Power Rangers Unlimited #1 is written by Kenny Porter & Joey Esposito and published by BOOM! Studios. Illustration is by Alessio Zonno, 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
This is it, Power Rangers fans! All of your favorite Rangers from every season and every series of the long-running television and comic series will finally be united in ways you’ve never even dreamed!
At a mysterious base on the planet Aquitar, a morphinomenal program is taking shape… Under the guidance of the eccentric Operator and the Striking Tiger Unlimited Ranger, Power Rangers from across time and space are called upon to form elite teams and battle a rising evil!
Review
Following the completion of a blockbuster, fan-favourite run BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comic books have been going through something of an awkward teenage phase. Despite some inspired one-shot books and the brilliant Power Rangers Prime the franchise has struggled to find the kind of success it had at its peak… until now. With Kenny Porter and Joey Esposito masterminding this new 12-issue anthology fans are poised for a legacy-spanning story that could just be the best Power Rangers book yet.
Porter and Esposito make it abundantly clear even from page one that this isn’t just another book focussing on the Mighty Morphin team. Whilst Trini Kwan is our entrance point it’s not our Trini but one from another universe. The book also opens with Lord Zedd and a huge horde of villains attempting to overthrow Terra Venture II, the sister vessel to that seen in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy. The writing team immediately throws down the gauntlet to include elements from right across the 30+ year history of the franchise and continue to double down on it throughout this first issue.
The setup is well constructed too. Trini, known at the Striking Tiger Unlimited Ranger, has been sent to Terra Venture to interfere with the portal technology that Zedd has used to arrive onboard. Though Trini has other ideas and wants to also stop Zedd in his tracks. An unknown voice in her ear continues to instruct her throughout the issue and ensures she’s aware that she has backup right across the ship. Cue an incredible string of cameos from Rangers of every colour from almost every season. Barely any stone is left unturned, particularly when it comes to some fan-favourite names. But there’s little time to celebrate as they need to take on Zedd, Captain Mutiny, Magmador, Mechanizer and Insectolite.
There’s no escaping the fact that Power Rangers Unlimited is a busy first issue. There’s over 15 speaking parts which in a 22-page story is easily a high volume. But Porter and Esposito handle it well. Many of the supporting Rangers don’t speak and those who do only have one or two lines of dialogue. So they feel authentically part of the story and the book itself feels very alive. But it’s not busy to the point of distraction or to the detriment of the story itself. Quite the opposite in fact. Every element thrown into the story works to setup a very worth story for the next 11 issues.
There are strong emotional stakes on top of all the traditional Power Rangers action. This multiverse Trini has lost her daughter Minh and whilst we don’t know all the details yet it’s clear she’s aware other versions of herself are out there living the life she wished she could. It’s baked into the DNA of the book well, just gently scratching the surface ready for the series to continue down that path in future issues. We also close out issue #1 with the reveal of who is the voice in Trini’s ear with all signs pointing to a version of Blue Ranger, Billy, being the culprit. What led to him being in the position he’s in during the cliffhanger is a story for another day.
Alessio Zonno is the perfect choice for this story. He’s already an established Power Rangers artist with great work on the crossover book with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So that history translates well to a solely Power Rangers story. With so many characters on the page there’s a lot to tackle but easily the book never feels busy. Each of that incredible roster of supporting characters has their Ranger uniform perfectly rendered and making them instantly recognisable. Zonno does all of the heavy lifting required to ensure all of that legacy from 30+ years of television episodes remains intact. That’s also down to Raúl Angulo’s colours. It’s not like colours aren’t important to other books, but when we’re talking about colour-coded heroes there’s an extra pressure to get things right.
Lord Zedd and each of the villains look brilliant also. Zedd is formidable and there are plenty of nods to supporting villains like Putties and Tengu warriors lurking in the background. That forms part of Zonno’s incredible ability to populate every panel in a way that feels full to the brim. Something that BOOM! succeeded with right from the start with this franchise was taking that mid-budget kids TV aesthetic and blowing it up into something of blockbuster proportions. That exists in this book in spades making for a near-perfect start to the story.
Verdict
Power Rangers Unlimited #1 is a bold, legacy embracing start which easily grabs hold of the best of BOOM!-era Power Rangers comics and presents it from a fresh and exciting angle.
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