The first two issues of Power Rangers Prime have been about building out the new continuity. This new continuity is one where the Power Rangers are hunted to near extinction as the Eltarians have completely taken over the universe. The last surviving Power Ranger, that we know of, is Lauren Shiba, who is now on the run after her Samurai morpher was damaged. Things became even more complicated as Rita Repulsa made her debut and has already started creating chaos in this new continuity. What will happen next? Let’s find out with Power Rangers Prime #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Michael YG
Colorist: Fabi Marques
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
POWER RANGERS PRIME #3 SOLICITATION
“A new Ranger emerges!
Our heroes enter a museum filled with Rangers artifacts, when they suddenly encounter Rita herself. An epic face-off ensues that literally brings relics from the past to life!
But when the governor of Angel Grove calls in her elite team of Troopers… a fateful choice from Rita will change the Prime universe forever!” – BOOM! Studios
REVIEW
The enemy of my enemy is my friend is a message that is certainly delivered in Power Rangers Prime #3. That comes as no surprise as the first two issues were built around establishing Lauren Shiba and Rita Repulsa as lead characters. How this third issue brings them together creates even more questions around what is going on in this new Power Rangers continuity.
This issue certainly drove home how Lauren and Rita are the series leads right now. It gives further weight to why Lauren and Rita each carried one of the first two issues of this series. That is immediately paid off in Power Rangers Prime #3 as we see how their different paths ended up converging to have a game changing meeting.
Before getting to that meeting with Lauren and Rita we continue to learn about this continuity from each of their perspectives. Having this split perspective opens the opportunity to further build out the cast. Which is certainly needed given that we are largely dealing with a new cast.
Even characters we’ve seen in other Power Rangers series like Bulk, Megaforce’s Orion and Jungle Fury’s RJ appear they are not the characters we remember. Having a mix of characters from across the franchise history that aren’t commonly used is a smart move by Melissa Flores. This helps emphasize through some sense of familiarity just how much the Eltarians changed in this continuity.
These changes are best seen with what Rita discovers when she forces Bulk to lead her to the Command Center. Rita so confidently going to this location that was a haven for the Morphin Grid built into the mythology around the Command Center. It made the swerve of the Eltarians transform the Command Center into a luxury retreat where RJ is a shaman a good bit of comedy.
This reveal worked further into the supreme confidence the Eltarians have that they completely took over this universe. They weren’t even scared that a location that has a strong connection to the Morphin Grid is used by them for luxuries. It further drives home how much of a wild card Rita is as she is a threat the Eltarians never expected to appear. Which we see be the case with how she makes her way through the Command Center and finds power crystals with connections to the Morphin Grid.
The Rita scenes worked well in complimenting the coinciding journey Lauren is on. From the way the new cast that Lauren interacts with throughout these first three issues it is made pretty obvious who the Power Rangers Prime team will be. Maybe there will be a swerve with other legendary Rangers joining but Michael YG’s character design sure emphasize this cast being future Prime Rangers.
Speaking of the Prime Rangers, once we finally see Lauren and Rita there was no time wasted in getting into a fight. The way they start fighting pushes how different these two characters. It is oddly there differences that ultimately cause them to come together to form an uneasy alliance. This uneasy alliance comes from their respective backs being against the wall against the Eltarians military might.
The danger they are in helps to further position the VR Troopers as interesting antagonists. Flores does a good job not just making this version of the VR Troopers just Eltarian grunts. There is effort put into creating a greater connection between the VR Troopers and the new cast of this series. It is that connection that hopefully plays a bigger role in the various character arcs we are seeing.
All of this leading Rita using her connection to the Morphin Grid to create a brand new Tyrannosaurus Power Coin for Lauren. YG does a great job making this moment where Lauren becomes the Red Power Ranger Prime a big game changing moment. The way we are led into to the big splash page of Lauren’s Ranger Prime transformation was very cool. It created even greater excitement for the future.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Power Rangers Prime #3 does a great job at bringing together the character arcs of Lauren Shiba and Rita Repulsa. The way these two characters are brought together continued to build out this new continuity in ways that creates a greater connection to all characters involved. Those connections made the final few pages of this issue hit the game changing aura for the hook ending to be as impactful as possible.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
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