Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3 is written by Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson and published by BOOM! Studios. Illustration is by Nico Leon, colours by Dono Sanchez-Almara and lettered by Ed Dukeshire. Main cover art (left) is by Goni Montes.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3 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 new adversary reveals the secrets of the final battle and deadly explosion on the moon all those years ago, but what implications arise when the long-thought dead are more restless than the Rangers thought? A secret hidden on the moon only survived after the sacrifice of another, and it will be up to the Rangers–with some unexpected help–to protect a vulnerable Earth. And when the plan is enacted, what role will the Dragon Power Coin play…?
Review
BOOM!’s incredible Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return is back today with its penultimate issue. With the end in sight writers Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson are grasping at the heart strings and refusing to let go. But even as the incredible action of last month gives way to more dialogue, issue #3 keeps the hits coming with emotional reveal after emotional reveal.
There’s absolutely no denying that issue #2 was huge and packed with revelations. But rather than simply continue to escalate, our fearless writers pivot to give the series a chance to pick up on the reunion of the surviving Mighty Morphin team members.
Issue #3 picks up in the wake of last month’s cliffhanger. Kimberly has awoken amongst the charred remains of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd’s moon base. Surrounded by her former team mates, they soon come to realise they’re being held captive inside an almighty forcefield. Cue revelation number one, the mysterious Selena. Not really a relative of beloved Trini but in fact the love child of Rita and Zedd. Shocker!
Allowing the reveal only mere moments to hang in the air, Johnson and Hotson cue up their next reveal. Finster has also survived the attack through some fairly questionable methods and has been aiding the young Selena in an attempt to retrieve her mother who became trapped in the Morphin Grid when Billy’s device went off. The final piece in their dastardly puzzle is reuniting the original Power Coins to power the machine.
Johnson and Hotson have created an authentic, in-universe storyline both for the loss of Rita and Finster’s plan to retrieve her essence. It plays perfectly in to Power Rangers’ villains penchant for monologuing which, in this case, allows Finster the time to explain his resurrection device in great detail. Giving Rita and Zedd a love child complicates their relationship but also beautifully reflects the story of Kimberly and Tommy which comes in to play much more at the end of the issue.
Reaching back twenty years, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return… returns… to that fateful night on the moon. Cue perhaps the biggest revelation in the book. As we watch events play out after Kimberly has teleported to safety, Johnson and Hotson cue the audience in on an incredible secret which could, if revealed, change the course of the entire storyline. It’s a really bold move and one I never saw coming, especially clueing in the audience and not the character’s themselves. Going in to the finale the audience will be on tenterhooks for the reveal which could, if at all, come a the 11th hour.
Before having chance to catch our breath there’s one final blow for issue #3 to deal. With Finster and Selena’s plans stopped in their tracks, a cliffhanger for the ages comes in to play and sets up a cool conflict for next month’s finale. One which brings the story full circle in a really beautiful way.
Verdict
Another incredible chapter for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return. The hits just keep on coming as Johnson and Hotson continue twisting the story in new an increasingly exciting directions in readiness for next month’s finale.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
