Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 Review

The Power Rangers’ Shattered Grid event continues to get bigger as Drakkon becomes more powerful with each Ranger morpher he gets. Though the last is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers did give the Rangers a slight chance at hope as the group in the Coinless Universe successfully retrieved Ninjor, at the cost of Coinless Zack Taylor’s life. Along with that we saw that while Drakkon was able to overwhelm the Power Rangers RPM, Jason was successful in bringing Dr. K to the present day to help develop ways to take down the villain. Now with all of this can the Power Rangers finally find a way to overcome the threat Drakkon poses to the Morphin Grid and the entire Multiverse? Let’s find out with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29.

Writer: Kyle Higgins (Main Story); Ryan Ferrier (The New Adventures of Blue Senturion & Ninjor)

Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo (Main Story); Bachan (The New Adventures of Blue Senturion & Ninjor)

Colorist: Walter Baiamonte (Main Story); Jeremy Lawson (The New Adventures of Blue Senturion & Ninjor)

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: At the prison inside Drakkon’s fortress Kelsey (Yellow Lightspeed Rescue Rangerdoes push ups while TJ (Blue Space Ranger) counts since they have nothing but time sitting in their prison cells.

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At the Command Center, Jen goes over how Drakkon is continuing to amass power for himself and his army, which is disrupting the Morphin Grid. Ninjor reveals that with each morpher he obtains Drakkon is gaining greater connection the Morphin Grid. He and Coinless Trini show that the tower at Drakkon’s fortress is transmitting a signal to help power his forces.

Jason and Lauren then talks about how Dr. K and Grace Sterling will be working together to protect all the Rangers against Drakkon’s Dragon cannons. Jason tells Alpha to call all the Power Rangers through the Morphin Grid as they will all strike Drakkon’s headquarters together

Carter interrupts to ask where they are at the moment. Billy says they are all in a pocket dimension connected by the Command Center.

Suddenly Alpha is alerted to a ship landing outside the Command Center.

Some of the Power Rangers go check it out and Karone is stunned to see a heavily damaged Andros coming out of the ship.

At Drakkon’s base, Drakkon reprimands Commander Fah for not forseeing Skull as being a traitor trying to get into their ranks. When Skull is brought in Drakkon says he admires Skull thinking he did the right thing. As a “reward” Drakkon snaps Skull’s neck in front of the other Red Sentries and has Commander Fah relieved of her rank.

Finster 5 informs Drakkon that he has found the Ranger Slayer (Coinless Kimberly). Finster 5 reveals that the Ranger Slayer is in a timeline that takes place before the fracture point. Drakkon has Finster 5 open a communication portal for him.

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The Ranger Slayer says she has been trying to return to his side by getting the Rangers of that time to trust her. Drakkon says it is unnecessary since he is close to gaining access to the Morphin Grid itself. The Ranger Slayer congratulates him on his mission.

Drakkon then reveals he killed his alternate self using the Tiger Saber. The Ranger Slayer wonders if that was a wise thing to do.

Finster 5 notices that the Ranger Slayer doesn’t have her Bow of Darkness. Drakkon realizes that Coinless Kimberly is back to normal. Kimberly drops the facade and promises to kill Drakkon. Drakkon says that she has no way of affecting his plans in the slightest and turns off the communication portal.

Now alone, Drakkon says they have to work quickly before Coinless Kimberly can actually affect his plans. Drakkon suddenly goes down on one knee as the strain of having all the power he has is finally getting to him. Finster 5 says that the Morphin Grid is at its limit and Drakkon may not be able to handle the strain of all the power. Drakkon says his body will hold out until they do what is needed.

Back at the Command Center, while everyone is getting their weapons ready, Andros tells Zordon and the others that he was able to track down Drakkon’s base to be located on the Moon. He says he needs to get there to save TJ, who is the only Space Ranger alive and his only family left.

Jen finds Karone and tells her that she should talk to her brother before it is too late.

Karone takes her advice and approaches Andros. She tearfully reveals that Andros does save her and they embrace each other.

