It’s Morphin’ Time! Gear up for second part of four in Amy Jo Johnson’s new alternative chapter of the BOOM! Comics Rangerverse: MMPR: The Return.
What’s up Ranger fans? We’re back with Part two of four of the 30th Anniversary saga, brought to you by none other than Ranger veteran, Amy Jo Johnson plus partner, Matt Hotson with art by Nico Leon.
Once again, I was blessed by the Morphin Masters with a duty to read issue #2 ahead of release and bring forth to you my review of this latest chapter! Below you will find out the pros and cons of this alternative universe tale that is MMPR: The Return. You know what time it is, Rangers? It’s Morphin Time!!!
RELATED: Review: Amy Jo Johnson’s MMPR: The Return #1 Provides Nostalgic Yet Alternative 30th Anniversary Take
WARNING: Potential story spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!
The Pros
An immediate strong point in any medium of storytelling is not wasting the viewers/readers time with filler – dialogue or story with no real end or conclusion nor ever referred to past the conceived point. Thankfully, issue #2 has no filler and jumps right into the action with a reunion of past foes, a battle of heroism and sacrifice in the name of all that is good, plus some romance! We see a villain killed off by one of the Rangers; a small moment of regret that perhaps acts as a trigger point that serves to fill the reader with context for why Kimberly was so insistent of taking up the mantle of a Power Ranger again while serving issue #2’s main story. It was by far the most interesting part of the issue, if not for allowing us to see the original roster of Mighty Morphin’ fight alongside each other then for reminding me of the battles I used to have with my own Power Ranger toys as a kid.
As mentioned earlier, this part of the story serves as context for Kimberly’s motivation to not become a Ranger in the previous issue but also as a story being told by Kim to new character Serena, who in the previous issue wished to become the new Yellow Ranger. I was initially worried that the story was going down a similar direction to the “Once and Always” Netflix special but issue #2 puts those worries to rest. Subjectively, I also feel the story here goes a little harder and a little darker than the aforementioned special but does a good job of not going to over the top with it’s dark element. It’s minor and well balanced. The art is still absolutely and consistently sublime, likenesses are still well produced and even with so much action in a single panel, all the details can be made out. Lastly, the story takes a surprising turn that I did not expect and finally introduces us to Olivia Hart in the tail end of the issue; fair to say I’m excited to see what comes next!
The Cons
In a very fortunate twist, I don’t really have much to rag on. The Issue again didn’t waste any panels or pages for a whole load of nothing like the beginning of issue #1. My only real gripe taken from this issue is the contextual element, that while was fun, enjoyable to read and exciting, took up a large amount of the issue. A single comic only has a certain amount of pages to explain it’s story until the next one and the main present story, the story that takes place 30 years from the Rangers’ heyday, doesn’t progress very much during this part. Instead, glossing the pages with a platter of nostalgia, the Rangers are at their peak fighting foes left and right. While cool, a downside of that was that the main story felt a little like an afterthought. What little of that main story was used well, I will say and whether it has a knock on effect for the rest of the issues remains to be seen. Another thing to mention, albeit more of a subjective take, is that, based on the contextual element present, it’s becoming more and more clear, the Stone Canyon trio (Rocky, Adam and Aisha) and other Ranger teams don’t exist in this timeline. It’s pure OG Mighty Morphin’ and nothing else. A story that feels like if only Season 1 of MMPR existed and nothing else, which is somewhat disappointing for a 30th anniversary of a franchise that was kept alive by yearly refreshes of team members, suits, mechs, etc.
Conclusion
Overall, issue #2 of MMPR: The Return is a lot stronger than the debuting issue, jumping straight into the action and ending in a way that’ll leave you with questions, filling in a lot of the context needed to understand some elements of issue #1. There’s still a lot of mystery to be unearthed which leaves me personally excited for what’s to come but still feels like there’s too much going on to wrap up the story in the next two issues.
For this issue, I’d give MMPR: The Return #2 an nine out of ten! A lot of action, drama and romance baked in a contextual ball of nostalgia that left the main story with little room to breath, but used it’s issue space wisely to say the least. Excited for more!
MMPR: The Return #2 releases today, March 13th, 2024, at your local comic book store. This and more Power Rangers BOOM! Studios series are also available as a digital copy from content providers like iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle.
What did you think of Part 2? Looking forward to more? Any predictions on upcoming issues? Let us knows in the comments below! We look forward to seeing them. Stay tuned for more reviews of MMPR: The Return and other awesome Power Ranger news & reviews here at The Toku Source!
