Lo and behold, another Power Rangers comic review and so soon after the last one since this is the most recent release. Some mild spoilers on this one, kids, but much of my criticisms of the previous comic can also apply to this one. Too much of a tease and leaving me with more questions than I would care for.
Continue reading “COMIC REVIEW – Power Rangers Unlimited (2026) #1”
Well, here we are. The bold new era of Boom Studios’ Power Rangers comic output comes in the form of another MMPR comic, set ten years after the team last got together and went their separate ways. Only for a new foe based on an old foe to return and tear everything down. So I finally got around to reading the first issue of this new book and… meh.
I say that not as a negative but rather with ambivalence. Because the issue doesn’t give you much, other than maybe a couple nuggets as to where the Rangers are at now, as well as an inkling of who or what this new Rita Rabiosa happens to be. It gives you the big moment, there’s an action bit, and there’s even Zord action throw in for good measure, but it’s clear that this first issue is more of a tease than a genuine first chapter. There’s more to come and that’s kind of the problem; I needed more than what they gave me. All I got was more questions. Sometimes, that’s a good thing and more than enough if you’re already sold on the premise… but when you’re NOT sold on the premise, you need a little more meat on those bones and I didn’t really get that.
Look, I like the brief interaction between the Rangers before they morph, even if the dialogue feels a bit off at times, but stilted dialogue has always been a Power Rangers thing, so that’s expected. There’s one particular development that anyone who has seen Once And Always would appreciate and I do like that inclusion here. And of course, I am rather curious about one missing member of the team… probably the first time in a long while that this particular character has been intriguing within these comics, so I give kudos on that.
But, again, there’s very little substance to be found here. I also found the artwork to be a bit… uneven. The action bits are fine, the zords are fine, but the human characters look rough and Kim looks like she just got out of bed. Again, there are questions that I hope the series will answer, but it’s mostly sizzle and no protein. Honestly, this is one of those times where I wouldn’t have minded holding off the action until the next issue – set the scene, tell us where these people are at, make it so that this scenario is as urgent as they say it is. It’s supposed to feel like a big event, but given how many “big events” Boom like to throw into these Power Rangers comics, it feels like business as usual. That’s not a good feeling to have when you’re entering this “bold, new era” of Power Rangers that feels too much like the familiar.
And if I didn’t hammer it enough times, I’m going to do so again – the new costumes still look awful. It’s not just the matter of being different; it’s the matter of these looking like bootleg figures from the international rip-off shop. The Boom record for shitty Ranger designs continues onwards, I’m afraid, and that Unlimited preview with the Strikng Tiger Hidden Bear Ranger thing isn’t any better.
It sounds like that I’ve been overly critical of this thing and that I don’t like it. Fair enough, but at the same time, I don’t dislike this enough to completely drop it. As much as I have questions and wish this first issue had done more to fill in some backstory, I do want to see how this pushes forward, which is nice considering this is from the same writer who wrote that Beyond The Grid, which is what caused me to drop that initial Boom run in the first place.
Good job, folks. You kept me around for another issue. That’s the highest praise I could give this thing right now. Let’s see if next issue does more.
Zord Quest is a story that treads on fairly familiar territory; after an incident separates the Rangers, each one goes through their own personal trial to prove their worth as heroes in order to overcome the latest monster of the day from Lord Zedd. Chances are you’ve seen some variation of this story when it was called Alien Rangers and the little kid Rangers each went on their own personal journey to recover a piece of Zeo Crystal that would set up the next incarnation of Power Rangers.
Zord Quest almost follows that same template, but doesn’t quite hit the mark. It’s a one-shot story that gets resolved quickly. The trials that the individual Rangers go through serve only to reinforce their teamwork and apply their newly learned lessons to use in order to defeat the latest monster of the week. The trials themselves are resolved fairly quickly with no real substance behind it. There’s a sense that Zord Quest wants to say something, but fails to actually say anything.
On top of that, the continuity snafus are hard to ignore. The story supposedly takes place during the second season (or Year Two, as the book calls it), but they’re still using the Dinozords, which were mostly inactive and replaced with the Thunderzords. (Funny how all these MMPR Boom comics that wasn’t their main series always default to using the old Megazords and not the later ones despite timeline placement.) Lord Zedd is at least the main baddy. but his characterization is inconsistent with what was established during that time. It’s a story that neither fits with TV or comic continuity and as someone who followed this franchise since the very beginning, things like this do grate a bit.
