There’s a new threat in town, and she’s incredibly familiar to the Mighty Morphin’ team. How can this be happening? All we know is, time-travel is an imprecise science… Your Major Spoilers review of Go Go Power Rangers #9 awaits!
GO GO POWER RANGERS #9
Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist:Raul Angulo
Letterer:Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Dafna Pleban
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 2, 2018
Previously in Go Go Power Rangers: “As the Rangers deal with the fallout of Rita’s sinister plan and Matthew’s startling return, a new threat emerges with a shocking connection to Lord Drakkon.”
#TIMETRAVELSHENANIGANS
This issue opens in the future, as the denizens of Angel Grove try to exist under the iron boot of Lord Drakkon, with a group of Angel Grove High students and faculty getting ambushed by the Mammoth Guard, who nearly kill them all (including Bulk) until future Kimberly intervenes. Back in the present, while still dealing with the fallout of the return of Kim’s ex-boyfriend Matthew, the Rangers have problems of their own: Kim’s parents are divorcing, Jason’s dad may have health issues, and Billy’s… Billy’s just kind of weird, spending his days working to improve his bond with his Zord. When a strange power signature arrives in Angel Grove, Zordon sends them out to investigate, and what they find is shocking. The Pink Ranger from Zordon’s future has arrived in Angel Grove (but years too early) and she’s not happy to find that she can’t fulfill her mission.
That’s when Rita arrives to offer an alliance to destroy the Rangers before they ever become a problem…
NOTHING MORE TERRIFYING THAN A QUIET RITA REPULSA
This issue features a lovely scene wherein Rita’s lieutenants come to her all a’panic, asking what they should do about the new Ranger fighting their old ones, only to be completely poleaxed when the witch calmly responds “Nothing at all.” This issue does a great job with making future Kimberly/Pink Ranger a terrifying badass, dispatching all five Rangers single-handedly, but the question of what happened between the flash-forward and the present sequences is unclear. I really enjoy the art on GGPR, as Dan Mora combines precise renditions of equipment and helmets with loose, energetic facial expressions and body language, making even quiet moments of studying entertaining to look at, while the story presents the five heroes with terrible questions about their future and the people they will grow to become.
BOTTOM LINE: CLEVER USE OF THE CROSSOVER ELEMENTS
With the two Power Rangers series existing at different points in the continuity, I had wondered how they could tie them in together, but this issue takes the idea and runs with it, giving us the terrifying spectre of a grimdark Batman-style Pink Ranger. Moreover, Go Go Power Rangers #9 doesn’t throw aside its ongoing stories to leap into the crossover madness, instead streamlining them together with solid plotting and excellent art, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. There’s a lot of great stuff in here, and the story of future Kim still has a lot of things yet to be revealed, which builds the tension well, making me want next issue ASAP…
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Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.