As an adult, I often find myself searching my memories to find out what shaped me as a person. I know I got my love of comedy from the Muppets. My sense of wonder with space came from seeing Patrick Moore not as The Games Master but from The Sky at Night, and the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers shaped my music taste from a young age. For 30 years, I’ve been able to pinpoint my love of heavy music from that one guitar solo that absolutely goes harder than it has to.
I quickly fell out of love with the Power Rangers when the original team of Tommy, Jason, Trini, Billy, Kimberly and Zack left the show. Fast forward three decades, and I was instantly transported back to a time of plastic dinosaurs, putties and shredding guitar riffs when I found out that Amy Jo Johnson, the original Pink Ranger, was writing a comic book about what Kimberly Hart was up to after the TV series had finished. As you’ve probably guessed, the result is Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger from BOOM! Studios.
The comic book consists of two stories from alternative timelines: one in which Kim leaves the team to pursue her own dreams of becoming an international gymnast, and one where the Power Rangers are disbanded after finally defeating Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa once and for all. Neither really fit into the continuity created by 30 years of the TV programme, and as an aged fan who thinks Power Rangers started and ended with MMPR, this is probably a good thing. For those dedicated fans who lived through Zeo, Dinoforce and beyond, then I can imagine you’d be a bit put out that the book is ignoring the continuity of some notable characters.
The first story, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Pink, is set shortly after Kimberly passed her powers to Kat at the end of the third series. We join her in the middle of an international gymnastics competition in Europe, during which she tries to contact her mother whose recently moved from Paris to the quaint town of St Moieau, France. After a lack of contact, and only being a few hours away by bike, she zips through the continent to discover that not only is her mother gone, but the whole town is under siege by Goldar and his army of sea monsters. Unfortunately, she has no powers and the Rangers are off planet. In a stroke of luck, she finds her old communicator, opens a line to Zordon, and temporarily receives her powers back.
From here, the story feels like an old episode of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and follows the formula to a tee. There are quips galore, “I could have been a Boy Scout / well I look way better”, there’s the two-phase approach of fighting on the ground and then summoning the zords, and Goldar gives way too much exposition, resulting in pages stacked full of text. This might normally be a problem, but the pannelling is large, resulting in epic scenes full of colour and energy. While this might come across as by-the-numbers, I felt this was more than a rehash of the old show. Characters had the chance to breathe and develop, giving more weight to the story.
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Return brings a grown-up Kimberly back to Angel Grove. This tale is a more sombre affair as she comes back to mourn her fallen Ranger, Trini. In a short prequel (Re-Imagine) We discover that the Rangers disbanded after a botched raid on Lord Zedd’s moon base, in which they split the moon into pieces, killing Zedd and Rita Repulsa in the process. Throughout the pages, Kim presents as a melancholy character, only fulfilling a duty to Trini. After a mysterious figure captures Jason, the only Ranger still in action, the old team is called back into the fray. Unlike the quippy and action-packed Pink story, The Return is completely different in almost every way. We see a fractured team of ex-rangers who’ve grown apart and moved on with their lives, and it feels almost like you shouldn’t be reading something that isn’t the campy happiness that makes up the Power Ranger DNA. That being said, the story is full of heart and redemption and sticking with the story does provide a satisfying payoff.
The artwork with MMPR: The Return also plays into the tone of the story. The reams of exposition seen in Pink are gone, and the frenetic action gives way to sombre character portraits. Throughout the first act, Angel Grove is covered in rain and muted colours, which reminded me more of the film Seven than Power Rangers. When the inevitable action in the third act kicks off, Return doesn’t immediately jump back to its colourful self; instead, the fights are weighted with consequence. Each move, beit a well-timed punch or kick, has a sense of reluctance behind it.
At 304 pages, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger is more than a nostalgic check-in for fans of the original series. I was left feeling that Power Rangers Pink was the familiar reintroduction to the series I needed, before being thrown into a much more grown-up world in The Return. Both stories are well-written, offering glimpses into possible futures of the Rangers. Being co-written by the first Pink Ranger herself is the cherry on top. Who better to guide Kimberly Hart into adulthood than the person who was responsible for bringing her to life in the first place? To that end, Amy Jo Johnson and her creative team of Kelly Thomson, Brenden Fletcher and Matt Hotson deliver a fun comic book that offers two well-written ‘what if’ episodes of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers that are sure to satisfy those fans who now suffer from back pain after trying Zack’s Hip Hop Kido.
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger Collects:
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #1
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #2
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #3
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #4
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #5
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #6
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Re-Imagine
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #2
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4