The Eltarian War has begun. The Rangers are already starting to fall apart. Your Major Spoilers review of Mighty Morphin’ #13 from BOOM! Studios awaits!

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MIGHTY MORPHIN’ #13

Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Marco Renna
Colorist: Walter Baiamonte
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Dafna Pleban
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 10, 2021

Previously in Mighty Morphin’: It’s all been building to this, the inevitable showdown between the Power Rangers and their allies and the biggest threat they’ve ever faced… the Empyreals. And yet, the shocking conclusion of the first year of Mighty Morphin may have ended the war before it even began decimating the very heart of the Power Rangers.

Can the Rangers move past their betrayals in order to save Earth and the universe itself?

SINS PAST

Ten thousand years in the past, we hear the last bits of the story that explains how Eltarian Zophram became Lord Zedd, but in the present, his former lieutenant Zartus has finally gotten revenge, blowing up Zordon’s energy field and dispersing the Power Rangers’ mentor. Billy and Alpha-5 make it out of the Power Center into the vents, while the Red, Pink, and Black Rangers get ambushed by Zartus’ sentries and nearly killed, only to be teleported away at the last moment by Grace Sterling. Grace dictates how things are going to go for the Rangers, now that their boss is dead, but Billy and Alpha might have a way around that… provided that the Eltarians don’t kill them both. Oh, and there’s also the matter of Zedd, who has dispatched his lackeys to press the attack and finally take over the Command Center, defeating the Rangers once and for all.

HUMANITY IS BETTER OF WITHOUT FREEDOM

On the one hand, I enjoy the way this issue plays out, with the Eltarians systematically taking out the Power Rangers defenses and resources, but on the other, it’s very much the same battle plan we saw when Drakkon attacked in the previous series. Worse still, Billy actually calls this out in-story, which bothers me as a reader. Given that the other book in this family is currently setting up a DIFFERENT unwinnable war against the Empyreals, it all feels overly dark. (Unless both stores are the same story?) The familiarity aside, the tension of the story holds up, and Grace’s arrogance will hopefully give Tommy a chance to stand up and lead his squad to victory down the road. Mighty Morphin’ #13’s art is quite good, especially the designs of the Eltarian sentires, whose proto-Ranger designs make perfect sense, given the Eltarian origins of Zordon. Add in a truly impressive final page and the only weakness in the visuals is an overly-saturated color palette. Indeed, Rocky the Red Ranger looks almost pink during his sword battle, while the hot pink sun over Promethea is disturbing.

BOTTOM LINE: SETTING UP A BIG BATTLE

Even with those issues, though, Mighty Morphin’ #13 sets up the premise of interstellar war well (and it’s important to remember that the Rangers always lose the first battle, only to regroup and bust heads afterwards), looks okay save for some coloring missteps and earns a better-than-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. The only real question here is: Who’s side is Zophram/Zedd actually on?

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