Comic Book Review - Power Rangers #20

Rob reviews Power Rangers #20...

Both the Power Rangers and Omega Rangers find themselves reunited once again back on Earth. Brought together by the untimely death of Jason's mom, it's a sombre time for reflection for many members of both teams. However, evil is stirring as dark machinations begin to make their play. With Safehaven under the imminent threat of invasion, what lies inside of the Omega Vault? 

As you can imagine, Power Rangers #20 is a very Jason-centric issue. Of course, it has to be! Back on Earth to attend the funeral of his late mother, we see a side to the Omega Ranger that's rarely explored. If anything it's in this issue we see the real Jason. While he's had the mantle of responsibility resting firmly on his shoulders for several years now, it's here where we see the Omega Ranger's vulnerability. 

Power Rangers #20 is certainly a touching issue as Ryan Parrott explores Jason's grief and his relationship with his father. Throughout we see the youngster have a heartwarming scene with Ernie, as well as a somewhat father-son chat with Zordon. It's quite poignant as both Ernie and Zordon have essentially been father figures to Jason through the years. These two scenes are a great contrast to Jason's confrontation with his father. Here Jason deals with the same issue that Mat Groom has been exploring with Rocky - how do your family cope when you're not around? With Jason spending the majority of his Ranger career off-world, his father has had to make decisions with his son not being around. 

The sub-plot for this issue deals with the threads left hanging from Jason's mission with Andros. Left on Safehaven with Xi, Andros is questioning the captured Xurix. With the Xurix drone showing a high degree of resilience to their questioning, Andros tightens the screws. No longer under the watch of the Omega Rangers - or Xi, Andros manages to beat the information out of his captive. While this seems to do the trick, there's a slight subterfuge as Andros uses the Xurix to gain access to the Omega Vault. 

In what's essentially something that feels a lot like a prison, the Omega Vault is home to some dangerous beings. Housed in urns (which act as mini stasis chambers) these beings adorn row after row inside the mysterious vault. Now with unauthorised access, what is it that Andros wants? And who's whispering to him in the dark? 

Yet again, Ryan Parrott gives us another masterclass of Power Ranger knowledge. These characters have been a part of the writer's life for a good number of years now, yet with every issue, there's a new character development brought across. What makes Parrott's run on both Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers and all those that came before is that he's proven himself time after time to have a great understanding of this universe and its many intricacies. 

Sadly Parrott's involvement with writing for the Power Rangers will soon be at an end with the Charge to 100 special being the writer's goodbye. While I'm not yet crying my way through a box of tissues, the announcement has given me pause for thought.

While these thoughts may come in a massive future retrospective look about Ryan Parrott's Power Ranger tenure, for now, all I can say is a massive thank you! 

Overall Power Rangers #20 continues the build-up towards Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100. While BOOM! Studios are keeping their plans for this landmark issue very close to their chest, there is any number of the current threads that it could be centred around. With both current writers bowing out of their respective series after #100 - it's going to be explosive!

Rating: 9/10

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Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev