Power Rangers: Across the Morphin Grid #1 is published by BOOM! Studios and features stories by David Yost, Nakia Burrise & JD Sutphin, Mat Groom & Steve Cardenas, Walter Jones and Meghan Camarena. The anthology features artwork by Patrick Mulholland, Tango, Anand Ramcheron, Dominike “Domo” Stanton and Paulina Ganucheau. Colours are by Ellie Wright, JP Jordan, Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli, DJ Chavis and Rebecca Good. Letters are by Ed Dukeshire.
Power Rangers: Across the Morphin Grid #1 is available now, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
What’s better than an anthology featuring a character of each main Power Ranger color? One where each corresponding actor writes their character’s story?
Featuring Yellow Zeo Ranger Tanya Sloan, Black Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Zack Taylor, Blue Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Billy Cranston, the second Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Rocky DeSantos, and Pink Hyperforce Ranger Chloe Ashford, discover a whole host of exciting stories from every corner of the Morphin Grid!
David Yost and Walter Jones, the original Blue and Black Rangers, are joined by other fan favorite writers including Steve Cardenas, Mat Groom, Nakia Burrise, JD Sutphin, and Meghan Camarena; in addition to art by Paulina Ganucheau (DC Pride: Better Together), Tango (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures IDW Endless Summer), Patrick Mulholland (MOM Breaks the Internet), Anand Ramcheron (Marvel’s Voices) for a morphinominal experience that is not to be missed!
Review
There’s no escaping the impact which BOOM! Studios has had on the Power Rangers brand. The publisher has revitalised the franchise outside of television with an exciting approach to integrated storytelling. Putting an increased emphasis on each of the character’s outside of their super suits and really digging in to who they are has created a reputation for authentic, but compelling Power Rangers stories.
But what’s better than telling authentic stories about the characters we know and love? Inviting the actors who inhabited those roles to tell stories about their Ranger, that’s what. That’s just what BOOM! has done with this week’s release of Power Rangers: Across the Morphin Grid #1. An anthology book featuring five brand new stories and some very familiar faces. Those faces are Billy Cranston, portrayed and written by David Yost, Tanya Sloan (played by Nakia Burrise and co-written by Burrise and JD Sutphin), Rocky Santos (played by Steve Cardenas who co-writes with Mat Groom) and Zack Taylor (written and played by Walter Jones). Additionally, Meghan Camarena returns for a fun tale which continues the world of Power Rangers: Hyperforce.
The anthology begins with Billy Cranston, one of the longest running character in Power Rangers history. David Yost has been with Billy every step of the way and writes a story in which the hero is never seen in costume. Instead he writes a beautiful ode to his bellow Rangers, showing how each of them inspired Billy to be the hero that he has become. “Billy’s Metamorphosis” is the most sci-fi of all the stories and is brilliantly complimented by Patrick Mulholland’s illustrations and Ellie Wright’s colours. Though Yost writes a story with epic consequences for the Power Rangers universe, his focus on the core of who Billy is and his connection to his friends is a wonderful example of how the actors have come to love their character and fellow cast.
The same can be said of Walter Jones’ “An Apple A Day”, a stand-alone story featuring his original Black Ranger character, Zack Taylor. Jones exhibits not only intimate knowledge of his character and his era of Power Rangers. He is also able to construct his story to feel like a lost episode from the Mighty Morphin era. It reads like an issue of the 1990’s comic book tie-ins and so the nostalgia-factor alone is worth the price of entry. Once again BOOM!’s editorial team does an incredible job of pairing Jones with Domiko “Domo” Station and DJ Chavis for some blockbuster artwork.
Across the Morphin Grid really shines when it puts the spotlight on characters from less well known versions of the franchise. Tanya Sloan, pleased by Nakia Burrise in Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo might be a fan-favourite character but not every casual reader may know her story. Just like her counterparts, Burrise exhibits an uncanny knack for tapping directly in to the mind of Tanya, bringing us up to date on where she is after her retirement during the Turbo run of the series. Tanya’s story weaves in a couple of other familiar faces and leads to a stirring moment for fans of a relationship which was never given much time on screen.
Meanwhile stories by second Red Ranger Steve Cardenas, alongside writer Mat Groom, and Power Rangers: Hyperforce mastermind Meghan Camarena explore the versatility of the franchise, particularly through comic books. Cardenas and Groom focus on Rocky Santos’ extended family, an aspect fully absent from Cardenas’ time on-screen. Their story explores the meaning of power through the eyes of a sibling bond. Whilst Camarena brings all of the fun in a story which features beautiful illustration by Paulina Gancheau.
Verdict
Sit back and take a moment to remember why we love each of these incredible characters from Power Rangers. BOOM! Studios has curated a nostalgic, exhilarating set of stories with each of the original Ranger actors proving their connection to their characters has never dulled in the years following their tenure.
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