Still, I’d be hard-pressed to call this bad. At worst, it’s a fairly ho-hum story with some questionable continuity snafus that almost harken back to the Hamilton Comics days, but on the other hand, it’s also straightforward in its storytelling that leads to the very obvious resolution and on that count alone, it’s more than fine. I do appreciate the much grittier artwork that’s at least a fair departure from the usual bland artwork that I’ve seen in some of these Mighty Morphin comics during that series run. It’s not quite perfect.
Zord Quest doesn’t offer much in terms of substance or anything that hasn’t been done before, but it makes for a quick read if you’ve got nothing better to do and can forgive the continuity gaffes. I’d call this “merely okay” and move right along.
This comic book is a questionable piece of shit… I say questionable because the premise that it presents on paper is intriguing and could serve as a potential dramatic piece, but the execution of that premise ends up making the concept less so.
A three-issue Elseworlds mini-series published in prestige format (fancy cardstock cover and premium paper pages), Act Of God begins with a wave of black light that permanently depowers all the super-powered beings, rendering them normal humanoids or equivalents. That means you get stuff like Superman suddenly acting like a drunkard, Green Lantern obsessing over that guy who beat him up, and other heroes being hopelessly lost before some of them decide to be trained by Batman so that they can keep fighting crime or something. Every affected hero reacts differently to their new circumstance, but most of them react so poorly and their reactions are often in conflict with their traditional portrayals.
Somewhere in the thought process lied an interesting idea that could have developed into an interesting story. What was the cause of this Black Light event that depowered the heroes? How do the heroes cope to their new circumstances? How does this affect the overall power structure and hierarchy? Is this just an Earth thing? There are so many ways you could go with this thing and Act Of God approaches this in the most banal way possible that it almost comes across as parody.
The only real positive to be found is in Dave Ross’ artwork. While there are some panels of questionable quality that might have slipped through the cracks, I thought the art was really well done here. I only wish that it wasn’t tied to three issues of utter rubbish that could have easily been confused for something that was written today.
Absolute garbage. Avoid like the plague.
For anyone who has sampled my Winners And Losers Of 2025 list, you already have a pretty good idea on what I think of this series, but for the rest of you folks – particularly you folks who are disenchanted by modern Star Trek television properties – might I recommend that you give Redshirts a shot?
Continue reading “COMIC REVIEW – Star Trek: Red Shirts (2025 Miniseries, IDW)”
Shortly after publishing the previously-unseen edition of Batman #428 – the alternative third chapter of the controversial “A Death In The Family” storyline that depicted the non-death of Jason Todd a.k.a. Robin – DC put out a four-issue mini-series dubbed A Death In The Family: Robin Lives. They claim this to be from the DC Vault, which implies that this was a previously shelved story that never saw the light of day because readers voted for Robin to be put down.
But instead, it’s a whole new story. A whole new What If story… that gave me pause because I am always weary of these continuations of vintage properties written and illustrated by people who were probably babies when these things first graced the public consciousness. What gave me hope was that this was being written by J.M. DeMatteis, a veteran who’s been doing this for decades and should have a good idea on how to tell a follow-up to a previously unearthed 1988 comic book. That’s the only hope I had going into this, since the overall art quality is… less than stellar.
And you want to know something? At first, this series had promise. Opening the series up with the Joker shot dead in the head and then having the story bring us up to that point is not a bad idea on paper, though it did spoil things for me. I knew where they were going with this and I was almost dreading it, but the story up to that point had been pretty solid. Jason Todd struggling with how to move on after suffering a horrific beating at the hands of the Joker as well as the loss of the mother he barely knew, Batman struggling with his lack of experience in fatherhood in trying to comfort the boy, and… well, the shrink felt a bit excessive and the narration is a bit much, but for three issues, this was a somewhat solid story with some decent character moments.
However, once we hit that fourth and final issue, that’s when things fall apart. I’ll try not to spoil too much here, but the way that final issue played out gave me flashbacks of Return Of The Joker, the Batman Beyond animated movie. If you know the plot to that film, then you’ll get a sense of dejavu here, except with a chance in player pieces. And when all is said and done and we get to that final epilogue… let’s just say that it only took a couple pages to kill off any goodwill that the first three issues brought up.
That’s the best way to sum up Death In The Family: Robin Lives. It starts off great, goes along smoothly, and then eventually falls off a cliff before landing headfirst onto a block of concrete. Maybe there’s a better ending stashed away in the DC Vault that got sidelined in favor of what we got here. Hopefully, it doesn’t take four decades to have that see the light of day.
