Ranger Academy #7 is written by Maria Ingrande Mora and published by BOOM! Studios. Illustrations are by Jo Mi-Gyeong, colours by Joana Lafuente and letters by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by Miguel Mercado.
Ranger Academy #7 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
A grim discovery reveals information about the last Green Ranger at the Academy, and it’s too close to home for Sage to let go of her obsession!
As the threat of Dark Specter approaches Ranger Academy, Sage will have to believe in herself and claim the power that’s hers if she’s going to protect her loved ones…
Review
When last we left the Ranger Academy, Tula had pulled Sage away from the Parents Weekend Dance and the two had snuck in to the very closed Green Ranger campus. Whilst Sage is preoccupied with the idea they will be missed it seemed like Tula had something else on her mind. All of which leads us to this month’s brilliant Ranger Academy #7 as the series’ plot threads begin to come together in unexpected and enthralling ways.
Issue #7 is a pretty packed story. Maria Ingrande Mora is throwing everything in to this story, balancing a focussed opening with a marked increase in the series’ tension as the threat of Dark Specter begins to loom large over the series.
Picking up right where issue #6 left off, Tula and Sage are deep in the dorms of Green Campus. It’s clear that there’s more than meets the eye but Mora isn’t giving it all away. Whilst Tula opens up about her reason for wanting to break in to the campus, something else is going on with Sage which further teases her connection to the Green Ranger power. It seems like the spirits of those who used to live in Green Campus are weighing heavy on Sage. There’s a level of empathy to Sage which reaches far beyond simply reading the room. It seems like Mora is setting up some exciting lore around the students connection to their Ranger colour. I’m interested to see where this aspect of the story goes in future.
Tula’s story takes a fascinating twist this month. Given it was Tula’s shuttle who crashed on Sage’s home moon and also Tula who convinced the powers at Ranger Academy to admit Sage. It certainly now seems that she has been manipulating the situation from the beginning in order to gain access to Green Campus. As the truth finally comes out it becomes clear why it’s been so important for Ranger Academy to spend so much time setting up these characters. The betrayal Sage feels is seething. It ripples off the page with a red hot rage that is only enhanced by Jo Mi-Gyeong’s beautiful illustrations.
With the dance (and Parents Weekend) over the students are all called to a group assembly. With the tension between Sage and Tula bubbling right under the surface the school is put on high alert and visited by a group of local Rangers. Dark Specter is on the move and that means trouble could very well be on the horizon. So far Ranger Academy has remained focussed on the titular location itself. It has really established itself as a well realised location in the Power Rangers universe. It will be interesting to see if these students are called upon to join the fight and how that impacts on the storytelling of the series overall.
Meanwhile issue #7 ends on a different note of tension as Tula and Sage find themselves once again separated from the rest of the academy. But this is different. This time it’s Sage who has the power as the two become trapped in a training simulation. Mora has ended each issue with some kind of cliffhanger to grip the reader ready for the next. But this might just be the biggest one yet. Certainly one which might cause the biggest seismic shift in the series.
Verdict
The truth will out in the latest issue of BOOM!’s Ranger Academy. Writer Maria Ingrande Mora brings a delicious balance to the character drama and superhero elements of the story as events continue to swirl around wannabe Ranger, Sage.
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