You may know the Power Rangers, but you don’t know these Power Rangers. Welcome to New Eltar! Your Major Spoilers review of Power Rangers Prime #1 from BOOM! Studios awaits!

POWER RANGERS PRIME #1

Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Michael Yg
Colorist: Fabi Marques
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Alyson Gronowitz
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 13, 2024

Previously in Power Rangers Prime: Angel Grove University students face a difficult choice after crossing paths with a fugitive straight out of legend. The consequences for hiding her are dire… but her existence may not stay a secret for long!

THE YEAR WAS 1954

Seventy years ago, the forces of the Beast Brigade arrived on Earth in full force with designs on conquest. Though the Power Rangers fought them, they couldn’t defeat them alone. The forces of planet Eltar arrived to save the day, but the cost of their protection was Earth’s independence. Now, the 205th colony of Eltar, the Earth of 2024, is… a bit dystopian. That’s a problem for Red Samurai Ranger, Lauren, who starts the issue under fire from the Eltarian sentries. She ends up badly injured, lying in a dumpster, where she is found by a young man named Mark, a refugee from Aquitar. A student of Angel Grove University, Mark and his roommate hide Lauren from the authorities and go about their day, but he crosses paths with another student named Jun, who has an interest in the legends of the Power Rangers.

Oh, and he’s also willing to blackmail Mark to get the information he wants.

THE VR TROOPERS?

The biggest surprise of this issue for me was the appearance of Ryan Steele and the VR Troopers (another Saban adaptation property from the ’90s, this one much less successful at bringing the Metal Heroes series to our shores) as the enforcers of Eltar. The second biggest was Mark’s roommate Orion, who, in the previous continuity, was the Silver Ranger of Power Rangers Megaforce. I believe there are other cameos as well (like Mighty Morphin Red Ranger Jason, someone I suspect is Zeo Ranger Yellow, and a couple of others), but given that this is a new continuity, it’s not entirely clear. Yg’s art does have an issue with characters looking very similar, as with Mark and Jun, which is complicated by the fact that two of the other named characters in the issue are “Ryan” and “Orion.” The large-scale battle sequences are dynamic, though, and the final sequence, which shows Rita Repulsa’s mystical prison crashing to Earth and exploding, is very cool

BOTTOM LINE: THERE’S POTENTIAL HERE

As the first installment of a brand new Power Rangers reality, Power Rangers Prime #1 creates an effective tension and introduces a lot of new concepts effectively, but doesn’t quite put it all together into a killer package, but rates a better-than-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. The VR Troopers’ appearance and choice of primary hero make me think that Flores and company will be allowed to go wild with the Prime world, and I’m intrigued by where it’s all going, even if this issue is disorienting.

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