The Power Rangers franchise has been on an intriguing trajectory in the post-Shattered Grid universe that has been created in BOOM! Studios comic books with the “Necessary Evil” storyline. In the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers we have seen what the rise of the Omega Rangers has meant to the universe. For Go Go Power Ranger we’ve been getting the background as to how the Blue Emissary recruited Jason, Trini and Zack into forming the Omega Rangers. That is along with learning the new origins for Tommy Oliver’s White Ranger powers that have become a staple in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Now how will everything going on with all the Rangers collide with Lord Zedd’s attacks becoming more dangerous? Let’s find out with Go Go Power Rangers #27.
Writers: Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace
Artist: Francesco Mortarino
Colorist: Raul Angulo
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Inside the Tower of Light, Lord Zedd, who is wielding the Dark Saba, taunts Tommy Oliver that he is destined to turn to the evil because they are alike. Tommy fights back against what Lord Zedd says. Tommy then states that the White Light does not belong to Zedd or him and he will protect it to ensure it is not corrupted by Lord Zedd.
Lord Zedd fires a powerful blast that sends Tommy flying while calling the former Green Ranger weak. Tommy immediately gets back up and says he is only going to warn Lord Zedd one more time to leave the Tower of Light. Tommy and Lord Zedd clash once again but this time they are consumed by a white light.
Suddenly a white tiger appears on top of Tommy. Saba reveals that Lord Zedd was never there. Instead that fake Lord Zedd was all part of the trial Tommy had to go through to confirm that he is worthy of being The Light-Bearer. Saba then says that they now must hurry to go save Tommy’s world.
Over in Angel Grove the Power Rangers struggle to fight the overwhelming power of the Nimrod trio. Billy tells his teammates he is still unable to boost the Thunder Megazord’s power remotely. The Power Rangers attempt to use the Thunder Saber to turn the fight around but are quickly overwhelmed once again by the Nimrod trio. The Nimrod trio then combine their abilities to drain the Thunder Megazord of its power. The Power Rangers are then forced to retreat and teleport away with the Thunder Megazord.
Elsewhere Tommy returns to the secondary Command Center that Zordon and Alpha Five have set up underground. Zordon is glad to see Tommy and Saba together. He then has Alpha Five begin the power transfer so Tommy can become the White Ranger.
While Tommy is getting his powers Zordon surprises him by revealing that he will become the new leader of the Power Rangers. Tommy is not sure about this, especially since this would mean taking over leadership from Jason. Zordon is sure Jason and the others will understand this decision. Saba also assures Tommy that he will be by his side.
In another part of the Command Center while the Zords are being repaired Jason talks with Kimberly about how he is thinking about using the Red Dragon Zord to lead the Nimrod trio away from the city. Kimberly tells Jason to not do something so reckless because they should handle things together.
In another part of the garage Zack and Trini talk about if they should let Kimberly and Billy know about the Blue Emissary.
Before they can fully talk about it the Blue Emissary shows up. Zack and Trini demand to know what the Blue Emissary did to Jason. Blue Emissary admits he showed Jason the battle that was erased from time (Shattered Grid) because things are not the same in this remade universe. Trini and Zack both tell Blue Emissary they do not want Jason to do things alone and want to also see what was shown to Jason.
Blue Emissary agrees but before he does he gives Zack and Trini one last warning that things won’t be the same after going through the same process Jason went through.
Sometime later Zordon reappears in the command Center. He announces to the rest of the Power Rangers the return of Tommy as the White Ranger (the same way it was done on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show).
Tommy,as the White Ranger, leads the Power Rangers into battle against the Nimrod trio with his new White Tigerzord. After initially struggling with his new powers Tommy forms the Mega Tigerzord with the rest of the Thunder Zords. As the Mega Tigerzord defeats the Nimrod trio Jason is shown watching the fight nearby on top of the Red Dragon Thunder Zord.
Later, Tommy and Jason talk in the Youth Center about the former taking over leadership. Tommy admits that he was shocked when Zordon told him he was going to be the Power Rangers leader. Tommy is willing to go to Zordon again to convince him Jason should still be the leader. Jason tells Tommy not to worry about because this is where he is meant to be.
Tommy thanks Jason for the kind words. He then asks Jason where he is meant to be. Jason admits he is still trying to figure that out for himself. Tommy asks Jason that whatever that answer is to not go anywhere soon.
While ordering drinks Kimberly runs into Matt Cook. Matt mentions he saw that a new Power Ranger was added to the team. Seeing how Kimberly is nervous about it Matt realizes Tommy is back. Matt awkwardly says that is cool to hear and tells Kimberly if she ever needs to talk he is there for her.
After Matt walks away Tommy finds Kimberly deep in thought. Tommy admits that his instincts told him to push everyone away. Before he can finish Kimberly kisses Tommy and then says she is really happy that Tommy is back.
Outside the Youth Center Billy tells Jason that while they almost died things ended up turning out okay and it does not seem like they are being pulled in different directions anymore. Billy then tells Jason he is going to the Command Center because Alpha Five is going to show him a new Power Transference Center.
Once alone Jason goes to meet up with Trini and Zack nearby. Trini and Zack tell Jason to tell them what the secret mission is about. Jason first thanks Trini and Zack for trusting him. He then wonders if they should go to Zordon about everything. Trini reminds Jason that Zordon doesn’t remember everything that happened.
