Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11 Review

We got a short break from the main story of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the last issue, which focused on developing Billy Cranston’s character. The issue did help to flesh out Billy’s character though it was an odd break with how intense things have gotten with this series. But given that Billy should be taking on a much bigger role in this upcoming story arc, as he and Tommy Oliver are stuck in an unknown world, the spotlight on his character might’ve been needed. With both Billy and Tommy separated from the rest of the team it’ll be interesting to see how the other Rangers factor into the story. And more importantly we will hopefully learn more about the mysterious Green-White Ranger hybrid that we saw at the end of the previous arc. Not let’s see what we learn with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11.

Writers: Kyle Higgins (Main Story); Steve Orlando (The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk & Skull)

Artists: Hendry Prasetya (Main Story); Corin Howell (The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk & Skull)

Colorists: Matt Herms (Main Story); Jeremy Lawson (The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk & Skull)

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Jason, Zack, Kimberly and Trini reunite with their parents. As they hug their respective parents the four Rangers say that they were stuck on the other side of when Rita’s recent attack happened.

With Billy and Tommy still lost somewhere their respective parents report them missing to the cops.

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In another world Billy and Tommy see large statues of Rita and Green Ranger. As they walk through the city they catch a broadcast from Rita explaining how she brought order and structure to the world after destroying Zordon and his minions (the Power Rangers). The broadcast then announces that the 8am curfew is officially in effect.

Tommy is even more confused as to where they are after hearing the broadcast. Billy analyzes their surroundings along with information from the broadcasts and theorizes that the Black Dragon Crystal either sent them to an alternate timeline or a period in the future from their timeline.

Before they can figure things out a guard dressed heavily armored Black Ranger suit tells Billy and Tommy to show him some IDs. Tommy tries to create an excuse as to why they are out past the curfew.

The guard becomes suspicious when he sees the Green Ranger danger in Tommy’s possession. The guard grabs Tommy in an attempt to arrest him but Billy is able to quickly counter. Billy and Tommy then make a run for it as the guard calls in an “Alpha Alert.”

Billy leads Tommy to where Angel Grove High used to be only to find that there is a prison named “Finster Memorial Correctional Facility” in its place in the middle of a body of water. Several guards quickly catch up to the duo and fire lasers at them.

Billy and Tommy decide to jump into the water and swim to another location.

In Goldar’s Dark Dimension Rita confronts Goldar about how the Blue Ranger could escape. Goldar says that the Blue Ranger had a secondary teleportation device and he couldn’t stop him since he is chained up. Rita is suspicious of what Goldar just told her.

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Goldar asks about what happened to the Black Dragon. Rita says that the Black Dragon is gone but he did what she needed to put the Rangers on the ropes. Rita tells Goldar that now is his chance to redeem himself. Goldar happily accepts Rita’s offer.

Elsewhere the Rangers survey the ruins of Black Dragon’s destroyed body. Trini tells the others that the Black Dragon had a lot of pieces that look to be from the Dragonzord which helped her find the remote control piloting system. Zack wonders if that means someone was controlling the Black Dragon. Trini says she thinks so and that she further discovered that the Black Dragon’s central processor is identical to the Dragonzord.

While this information is confusing the Rangers piece together that somehow the Black Dragon and everything they saw was from their world. Jason then wonders who built Black Dragon in the first place.

In the alternate/future timeline Billy and Tommy reach the location of the Command Center, which is in ruins with the destroyed Thunderzords just outside of it.

As Billy and Tommy look through the ruins of the Command Center and wonder about the battle that took place a voice calls out to them saying that the battle was vicious. Billy and Tommy find the whole that the voice is coming from. Tommy asks who the voice is. The voice recognizes the pair as Billy and Tommy but not the same one it knows so it tells them to come down and find it.

Billy isn’t so sure but Tommy immediately jumps into the hole and lands in a cave. The voice leads Tommy to a secret door and says once Tommy opens it he’ll answer all of Tommy’s questions.

Tommy opens the door and finds Saba talking to him from a container. Saba introduces himself as Tommy grabs him.

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The meeting is short as some ships arrive at the ruins of the Command Center and quickly spot Billy nearby. Tommy climbs back up just in time for more Black Ranger-looking guards to appear.

One of the ships lands and the Green-White Ranger hybrid comes out to greet Tommy and Billy. He congratulates the two for how far they come and introduces himself as Lord Drakkon, the leader of the world.

