Comic Book Review - Mighty Morphin #3

 Rob Lake reviews Mighty Morphin #3...

The new Power Ranger universe continues to shock and amaze as Ryan Parrott and Marco Renna continue their journey through the Unlimited Power era. 

This new era for the Power Rangers is truly something great. Two teams, two concurrent stories, with two vastly different styles. Whilst Mighty Morphin may seem to be the more "lighter" of the two, it's also now developing a slightly dark tone which Ryan Parrott delves into within this issue. 

As with the previous two issues, we open up with another look into Zordon's past. This time around the young Guardian is undercover on an alien world. We get to see an insight into both the young Zordon's beliefs as well as the workings of the Eltan race. Zordon isn't alone in this mission and there is good interaction between the young Eltarian and his commanding officer with Zordon explaining that he isn't a fighter. Of course this changes for the older Zordon who's technically been fighting through the Rangers now for several years. Zordon is still a mysterious character in my eyes, who has a lot more to give. It's nice to see Parrott giving him a little bit of the spotlight and is a nice break away from the Power Rangers.  

The action however soon ramps up as we rejoin the Rangers as they are still under pressure from Lord Zedd's new Chaos infused Putty's. This is where the story takes a slightly darker tone. Both Rocky and Aisha worry about causing civilian casualties as they both struggle to work out Human from Putty, During the fight, Adam also gets a bit of character building too as Lord Zedd "opens his eyes". This all leads to the Black Ranger being brainwashed by the Chaos Putty, and he then turns on the rest of the Rangers. 

 

As the Rangers retreat to the Command Center to deal with both Adam's brainwashing and the defeat to the Chaos Putty, we finally get closure into who the new Green Ranger is...or more like who's pulling the strings....none other than Grace Starling.  The reveal came as quite a surprise and was one that I wasn't expecting. This reveal of Grace being behind the Green Ranger not only adds yet another dynamic to the story, but it also can potentially drive a wedge in between Billy and the rest of the team, as the Blue Ranger was in on the act from the start. With the person inside the Green Ranger armour still not yet revealed, we at least get some of the mystery surrounding the Ranger answered. Naturally, Zordon doesn't take this news well and sets off to confront Grace 

As the issue ends we see Bulk, Skull and Candice fighting off the Chaos Putty as they travel the streets of Angel Grove. There is a good amount of bonding between the three as they struggle to fight their way to safety. The fact that Candice is also an Eltarian has not been made public as of yet, but when this happens it's certainly going to add a strain to this new group. 

If anything this issue attempts to turn Zedd into something more sinister. And as such it does kind of work. Whilst mind control isn't anything new to the Power Rangers, seeing them technically defeated is. It does feel a little like we're retreading old ground what with the Chaos Putty feeling a lot like Rita's Dark Rangers from a few issues back.

Much like in the previous issues both Ryan Parrott and Marco Renna are firing on all cylinders. Both the writing and art is incredible and does make this story such a fun one to read. With the mystery surrounding the Green Ranger still bubbling away, and the Chaos Putty running amok through Angel Grove, Mighty Morphin is still ticking all those boxes. 

Rating 8/10

Rob Lake - Check out Geek Culture Reviews over on Twitter for more comic book chat @GeekCultureRev