Power Rangers Unlimited #1 is written by Kenny Porter & Joey Esposito and published by BOOM! Studios. Illustration is by Federico Sorressa, colours by Raúl Angulo and letters by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by Zonno.
Power Rangers Unlimited #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
In this legendary team-up, a crew of Power Rangers investigate a haunted satellite, and a villain makes its first-ever appearance! Something sinister is happening on the strange satellite orbiting KO-35…Andros (Red Space Ranger) and Karone (Pink Lost Galaxy Ranger)’s home planet. Once teammates start disappearing, how will the Rangers save the day against a ghostlike enemy?
Review
BOOM! Studios’ ambitious new legacy-spanning Power Rangers series returns to comic book stores today with its second issue. Having established itself as defiantly crossing boundaries to encompass the entire 30+ years of Ranger history in issue #1, this month co-writers Kenny Porter & Joey Esposito are flexing their muscles even further, reaching into Ranger history for another deeply personal story for Andros and Karone.
If the mission statement for Power Rangers Unlimited was to show just how easily one story can touch all corners of the Power Rangers Universe then point proven. Using Trini as an anchor last month we saw her surrounded by Rangers of all colours amidst a flurry of action. It worked and earned itself five stars from me. This month Porter and Esposito are taking the premise one step further, shifting Trini into a leadership role at the command centre and allowing a new team of recognisable faces to take on a White Psycho Ranger on KO-35, home to Andros and Karone, first introduced in Power Rangers in Space all the way back in 1998.
Karone’s continued arc since becoming a Pink Ranger in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy is sure to prove a hit with fans. The pair were fan-favourites to begin with. But utilising them both here does more than show Porter and Esposito are capable of mining the legacy Ranger well. It shows a dedication to making the right choices, picking Rangers with meaningful and important stories over simply the most famous and recognisable faces.
The setup is nice and simple, whoever is pulling the strings behind last month’s attack and this month’s appearance of the White Psycho Ranger is trying to amass information on the Rangers. This month they’ve sent the glitchy, cyber-ghost to mine data from a centre at KO-35. He’s gleefully pulling history of all of the Rangers still in play and sucking up the energy from anyone sent to stop him. He’s brutal and almost unstoppable. But he’s never faced the Rangers united before.
Shifting Trini to the outer fringes of the story this month works two-fold. Firstly we get to see her cemented into a leadership role within this team. For fans of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers it gives some proper development to a character who has long deserved it. Whilst the shift to another version of her from the multiverse does allow for some creative license there’s still enough connection for long-time fans to feel a similar connection to watching back in 1993. At the same time it shows that Power Rangers Unlimited isn’t purely going to rely on her as the main plot driver.
Issue #2 is definitely high in action. Once the group of on-call Rangers arrive on KO-35 there’s little time for them not to fight. In these moments we’re able to see the mix of personalities from across the franchise coming together and not necessarily knowing instantly how to gel as a team. Here it’s Andros, already a natural leader, butting heads with Sky Tate, the Blue Ranger from Power Rangers: S.P.D. These are going to be the moments which fans will really crave each month from Power Rangers Unlimited. Come for the character, stay for the action.
Hitting the ground running is so much easier when you have a dynamic art style to back it up. Power Rangers Unlimited #2 brings Federico Sorressa into the mix without missing a beat. The whole issue looks great. There are clear eastern influences which bring slice of anime into proceedings honouring the roots of the Power Rangers. Long-time readers know my rants about slavishly recreating actors on the page so I’m pleased to say none of those hangups exist in Sorressa’s artwork. Ranger uniforms continue to look perfectly recognisable, even in the book’s busy ensemble fight sequences. The White Psycho Ranger design also looks incredible on the page. It has influences from White Ranger uniforms from across history without simply copying any one of them in particular.
Verdict
Porter and Esposito continue to prove Power Rangers Unlimited is playing a genuinely long, considered game with its legacy cast — issue #2 is fast, well-drawn, and smart about who it puts in the room together. One of the most purposeful uses of Power Rangers history I’ve seen in years.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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