Category: Comic Reviews

Some people may recall Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the masterfully-written comic book miniseries (or graphic novel, as some would prefer to call it) written by Frank Miller, the guy who would bring us Batman: Year One, Daredevil: Born Again, Sin City, 300, and… All-Stars Batman and Robin, the comic book run that is probably best known for this little gem:

I’ve heard people say that Miller lost his ability to write truly compelling Batman around the time The Dark Knight Strikes Again came around (yeah, that one’s a bit of stinker) and that the All-Stars Batman & Robin series is nothing more than a farce of an actual Batman book… funny considering the direction it would go whenever issues would actually appear on store shelves after painfully-long delays per book.

To anyone who actually think Miller lost his mind in regards to Batman storytelling in the 2000s… I submit to you today’s subject matter; the 1994 one-shot graphic novel, Spawn/Batman.

Just to be completely clear on what is actually being reviewed, the book is explicitly titled Spawn/Batman. There is another one-shot comic called Batman/Spawn: War Devil, which is a completely different book altogether… and presumably a much better book than this one… at least, I’d like to think so.

I’d like to bring up some good points in this story, but unfortunately, I’d be hard-pressed to actually find any. I guess I could say that Todd MacFarlane’s art is nice to look at half the time… but that would be lying. In all honesty, the art is probably the only really high point of this book because it is pretty decent for the most part… whenever I can clearly decipher just what the hell is going on, which is… well, half the time. I suppose I wasn’t too far off in that estimate.

The story – or what is laughingly referred to as such – involves Batman fighting high-tech terrorist robots, acting like a complete doofus, calling Spawn a punk on numerous occasions, and all in all being a complete and total departure from what we already know about the character. And yes, I know that this is supposed to take place in Frank Miller’s own “Dark Knight” continuity… but even THAT version of Batman had some spark and relation to the Batman most people are familiar. This one doesn’t. I’m sorry, but Miller dubbing this story as part of Dark Knight continuity or not part of DC canon does not equal “write Batman as poorly as humanly possible.” Aside from the clichéd “two heroes fight each other first before teaming up against the bad guys” drivel that permeates one too many crossover storylines, here are also voodoo doctors and a couple panels of Spawn puking. Brilliant.

Look, I know people loved Miller’s old stuff as opposed to his newer stuff, but this book is proof that not all of the older Miller stuff holds up particularly well – and even back in the day, this wasn’t much of a below-average read. If you’re looking for a good Batman story or a good Spawn story… don’t get this.

So, this issue is rather popular within the fandom because it brings up an interesting conundrum; whatever happened to the old Thunderzords and subsequent powers that were destroyed and thus completely forgotten about? Turns out Zedd collected them, created five new coins, and gave them to five completely despicable lowlifes so that he can turn them into Dark Rangers.

So you have Ninja rangers vs. Dark Rangers… because the book is about the Ninja Rangers and god forbid we actually have these teens use their full Ranger suits for something that calls for drastic measures. Hell, the cover even implies boldly that people demanded the Power Rangers take on the Dark Rangers (which people, Marvel?), but we’re not even getting that. Anyway, setting that aside, it’s probably the most compelling story to come out of these early MMPR comic books… even with all the inane dialogue that has become a staple in this Marvel run and what makes it all the more tragic is that there’s no conclusion or follow-up.

This short story leaves things open… and never touches on them again. Not in the remaining two issues of this series nor in the other Marvel series… it leaves you hanging and never touches on it again. This puts a damper on the story, knowing that it’s never going to be resolved. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the only PR comic story that will be left unresolved… but that’s another story.

Disclaimer: That katana that Tommy is holding in his hand does not appear anywhere in this comic book. In fact, neither does Tommy or any of the other guys, as it’s a solo outing for the ladies this time around.

In our second Ninja Rangers short story, Kim and Aisha are shopping and Kim has a bunch of clothes she wants to try out… which puts Aisha to sleep or something. Then Rita and Zedd cast a spell on the mall where everyone is hogging the good stuff and so the girls morph into Ninja Rangers, try to fight them off, and then eventually turns everyone normal by showing them the bill, which comes up pretty high.

Folks may recall that a similar story appeared in the old run from Hamilton Comics and this is more or less the same idea, but a different approach. Again, it’s a brief little story, it’s something I’d actually expect would fit in as an episode of the show, but expanded to include the other stuff. The art is consistent with the style of the other stuff; nothing special. All in all, an okay story.

This series is a flip book that also features a VR Troopers comic on the other side. However, this review (as well as reviews for the rest of the series) will only focus on the Ninja Ranger stories. Fact is that I don’t know much about VR Troopers and I don’t think I can add anything to those stories… not that there’d be much to add if Marvel’s MMPR output has been any indication, but I digress.

Anyway, Marvel’s secondary series focuses on the “Ninja Rangers” a.k.a. the colorful pajamas. Generally speaking, the stories in this series are generally of a higher caliber than the main book, which isn’t saying much, but it’s something worth noting as we head on into this venture.

Case in point; today’s story, where Tommy notices a kid on his basketball team throwing games for loan sharks. Lord Zedd creates actual loan sharks and we get some brief Ninja Ranger action and a lesson learned. Cliche lesson aside, the story is pretty good with its smaller scope and focus, deviating somewhat from the familiar formula by focusing on a Ranger or two.

Marvel’s Power Rangers series ended with this seventh issue and… you know, that’s probably a good thing since I seem to say the same thing regarding these comics over and over again. So it’s not the most auspicious exit around and apparently, Ron Lim had turned in for the rest of the show, so we’ve got Stone Canyon Shakedown, a story written and drawn by Grant Miehiem, which is the Rangers fighting a lava monster… it’s fine. The art is alright, but the Rangers look somewhat blocky. Not quite Romita Jr. blocky, but enough that it’s noticeable. Still, fairly harmless story.