Hearing Trini say this makes Jason realize that the Blue Emissary gave Trini and Zack their memories back. Trini and Zack confirm this, mentioning that they are still dealing with the physical and mental ramifications of the process. Jason gets angry over this but Trini and Zack remind him that they do things together so they are going to help with forming this new Ranger team. Jason smiles when he hears this. End of issue.
The Good: After a lot of set up we finally get the payoff to the origin story for the Omega Rangers and Tommy Oliver becoming the White Ranger. In the process we see how Go Go Power Rangers #27 merges continuity from the TV show with how the Shattered Grid event changed the franchise within BOOM! Studios comic book universe. The way it is all done shows how much potential there is in the current status quo for the Power Rangers franchise.
Once again, Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace excell at writing each of the Power Rangers. There is always a sense that while the team is united in fighting evil that they are each at a crossroads in their lives. Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, Kimberly and Tommy all have their own journeys that are being developed. Some of those overlap directly while others don’t. All of that helps begin the process of how the original Power Rangers team slowly drifted away after a while on the show.
Where things are different this time around is with how the Omega Rangers origin is being worked into why Jason, Trini and Zack transferred their powers. Parrott and Grace do a great job in giving a lot of weight to the decision to leave their friends to form the Omega Rangers with the Blue Emissary. Though it is not easy for them the decision to become Omega Rangers comes from a place of loyalty.
Even as they are keeping things a secret from Billy, Kimberly and Tommy the reason they are doing this is to watch each others back. Emphasizing how Trini and Zack will not let Jason to carry the weight of being the only one to have to deal with the ramifications of having original memories back shows that loyalty. This all helps back-up the current portrayal for Jason, Trini and Zack over in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers where they’ve worked as an even better well oiled team. They’ve had more shared experience that has made their unity stronger as they’re the only ones that know about the Shattered Grid event.
This also leads to giving a greater explanation as to why once Tommy Oliver became the White Ranger we did not see Jason, Trini and Zack as much in the lead up to the Power Transfer. Originally that was due to the actors not signing new contracts that forced the Power Transfer. Now with the Omega Rangers origin, Parrott and Grace are able to give these characters a reason for why they stepped back in terms of interacting with Billy, Kimberly and Tommy.
What’ll be interesting from here is how much of what we saw on the show during this Power Transfer period that will be integrated into Go Go Power Rangers. Parrott and Grace have shown that they know how to bring in the plotlines from the show and work it into the greater narrative. Now how those episodes work into the secret missions Jason, Trini and Zack go on before the official Power Transfer will be interesting to see.
Speaking of the Power Transfer, Parrott and Grace do a great job setting up how that ends up happening. Tying the Power Transfer to the secondary Command Center that Zordon and Alpha Five set up to give Tommy the White Ranger powers was a smart way to do things. Giving more background on the way the Power Transfer happened shows the care that Parrott and Grace are putting into expanding on the events from the show.
Go Go Power Rangers #27 also does a good job in setting up how the transition to being the leader of team wasn’t an easy one for Tommy. Even with the White Ranger powers being a leader is not something that comes as naturally for Tommy as it did for Jason. There will be a transition period for how Tommy becomes the leader we know him to become later.
Starting with Tommy realizing how he has been keeping his distance from the others as a character weakness is a good first step. To be a leader Tommy will need to learn to properly communicate with everyone. That will mean trusting the other Power Rangers to help him.
The other thing that Parrott and Grace do well in Go Go Power Rangers #27 is portraying everyone as veterans at this point. They do this best with Kimberly talking Jason out of going out alone to fight the Nimrod trio. Kimberly reminds Jason that they’ve all been through a lot together and that they are strongest as a team. Kimberly showing her own self-restraint shows how she is the heart of the team.
At the same time, it was nice to see how the story between Kimberly and Matt wraps up, at least for now. There is still clearly some tension between the two. Matt status as an outsider still shows itself to be the biggest thing that creates the rift between them. But even with that rift there is a bond between the two that could be interesting to see if Parrott and Grace follow-up on.
With that said, I’m glad that they don’t waste time in getting Kimberly and Tommy back together. Even with how Tommy decided to keep his distance these two still love each other. I do hope that in future issues we see Parrott and Grace start working out how Kimberly and Tommy grow closer moving forward. We’ve spent way too much time seeing them waffling back and forth with how open they are with each other. With how things will be in the future it would be nice that now we see Kimberly and Tommy start having the strong relationship we know them to have.
Francesco Mortarino artwork was once again the consistent driving force for this series. Mortarino’s artwork throughout Go Go Power Rangers #27 has the dynamic manga style that helps this comic book stand out. The fight with Nimrod does a great job having a nice flow Thunder Megazord and Mega Tigerzord in the action that looked like big monsters and robots fighting in a city. Mortarino also nails how each character is going through a lot right now with how he drew their various expressions as each Power Ranger has a different interaction.
The Bad: As with previous issues, the one thing that makes Go Go Power Rangers #27 not have the same impact as its big brother title is that we know where this story leads to. We are already seeing Jason, Trini and Zack in action as the Omega Rangers and what their team-up with the Blue Emissary means to this universe. Knowing where it all leads takes away from some of the drama behind wondering how things end up different from what we knew in the show.
Overall: Go Go Power Rangers #27 was a strong way to end the “Necessary Evil” storyline for this series. Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace give us much needed information on how Jason, Trini and Zack became the Omega Rangers. The ramifications of that decision and how it tied into Tommy became the White Ranger creates greater interest in where the franchise will go in the future.
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