Review: Anxiety and Worry Take Centre Stage in Ranger Academy #6

Ranger Academy #6 turns Sage’s hesitation of the truth into a frenzy of worry and anxiety during the academy Parent’s Night! The latest issue from Boom! Studios puts a focus and builds upon Sage’s inner feelings during a formal Ranger Academy tradition; as if parents weren’t enough!

Like the previous issue, the latest instalment from Boom Studios’ Ranger Academy series takes an actionless route focusing on the Academy’s traditional ‘Parent’s Night’. Sage feels like all eyes are on her as the guilt builds and struggles to maintain her secrets with a level head!

Ranger Academy #6 is the latest in the Boom Studios Rangerverse. Written by Maria Ingrande Mora with illustrations by Jo Mi-Gyeong and colouring by Joana Lafuente. Their skills combined together to bring a much larger world to the ever expanding comic Rangerverse. Today, I will be giving you my personal pros and cons of the latest issue.

RELATED: Review: Lies and Secrets Begin to Overwhelm in Ranger Academy #5

WARNING: Potential story spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!

The Pros

Ranger Academy #6, from start ’til end, is spent introducing and enduring the parents night event. As such, this means there’s no action or suiting up (in the typical Ranger sense). This issue is all about character development and I am here for it! I’ll admit, as a longtime Ranger fan, some of the best moments in the franchise isn’t when the Rangers are morphed and fighting, but rather when they’re engaging with their friends and fellow Rangers as regular people. It’s those moments that allow for great character development and emotional depth that being in costume just can’t portray as well. As such, this issue does a good job in channelling the feeling of overwhelming guilt and anxiety that main protagonist Sage is feeling – a sense of feeling like all eyes are on you, that everyone knows your secret, that they’re just watching and waiting for you to fail. You don’t live on this planet for three decades without experiencing such a feeling at least once in your life. Ranger Academy #6 really brought that feeling to the pages and illustrated it well enough to understand the mood per panel.

On top of that, the issue also has a very interesting cliffhanger that thickens the plot and dangles a story thread to get excited about in the next issue. We see a bit more of the Green Campus and get a tidbit of info that may gave reason for green being such a hush hush colour choice around the Academy. Whether issue #7 delivers on that front remains to be seen, obviously, but I personally remain a smidge eager, although hesitant…

Oh! We also get a nice little cameo from a certain reformed villain. I won’t spill but you should find out in your own ‘time’.

The Cons

No comic is without its faults and in this cons section, I’m gonna confuse you a little. I mentioned in the pros that some of my favourite moments are the non-action, non-Ranger character development moments and that is just as true for issue #6, but while I enjoy such moments, I don’t enjoy when an entire issue feels like filler. Unfortunately, issue #6 feels just like that: pure filler!

There’s a heavy amount of dialogue between the characters, the parents and such; it’s typical teens-being-embarrassed of their parents stuff and doesn’t really move the story in any meaningful way. As the issue progresses towards the end, the story begins to pick up but, just when things get interesting again, it ends, on a cliffhanger no less! Albeit, a good cliffhanger, but now the reader has to wait until the next issue to see if issue #7 will carry on from the end point and forward the story or simply become “Parents Night 2: Electric Boogaloo”. Hopefully the story picks up the pace a little, or it could risk losing some of its audience. Again, I remain hesitant, although optimistic…

Conclusion

Overall issue #6 of Ranger Academy felt like a mostly skippable issue; a parents night event that like the real thing, isn’t anything to write home about. When it gets good, it stops and is probably (in my opinion) the weakest issue since the first, but that’s no reason to give up yet! The seeds have been sewn for a potentially great issue #7 and there was a pretty awesome cameo from a previously reformed villain in the series history!

For this issue, I’d give Ranger Academy #6 a 6 out of 10! A weak filler issue with strong representations of fear, guilt and anxieties that feel relatable for the most part; an interesting thread that’s only being used as a tease for the next issue and nice little cameo thrown in for good measure! Like real life parents nights, it’s a little boring.

Ranger Academy #6 is available 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 Issue #6? 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 Ranger Academy and other awesome Power Ranger news and reviews here at The Toku Source!

Source: Boom! Studios