The comic book I have been most excited for in 2024 is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return. When BOOM! Studios announced that Amy Jo Johnson would be working on this comic book it was on top of my pull list for 2024. Seeing this alternate future where Jason, Trini, Zack, and Kimberly didn’t leave the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers like they did in the show. Find out how Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1 turns out with our review.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writers: Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson
Artist: Nico Leon
Colorists: Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
SOLICITATION
“A brand new Mighty Morphin saga from the imagination of the original Pink Power Ranger herself! In an alternate universe, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers finally defeated Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, but at a terrible cost… In the wake of tragedy, the team went their separate ways.
22 years later, the long-disbanded team reunites to mourn the losses of beloved friends, but Zack and Billy have some unexpected information to share—Jason, the Red Ranger, has been operating as a lone vigilante, and has since disappeared. Will the remaining Rangers be able to track him down, especially with a mysterious figure in pursuit?” – BOOM! Studios
REVIEW
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1 is everything that fans could want from the pitch of the original Power Rangers team never going their separate ways. There is a lot of love and care put into this new timeline by Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson.
Right away making the simple choice of not involving future Power Rangers teams was the right call. Having this timeline take place after Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa where defeated gave a whole new energy to this story. They were known as the ultimate villains of the franchise before we got introduced to Dark Specter and everything else. Setting it up that Lord Zedd and Rita were the endgame bosses made it so we could see what it would mean for the Power Rangers after this.
As we see throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1 it meant the original team all moving on to live their own lives. This choice made learning what happened to Kimberly, Tommy, Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy be something that was all naturally paced. Johnson and Hotson let the story come to the reader rather than them guiding them from point A to point B. Where each character is at is shown with where we are in the timeline.
A great example of this is the fate of Tommy Oliver. Zack finding Kimberly paying her respects to Tommy’s grave gave us a lot of insight on what happened in this timeline. While not said out loud, given the year of Tommy’s death and where Kimberly is at in her life it could be theorized Tommy gave his life to defeat Zedd and Rita. It’s all done in a respectful manner to Tommy’s legacy while opening it up for Kimberly and the others to have more of the spotlight.
Similarly, the story picking up shortly after Trini passed away gave a chance to honor her character and actor. Billy speech at the opening of the Trini Kwan Memorial Park and Youth Center gave a lot of weight to what Trini accomplished in her post-Power Rangers career. Johnson and Hotson balanced out how this both honored and celebrated Trini’s life.
This scene also helped to transition into the bigger plot of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1. That has to do with Jason’s fate in this timeline. While we did see that everyone seemed to move on in their post-Power Rangers life Jason ultimately not giving that life up was properly explained. Going fully solo rather than trying to recruit his team spoke to the traumatic event that led to an adult Jason becoming the Renegade Red Ranger.
Jason’s usage of his Power Rangers power opened the pandora’s box of how not everyone gave up using the Power Coins like Kimberly did. The reveal that the team decided to have Zack reveal he was the Black Ranger was a great way to cover up who was the Power Rangers. There was thought put in mind to deceive the world into believing the Power Rangers were from around the world. Zack has played his role well as he naturally takes to fame while still helping the world.
Zack and Billy’s usage of the Power Coins leading to Jason trying to get them to stop helps to set-up the greater mystery. As we saw with the opening, someone from the Moon is now targeting he Power Rangers and stealing their Power Coin. Keeping this mysterious foe in the shadows leaves things open for it to be any character in the Power Rangers history or a new threat all together.
All this puts into question Kimberly’s current life as Emma Phillips. Tommy’s death understandably appears to have hit Kim hard that she sort of went off the grid. The tension Kim had with Billy and Zack creates a lot of questions around how she will deal with this pull to return to being a Power Ranger. That pull could grow stronger with the appearance of Trini’s relative asking Kim to mentor her in becoming a Power Ranger. Given how Trini’s niece, Selena, approached Kim it does seem like Trini may have a role in why Selena went to Kim rather than Billy or Zack.
Nico Leon’s artwork throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1. Leon’s character designs are all fitting to what these characters would look like in the future. The flashback scene was a nice reminder of who we knew the team to be and complimented where they are in this future. The artwork especially captured all the emotional weight of various character decisions that are made. The Renegade Red Ranger scenes also did a good job at teasing us with what we can expect from the action scenes when this story escalates in future issues.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson, and Nico Leon put a lot of great care in crafting this alternate future Power Rangers timeline. They honor the original team while presenting something that is new and exciting. It all leads to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1 being a must-read comic book for all Power Rangers’ fans.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10