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Zordon and Commander Cruger watch Andros and Karone happy reunion. Cruger tells Zordon that he has his sympathy for losing Tommy. Zordon thanks him for that as it has been trying to lose Tommy. Cruger says while they try to show their proteges the right path it is up to them each to decide what to do even in situations they can’t control. Zordon agrees and adds that if they are lucky those they guide will grow the most from their mistakes.

Jason approaches Grace and they both talk about how they are teaming up because reality is at risk. Jason then mentions how Zordon told him about having to eventually make the wrong choice for the right reasons. While he didn’t get it at first Jason now understands what Zordon was telling him. They both then bond over losing teammates.

Andros asks Jason and Grace how they are going to attack Drakkon’s base, with Cruger concerned about everyone’s safety. Grace says she doesn’t plan on losing anyone ever again. She then shows everyone the plans for Promethea, which Karone quickly notice is Terra Venture. Grace says while it is not finishes Terra Venture has enough room to transport all of the Rangers to Drakkon’s base while also housing the Rangers that are imprisoned.

Alpha 5 gets everyone attention and says the other Power Rangers are finally arriving.

When everyone goes outside they all notice all the remaining Power Rangers across time and space teleporting in. All of the Power Rangers land at the same time.

Kimberly asks Zordon how they plan on taking Drakkon down since he is the most powerful being on the planet. Zordon says he believes he already has a solution for that.

At Rita’s Moon base, while being escorted by Putties, Cruger asks Zordon if he knows what he is doing. Zordon says they just have to have faith as “she” might be their only hope.

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Zordon and Cruger then arrive at Rita Repulsa throne room ready to speak to the villain and her minions. End of issue.

The Good: After everything that has happened in Shattered Grid thus far Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 is the calm before the final storm. The calm that the Power Rangers get in this issue is much needed for multiple reasons. The biggest one is to put over how the Power Rangers will believably defeat Drakkon after the villain has almost reached the level of being the God of the Morphin Grid.

Throughout Shattered Grid we have seen, rightfully so, Drakkon in the spotlight in most issues. With how powerful Drakkon was it was important that the pieces the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have been assembling finally form a complete puzzle. Kyle Higgins accomplishes that as we see a lot of satisfying payoff to the allies the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have brought together.

It is through that payoff that we get to see how, in this dark period, the MMPR have grown to the level of legends that the Rangers that follow see them as. That is particularly true for Jason Scott. Throughout Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 we see how Jason has fully embraced being the leader of this operation. While he has Lauren Shiba and Jen Scott to help in the leadership department, this final strike against Drakkon is on his shoulders. He is the guy that is giving the final orders. And at no time did you feel that Jason was being overwhelmed by the pressure. He is fully ready for whatever comes next.

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What helps this added confidence for Jason’s character is how we see him actually get another growth moment with the scene he shares with Grace Sterling. It’s in this scene that we see how Jason is not a teenager anymore. The developments in Shattered Grid, specifically losing Tommy, has been a “grow up” moment for him that showed him what it really means to make difficult situations during a dark period of time. Jason relating that to what Zordon told him earlier helped make the way he and Grace mend fences an even better moment.

Along with Jason’s growth, Higgins uses this issue as opportunity to put Grace in a better light. Her scene with Jason was clearly something that Grace appreciated, even though she maintained her harden demeanor. At the same time, Higgins did a good job making Grace feel like she had the stature of Zordon and Cruger as she has experience that is valuable to the younger Power Rangers.

Grace revealing that her organization that developed Terra Venture, the location of Power Rangers Galaxy, was a nice surprise. This added to the connection future Power Rangers squads share with the Mighty Morphin era. It added to the history that Higgins has added to the Power Rangers mythos since Grace’s organization wasn’t known in the TV show. That reminder of how much has been built in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic makes the reader wonder what else was built during this era in the Power Rangers.

