Got a chance to check out the recent Power Rangers #0, which is basically a freebie given away as part of another giveaway event or something. Not Free Comic Book Day, but another day similar to it… Anyway, this is basically a sampler – a teaser, if you will – for Boom Studios’ three upcoming series. And that’s really all they are; teasers. They don’t tell you much beyond the basic principle of each series. Something like this should get you excited for what’s to come.
Well, as you could probably surmise from the choice of header banner for this post quoting the great Mark Bussler of Classic Game Room fame, I’m not so sure it worked on that front… not for me, anyway.
The MMPR Reunion series or whatever you want to call it doesn’t quite hit the feels. Partly due to the artwork not quite being all that great – the new costumes notwithstanding, I don’t think the Ranger adults look all that great. I’m not sure whether this is supposed to be a continuation of the last Boom series or something else entirely, but in any event, this tease offers nothing more than what past blurbs have said. And what little I’ve seen here doesn’t inspire much confidence. I remain cautiously optimistic that this turns out well, but really am hoping that somebody puts the kibosh on this and give Amy Jo Johnson’s take on the reunion special (MMPR: The Return) the sequel series it deserves.
As for Power Rangers Unlimited… a OG Power Ranger is recruited by a master of some sort to recruit a bunch of other Rangers to deal with some threat. Sort of like that Beyond The Grid story from a few years back, except now… MOAR RANGERS. I’m pretty sure people wanted other teams to get the spotlight, but I’m sure that meant series of their own rather than riding off the MMPR gravy train. There are some GOOD seasons that deserve a similar run to what BOOM gave MMPR back in 2016 until that fell off the creative track.
Finally, there’s the Green story – essentially the JDF wetdream of giving Tommy his own Old Man Logan/Last Ronin take… which is fine if we weren’t already getting that wetdream in the form of Legend Of The White Dragon (assuming it ever comes out, despite promises). Also, the concept has been done to death countless times. This feels like a retread. I’m sure some folks will get theirs tickled, but I’m just like “I’ve read this when it was called Old Man Logan and The Last Ronin. I don’t need something that feels like a fifth-rate knockoff.”
Yeah, so far, I’m still not sold on this new deal. I was fine with Prime because it was something different and also it was probably one of the better PR comics to come out in a while, with the other being The Return. Like I said, I’ll give the first issue of each one because they deserve that much, but they have to be really strong issues that do a better job of selling their concept because everything that has come out up to this point has been meandering at best.
Again, a follow-up to The Return would have been nice, especially with the sequel tease. Hell, I’d be open to a continuation of Once & Always now that the original continuity is no longer televised. Or just continue doing Prime. I have no idea why they stopped that series. Bad sales, maybe? Who knows?
We’ll see how this turns out, I guess.
Later.
dtm666 