And then, we end this run with Major Munch, written and drawn by Darick Robertson… yes, the guy who brought you THE BOYS wrote and drew a Power Rangers comic strip. Amazingly, it is kid-friendly fare. And even more amazingly, it’s quite fun. A Captain Crunch rip-off thing hypnotizes citizens with his cereal and commercials in a nefarious scheme indeed. Not a bad way to end this series; Tommy’s fist bump morph never became a thing, though.

I’ll leave that to the imagination.

First major positive with this comic; they finally got rid of those annoying sidebars that could’ve gone to more of the cover image. It’s just too bad they started this new format with one of the more awkward group shots ever drawn. What in blazes is ol’ Tommy looking at that’s making his helmet look so sad?

Anyway, we continue with two more stories in the mighty Marvel mold… for whatever that’s worth now. The first story features the Rangers fighting elemental monsters in a story that seems a lot grander in scope, but because of the length of these stories, it’s anything but. Too bad; something like this could’ve been at least a full comic book or two.

The second story features rock monsters kidnapping little kids and the Rangers have to save them. There is nothing I can say about this story beyond it’s average fare in a few pages, but at least Ron Lim is around to supply some consistent art throughout both stories. I might not be a fan of the way he draws the teens (they look like generic Marvel characters instead of people), but for what it’s worth, it’s the best art this run has scene and that has to count for something.

The Rangers take a hike in the mountains where they encounter a vortex that they eventually get sucked into because… well, I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s a nice little, touching tail of a well-meaning thing needing help and let’s leave it at that. Simple, to the point, and somehow more high concept than the typical Power Rangers fare. And the artwork is fine for this, too.

Second story brings us the return of the horrible art… and a boy who lies about monsters before encountering a real monster and nobody believes him. It’s a Marvel take on a Ranger take on an old parable and it’s harmless fare save for the humans who look hideous… but at least the Rangers look alright. Not exactly high praise, but there you go.

By the way, for reasons that escape me in the second story, Adam’s wearing a T-Shirt with a Goku-like head (‘cuz he’s ASIAN – HAR) while Aisha is wearing Body Glove-like gear… anyone remember Body Glove. Is that a thing still?

So big news here; to reflect the change in cast, Kimberly is replaced with Kat in the Pink suit… and this is done by taking the totally generic looking Kimberly character in the comics and painting her hair blonde. Voila! New Pink Ranger! Clearly, these colorists have learned their lessons from the ninja swapping trick of Mortal Kombat exceptionally well, but I digress.

Sadly, I only wish I were joking because the Rangers are such one-note characters (even more so than on the television show, which may shock some folks) that if you had kept Kim in there, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in the long run. This is quite telling when you open up the book and see the first page, where you see Kim’s head recolored as blond.

In any event, the first story has the Rangers fighting Pudgy Pig and that’s it. It’s just straight up ten pages of straight up Ranger action with some Ninjazords tossed in for good measure. For what it’s worth, it’s an accurate depiction of Pudgy Pig. Marvel might recycle some old monsters a couple times, but at the very least, they do them justice, unlike the Saga series by Hamilton.

The second story, also the second story in the series to boast the distinction of being drawn by legendary illustrator Steve Dikto, features a generic pimply-faced nerd getting picked on and accepts an offer by Rita to be made big and strong, only to be turned into a monster instead. The tale is nothing special, but unlike Dikto’s first Rangers story, the artwork here is much better; less overly cartoonish and more semi-realistic.

The first story features the return of Pirantishead, the first Season 2 monster, and a rare underwater fight that brings us our problem; Aisha’s fear of water… which makes no sense because she participated in a triathlon that involved swimming in a prior episode, thus denoting a massive discontinuity between the comics and the books. It’s a nothing story about overcoming your fears, but at least the art is decent and the setting is somewhat unique for Power Rangers.

The second story, Most Valuable Slayer, is about girls being as good as boys in sports and stuff. The girl in question, Kelly, wants to join the baseball team, but her being a girl is a problem until the end of the story when she sticks around to watch the Rangers fight a pink monster thing. Again, a generic nothing story that is hampered by some truly hideous artwork. The Rangers are depicted in an overly muscular fashion that would make Rob Liefeld blush, nobody knows how to draw proper faces… the back-up story of an active burner would’ve been a more appropriate place for this stinker.

Our second Marvel issue of Mighty Morphin contains another two stories of the mighty Marvel fare.

The first story, Playing Dirty, has the Ranger teens helping out at a car wash before Zedd decides to turn a car (occupied by Bulk & Skull… naturally) into a monster. This story reads more like an abridged episode than anything; set up the plot of the day, follow up with the pre-requisite Tenga battle (which feature the Rangers morphing to their usual fare instead of the Ninja suits… I guess we can’t mix and match suits in these two comics), introduce the monster for the Rangers to fight and introduce the Zord battle, which is actually quite unique in the way it disposes of the car monster.

The second story, notable for being illustrated by the legendary Steve Dikto, has Aisha and Kimberly looking after kids while Bulk & Skull attempt to be upstanding citizens or something… aren’t they supposed to be cops at this point? Anyway, Rito Revolto shows up and threatens the kids, but our two teens can’t morph in front of kids. It’s a fairly basic story with some surprisingly mediocre artwork. The humans look bad and the monsters are drawn in a somewhat cartoonish fashion. Not one of Dikto’s better works, but the story itself isn’t too bad, as it’s more of a Bulk & Skull sidestory than anything involving the Rangers.