Jason and Grace’s scenes were also interestingly balanced out in terms of interactions with Zordon and Cruger’s own meeting. It was good to see how Zordon and Cruger spoke to each other as equals. Cruger paying his respects for Zordon’s loss of Tommy was a nice touch to quickly establish their relationship in the first meeting they have with each other. It made the final scene they share together be more meaningful as they are the only ones to meet with Rita Repulsa.

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Speaking of Rita, it was easy to forget with all that has gone on that she is still around. Higgins was able to quickly re-establish Rita’s presence in the final page with what Zordon told Cruger. Zordon’s words in particular make you wonder what role Rita will actually pay as we reach the final issues of Shattered Grid. Given how it was said it may have to do with the fact that Drakkon’s powers are still based on his original evil Green Ranger suit. If that is the case we could find out the greater connection Rita shares with the Green Ranger powers.

With all this going on Higgins was also able to deliver a strong emotional reunion between Andros and Karone. What Higgins did best about this reunion is that he built up to it instead of quickly giving it away. Even though Andros’ scenes where short Higgins got across how much he felt he lost as only TJ survived Drakkon’s attack on his team and he truly felt like he lost his family because of it. That weight along with Karone nervously feeling she should not approach her brother made their tearful hug once Andros realized who she was even better.

This reunion also helped to further show how Jen Scott is able to understand every type of situation at hand. While she is known as a hard ass leader, Jen does have a good sense for how her teammates feel in different scenarios. Jen being the one to give Karone the push to reunite with her brother was another example of this. Scenes like that make the reader hope to see Jen again in the post-Shattered Grid storylines.

All this character work helped to make the moment when all the Power Rangers arriving at the Command Center at the same time the biggest hype moment we’ve gotten in Shattered Grid. There was a strong sense of hope when you saw the Power Rangers from different eras together in one big splash scene. Now it does not feel like Drakkon can just overwhelm the Power Rangers with numbers and things have finally shifted in a positive direction for our heroes.

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With the majority of the focus on the Power Rangers side, Higgins still reminded us of how dangerous Drakkon is. Higgins quickly did this by showing how Drakkon showed the Coinless Skull no mercy for betraying him as he snapped Skull’s new in front of the other Red Sentries. That ruthlessness was a great evil move that continued to establish Drakkon as the most hated Power Rangers villain, in the right way.

Drakkon’s ruthlessness made his scene with the Ranger Slayer carry even more weight. Drakkon discovering that Kimberly as the Ranger Slayer is no longer under his control clearly shook him. Even if he didn’t show it to Coinless Kimberly, Higgins showed us how this development made Drakkon sense of urgency to complete his connection the Morphin Grid increase. It also quickly elevated the Ranger Slayer’s role in this story, even though she has only been seen in Go Go Power Rangers and not in Shattered Grid thus far.

Daniele Di Nicuolo continued to deliver solid artwork for the Shattered Grid event. Since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 was purely a set-up issue Nicuolo did not have any action to draw. Even with that being the case Nicuolo did a good job helping to elevate Higgins’ dialogue with the facial reactions that matched what was said by each character. Nicuolo also stepped up big with how he drew the scene where all the remaining Power Rangers landed outside the Command Center be an epic moment.

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The Bad: While Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 is does a great job with all the set-up that is executed it was odd seeing the Ranger Slayer suddenly appear. As interesting as Coinless Kimberly as the Ranger Slayer has been over in the Go Go Power Rangers series has been her appearance didn’t hit with the same impact that was expected. This is largely because we haven’t seen the Ranger Slayer in the Shattered Grid before this appearance. Because she has not been in any previous issue it will be easy to see readers not following Go Go Power Rangers not be hit with the intended impact since they wouldn’t have known about her character development that preceded this issue.

Overall: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29 is purely a set-up issue and Kyle Higgins uses this opportunity to deliver a lot of strong character development. Everything from Jason’s growing leadership ability to Andros and Karone’s tearful reunion further elevated the events of Shattered Grid. Now with a lot of major set-up out of the way Higgins is able to focus on what comes next in Shattered Grid. The final page alone opens up a lot of possibilities for how this Power Rangers event can wrap-up and that alone is enough to create excitement for the ending.