the story. Parrott does a great job in explaining how and why Casey became Rita’s Red Ranger X. It made Casey look even better in the earlier scene you see how he used enough of his knowledge of the Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles to be convincing while not actually giving away anything he was doing.
Mora once again delivers some of the best artwork you will find in any comic book with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3. Mora’s designs for the Mighty Mutant Power Rangers are a home run. This along with how Rita and Krang go about conquering Earth hit on everything you want to see visually from a big event. There really is no better-looking comic book than this and Mora just continues to prove why he is the best artist right now.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ryan Parrott and Dan Mora once again deliver an exciting chapter in the latest Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover. They are constantly throwing one great moment after another that will have fans of either franchise even more excited to find out what is next. And if the debut of the newest Power Ranger forms is any indication the best is yet to come.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10