Category: Comic Musings

So, for what it’s worth, the first issue of the new MMPR comic has been released. Naturally, I had thoughts beforehand and promised that I’d give this thing a shot. When that is going to happen is… not anytime soon, I’m afraid.

A matter of busy with other stuff, but mostly, I haven’t had the chance to pick this up yet. I have been wanting to wait until all three series have released their first issues, but Unlimited is only premiering in July and I haven’t kept up on when the other one is popping up. So right now, the only issue out there is the new MMPR. Whenever I get the chance to grab a copy and give it a read, I’ll prep some thoughts soon afterwards. Not sure if this is going to be a quick “review” format or something a little deeper.

Truth be told, I haven’t been keeping up, so I don’t know what the reception for this thing is like. I’d imagine the usual heaping of praise for the bold new direction that Power Rangers desperately needed or whatever, even though it’s just another repackage of the MMPR formula and not even an inspired one. Here’s hoping there’s merit to that praise when I get to the reading. And once I do, I’ll post my thoughts and we’ll see.

I can promise one thing, though; it’ll be honest. If I find things to like, I’ll say as much. If I find things to dislike, the same. But if you’re looking for endless hype and praise, you’re in the wrong place.

Anyway, should be fun.

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.

Yes, I have more thoughts on this MMPR comic book thing that’s coming up. For those who need a refresher, I did a couple posts on this previously, which you can read here and here.

Long story short, BOOM is rebooting MMPR with older Rangers and rather than follow the template established by the Johnson/Hotson miniseries The Return, you’re getting this other thing where the Rangers are older, are fighting a new threat who’s also named Rita and looks like the old Rita, and are wearing new knock-off costumes you’d find on the packaging of those cheap, imitation action figures you’d find in cheapo shops. It just occurred to me that the people behind this new reboot are the same folks who brought you that Beyond The Grid storyline, which is apparently critically praised because it checks a few boxes in certain places, but really came across as really shitty fanfiction… which is saying something considering I used to dabble in my fair share of it. (Which will return in some form or fashion because I hate you all, apparently… just watch.) However, shitty fanfiction can be dropped and forgotten about because it doesn’t count; this thing, however, was part of Boom’s mainline MMPR series and rather than focus on those characters, we’re focused on some mishmash of stuff… and ultimately, this was the storyline that convinced me to drop off the Boom Comics train.

Though, if I’m being fair, I was already on the verge of dropping the series after the whole Shattered Grid thing, which I was never a fan of. And despite a couple attempts to jump back into it here and there, the series didn’t land for me and I just moved on to something, like replays of old episodes on Youtube once the deal with Netflix went up.

There’s a contingent of fans who are no doubt tired of the MMPR saturation of product. Let’s explore other seasons that seldom few people outside of the hardcores will care about. I think I’ve said this before, but if not, I’ll say it here. The reason MMPR often gets the spotlight is because it’s the most recognizable of the seasons. It ran longer, it had a movie under its belt, it had the most popularity, and even years after that run had concluded and we were dabbling in more narratively-complex seasons, there’s always that vocal section who want to return to that original crew, bring them back together for one last rodeo or something like that.

I’ve got no issues with them bringing back MMPR. Would I prefer they explore other seasons? Sure… preferably, I’d rather they focus on the season that’s currently on television to raise awareness for that… except we don’t have that now.

So yes, bad costumes, tired plot concept, and written by a crew that drove me off the comic years ago… I suppose everyone deserves another chance… maybe.