Here’s an interesting piece of business that DC put out last year; the alternate version of Batman #428 from 1988 that served as the third chapter of the much controversial storyline “A Death In The Family,” that saw readers call in to vote for the demise of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Now, we’ve already seen that story and we’ve also seen that story’s importance minimized with the subsequent resurrection of Jason Todd back in the mid-2000s.
However, if callers had voted for Robin to live, this would have been the issue that would continue the story. And if you were expecting any drastic divergence from what was already published, you’re probably going to come away disappointed. Part 3 of A Death In The Family – The Robin Lives Edition plays out in pretty much the same way as the version we got, except this time, Robin… well, you know, lives. Beyond that, he doesn’t play much of a role afterwards and the story continues as it had before.
Batman #428 – The Robin Lives Edition could easily be slotted into the rest of the story without compromise if you want to imagine this story in a world where readers voted to let Jason Todd live. It’s not much of a big deal from a story standpoint, but being able to see what could have been after all this time is still a pretty sweet deal and something that I’m sure would be included in future TPB editions of this particular storyline. I’m rather pleased to see that this exists.
Now, the follow-up miniseries that DC begat afterwards… that, I could do without…
So while a bunch of old-timers were revisiting past glory in New Zealand – resulting in the 30th anniversary special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once And Always – OG Pinky Amy Jo Johnson was busy crafting her own anniversary story… out of beeswax. The kind that’s none of ours.
Nobody is going to get that.
Continue reading “COMIC REVIEW – MMPR: The Return (2024 Miniseries)”
Written and Illustrated by Jerry Ordway
To the best of my recollection, this is the only Shazam I’ve read that features the closest thing to what can be considered the original take on the Captain Marvel character. I may have read a few issues of the subsequent series that resulted from the success of this series, but my only exposure to the Marvel family would’ve been guest spots in other comic books and maybe that one cartoon from the days when a cartoon based on a comic book was about as much of the norm as a superhero film would be today.
For all intents and purposes, The Power Of Shazam is the then-modern day origin story of how young Billy Batson was chosen by the wizard Shazam to become the mighty hero Captain Marvel. Those who are only familiar with the modern-day version with the whole family thing will find this to be a much different. This is the story of Billy Batson trying to find his place in the world… all the while having to deal with a new power set given to him by an ancient wizard while also dealing with a villain with ties to the wizard and Billy as well.
A reviewer by the name of Tom Knapp had compared The Power Of Shazam to one of those old-timey Saturday Morning serials from the 1930s and that’s a viewpoint I would agree with wholeheartedly. Not just in terms of imagining the world of Fawcett City as a typical metropolis (no pun intended) of the 1930s, complete with all the visual stylings, dressings, and lingo of the day – only way you could have taken this over the top was to print the story in black and white – but also in terms of its wholesomeness. Despite being written during contemporary times, this is a story where the line between heroes and villains are clearly defined, there’s no mixed message to be found here, and there’s an ending to a story that may lead to other stories, but is nonetheless an ending to this story.
There’s no question that Jerry Ordway put together a compelling piece of work that pays homage and tribute to the character and his lore. While it is clearly a sampler of things to come, it also serves very nicely as its own piece of work. Ordway also puts in time with the painted interior art, which is exceptional stuff, indeed.
The Power Of Shazam is an excellent read indeed and for whatever it’s worth, it’s one of the strongest Shazam stories ever conceived. If you’re going to read just one of these things, make it this one.
(2025 Update: This review was originally written in 2022, but somehow a typo meant that it was published in 2012. This has long since been corrected.)
The character of Iron Man 2020 first debuted in 1984 in the Machine Man 2020 comic that was in publication at the time and featured another Stark named Arno as Iron Man, but this Iron Man was more of a hired gun than a hero. Anyway, said Iron Man 2020 would get his own prestige one-shot ten years later and for a one-shot, it does a fine enough job to bringing newbies up to speed on this character as he tracks folks who kidnapped the daughter of one of his competitors and all hell breaks loose, I guess.
The actual plot is nothing really special; it’s just an excuse to have some nice action bits and some hints of instilling some heroic attributes to a man who has none, somewhat mirroring the direction of the original Iron Man from years past. I do chuckle at all the future technology of 2020 that the art team attempted to predict. They figured we’d have flying cars by now; instead, we had a pandemic. The Iron Man 2020 suit looks clunky as hell, though.
This was an entertaining enough read, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a vital piece of comic work. Still, someone must have remembered this thing back in 2020, because they brought the character back in an event that same year. Would wonders never cease?