Tommy tells Drakkon that they are not going to lay down for him and that Drakkon has no idea what is in store for him. Drakkon says he knows exactly who Tommy is.

Drakkon takes off his helmet to reveal he is an older version of Tommy. Drakkon then calls the younger Tommy a lesser version of himself. End of issue.

The Good: Kyle Higgins and Hendry Prasetya do not waste any time getting their new arc started. Right from the beginning they have us invested in what is going on with multiple fronts of the story. At the same time we get to see more of how important the personal connections Higgins is fleshing out is playing a bigger role in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic compared to the TV show.

Starting Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11 off with the remaining Rangers reuniting with their parents was a good way to remind us of the impact of the events that just happened. This is an instant reminder that the Rangers are still kids with parents who, like any parent, worry if their kid(s) don’t check in after such a long period of time. The pain in Jason, Kimberly, Trini and Zack’s face when they have to lie about where they’ve been adds weight to the dangerous things they do as Rangers. This is further exemplified in how worried Billy and Tommy’s parents reported them missing since the battle with Black Dragon was such a big fight that took over the city.

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Showing us this side of the Rangers personal life perfectly set up how lost Billy and Tommy where in the alternate Angel Grove they were transported to. The world that we saw the two of them in highlights how important the Rangers battle with Rita is as her victory does mean she takes control of the world. The different tone of this world is something we would’ve never gotten in the show and gives us a good idea of how important it is for Billy and Tommy to get back to their timeline.

What makes this alternate world even more effective is that Rita remains the main focus as the one who defeated the Rangers. This fact helps elevate how dangerous Rita is since she somehow defeated the Rangers without Lord Zedd getting involved, as far as we know. And the fact that we see the ruins of the Thunderzords only further helps establish how intense things got in this timeline as even with an upgrade in power the Rangers were still defeated.

If that was not enough we actually saw how Rita and/or Lord Drakkon added further insult to injury by employing guards who wear the Rangers costume. Little attention like this helps shape the world as Higgins uses the environment to tell us the history of this world rather than giving us a lot of exposition. This helps us feel more like we are there with Billy and Tommy as we discover things at the same time as they do.

Lord Drakkon’s reveal wasn’t all that surprising given how much of a focus Tommy and his relationship with Rita has been up to this point. At the same time, it does not take away from the impact of the reveal. Now we are left to discover how Rita got Tommy on her side, if he ever left in this timeline, and how he was able to merge the Green and White Ranger power together.

Adding to the mystery of the team-up with Rita and Drakkon is the fact that the Black Dragon looks to be an upgraded Dragonzord. This detail helps connect the Rangers still in the present to have a connection to what Billy and Tommy are doing. Higgins also continues to do a great job developing Trini’s character to be just as smart as Billy as she is the one that quickly figures this out.

Now while Billy and Tommy’s adventure is sure to be front and center for this arc it’ll be very interesting how Rita and Goldar play a role in the story. Seeing Goldar getting a chance to get back into Rita’s favor adds a further sub-plot as he still needs to keep it a secret that he helped Billy escape the Dark Dimension. Hopefully this all means Goldar ends up playing a bigger physical role as the story progresses.

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Hendry Prasetya continues to provide strong, consistent artwork. And with us getting a look at a post-apocalyptic Angel Grove, Prasetya was able to design a unique look at how Rita would create a capitol city in her own image. Adding in the castle that looks like her iconic moon was a nice touch, as was the Green Ranger coin. His design for the Green-White Ranger hybrid also continues to look fantastic. There is a very menacing look to the character.

The Bad: The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk and Skull back-up in this issue wasn’t as strong as previous stories. It’s not helped that Corin Howell’s artwork looked rushed this time around. It was especially bad in the last panel as there was no consistency to the Rangers design. This doesn’t hurt the main story but take away from the entertaining momentum these Bulk and Skull back-ups have been gaining.

Overall: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11 does a great job kicking off this new arc by continuing the momentum created by the Black Dragon arc. Kyle Higgins sets several things in motion with Billy and Tommy’s adventures in a post-apocalyptic Angel Grove taking center stage. How the other Rangers, Rita and Goldar in the present factor into whatever Lord Drakken has planned will be very interesting see play out. Hendry Prasetya artwork further helps establish the darker turn this arc is taking with some great design unique to this series. If you were ever a Power Rangers fan I highly recommend picking up this series as it is only getting better with each passing issue.