Power Rangers Infinity seeks to introduce fans to a new team of misfit rangers in a self aware story. The latest series by BOOM! Studios offers something different for Power Ranger fans.
Good day Ranger fans! We’re here with BOOM! Studios new one-shot comic story “Power Rangers Infinity”. This new original story brings together a cast of rangers from the distant corners of the Ranger-Verse in a singular story that sees them take down ‘Power Rangers: Dino Charge’ villain, Poisandra.
Power Rangers Infinity is written by Sam Humphries, illustrated by Brandt & Stein with colouring by Triona Farrell. 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.
WARNING: Potential story spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!
The Pros
Power Rangers Infinity follows new protagonist Lola Navarro attending some sort of Comic-Con as she hopes to pitch a new “Power Rangers” comic series to “Highland Studios”. Events transpire, we’re introduced to several BOOM! Studios created Ranger teams across the vast Rangerverse and given the story. The issue ends with Power Rangers Infinity #1 being Lola’s creation!
Already right there is my favourite pro of the comic: the self awareness. Power Rangers Infinity is a story created within the story. For the world of Power Rangers, it’s a fresh conclusion to new story. Unlike BOOM! Studios’ most recently concluded story, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Darkest Hour, Power Rangers Infinity is a stark contrast in tone and characterisation. It seeks to reach a new, younger and more diverse audience with it’s rag tag team of ranger caricature archetypes. Power Rangers is first and foremost, for the children. While BOOM! Studios are here for the older fans with Darkest Hour, it’s good to see them try to appeal to a younger audience, especially now when there’s no new content coming from those who own the property (*cough*Hasbro*cough*).
As an older fan reading Power Rangers Infinity, there isn’t much here to catch my attention. A few Mighty Morphin’ references here, a returning villain there but one thing that caught my attention was in the dialogue. Through the story’s many ‘original’ teams at the beginning of the story, the dialogue between some of them feels very ‘Sentai-esque’. That is to say, the dialogue feels very typical of how a team converse with each other in a Sentai season versus a Power Rangers season which typically features more ‘quippy’ commentary. Fear not though, as there’s still plenty of generic Ranger quips to keep you satisfied!
Lastly, as a final important pro that I appreciated with Power Rangers Infinity, it was the ‘message’. Between Lola’s journey from fan to hero and a Rangerverse of some of the most odd teams and designs is the idea that anyone can become a Power Ranger, that anyone can create their own Ranger team and that Power Rangers is for everyone. It’s the kind of warm, embracing, positive messaging you love to see channelled to a younger audience. That “you can do anything” belief instilled in a young age is the very spirit of what Power Rangers was, is and should always be!
The Cons
Where there are pros, there also unfortunately cons. Power Rangers Infinity features quite a few cons that at this point feel more like a BOOM! Studios issue than anything else. With Infinity being a one-shot story, there’s very little room already for elements like story, character introductions, character development and world building. Indeed, Infinity tries to do all of that while establishing a few BOOM! Studios original created teams before getting us to the main team itself. The story starts off well paced before some plot happens and we’re hastily whisked straight into the rising stakes of the plot, introduced to the team, a couple of fights ensue and the whole thing comes to an abrupt end before the comic gives one last cheeky wee wink to the audience, causing a major pacing issue throughout.
Alas, the characters all part of the team feel like very generic caricature archetypes, as I mentioned before, and there isn’t much room in a one-shot to flesh them out, unfortunately. The team roster very much feels like a hodgepodge of random ideas in the hopes of getting an Akibaranger, Ranger Reject (Go! Go! Loser Ranger!) or perhaps even a Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse result, to which it achieves neither. We’re also, for the second time in Power Rangers BOOM! history, given another female Green Ranger with anxiety and inner securities, giving Lola a vibe of being ‘Sage V.2’ or ‘Bootleg Sage’.
The recurring problem between all of these elements and BOOM! Studios is the lack of any real originality and any imagination. The original Ranger designs for all the teams featured including the Infinity team themselves all have this suit design that feels very ‘bootleg’ or ‘knockoff’. That is to say none of them could believably stack up with any preexisting Power Rangers or Sentai official season costume, showing that BOOM! Studios continue to fail in understanding how to craft a strong addition to the Power Rangers roster. Thus the real issue with Power Rangers Infinity and BOOM! Studios’ contributions to Power Rangers, especially of late: A lack of Inspiration.
Conclusion
With everything said and done, I’ll give BOOM! Studios props for trying something different. Even if Power Rangers Infinity is still very far from reinventing the wheel. It’s a story that very much feels like it’s aiming towards a younger audience with a villain only fans who watched the show five to ten years ago will know of and may thus end up appealing to no one. With enough archetypes involved, there may be a character for most readers to latch on to, but the story being ‘one-and-done’, it feels very pointless. Power Rangers Infinity very much feels like a story that would have benefited more as a “Free Comic Book Day” story; a story that would have gotten itself in the most hands possible during one of the most popular comic events and had a real chance to find its audience. Alas, this is not the product of smart decisions.
For Power Rangers Infinity #1, I’d give it a 5 out of 10. A somewhat, slightly fun small digestive self aware tale that may encourage younger fans go dive further into the Power Rangers universe but won’t do much, if anything for longtime fans of the series. Further hampered by BOOM! Studios’ lack of inspiration.
Power Rangers Infinity #1 was released August 21st, 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 the issue? Would you want to see more of Infinity? Any ideas for your own Rangerverse one-shots? Let us knows in the comments below! We look forward to seeing them. Stay tuned for more reviews of BOOM! Studios comics and other awesome Power Ranger news and reviews here at The Toku Source!
