As the comic book incarnation of the Power Rangers makes a new start with Power Rangers Prime, I wondered about the first time the Rangers appeared in comic form. It… was a mistake. Your Major Spoilers review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fruit Of The Loom Premium #1 from Hamilton Comics awaits!
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS FRUIT OF THE LOOM PREMIUM #1
Writer: Jack C. Harris
Penciler: Al Bigley
Inker: Steve Stiles
Colorist: Summer Hinton
Letterer: Michael Taylor
Editor: John Clark and Gary Leach
Publisher: Hamilton Comics
Cover Price: Free With Purchase
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $480.00
Release Date:
Previously in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Though the first episode of Power Ranger aired on August 28, 1993, the attempts to adapt the Super Sentai series for American audiences began more than a decade earlier, when Haim Saban first encountered Choudenshi Sentai Bioman while staying in a Tokyo hotel. By the time the show became a massive (and massively unexpected) hit, there was no way that the heroes would stay strictly a TV phenomenon. The first issue of Hamilton Comics’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series hit the stands in November of 1994, but that wasn’t Hamilton’s first Ranger adventure. Of course, for that one, you had to buy Fruit of the Loom Power Rangers-branded underwear.
The first thing that stands out to me about this book is that the main villain is already out of her space dumpster on page one and that her name is spelled “Repulssa” rather than the more traditional Rita Repulsa. Then again, when we cut to the Power Chamber, where the robot Alpha and his boss Zoltar ruminate about whether or not dinosaurs could have helped them to rout Rita’s strange alien force, that change seems relatively minor.
What’s most interesting to me about this story is that it was released AFTER the show had already been airing, implying that whatever early story treatments or script they were working from would have already reflected Zordon’s final name, as well as the television origins. Even the “bring me teenagers with attitude” line is missing here, which makes this feel like some sort of bootleg knockoff comic rather than an actual, licensed Power Rangers product. In this telling, it’s Jason who finds Zoltar (which explains where he went after Josh Baskin grew back into Forrest Gump) rather than the other way round. More than that, it’s not Jason Lee Scott, but Jason Jones!
Upon Jason bursting into their secret underground lair, Alpha suddenly gives them super-powers, because… reasons? It’s a whole page of crazy, thanks to the art (which I think we will just call “Image-inspired”) and the bizarre dialogue, using outdated character and weapon names, as well as the Power Coin chest emblems only seen on early action figures.
Not gonna lie, I can’t really look at that first panel of Kimberly if I want to get any sleep tonight. The story in this issue is as basic and scattershot as this origin sequence, as Finster quickly generates a giant Putty Patroller, throwing the Megazord into play immediately and going straight to the big, goofy giant fight.
As someone who remembers how over-the-top silly the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers got, this book feels as half-hearted and disinterested as… Well, as a pack-in comic for kid’s underpants probably should. That said, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fruit Of The Loom Premium #1 is the first comic book appearance of the Power Rangers, which makes it the forerunner of the nearly ten-year run of PR comics well worth your time, all the while being not, earning 1.5 out of 5 stars overall. The book’s unusual distribution has led to it being incredibly overpriced when it is available, with a 2.0 copy selling recently (as of February 2025) for $32 bucks!
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MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS FRUIT OF THE LOOM PREMIUM #1
This eight-page minicomic feels remarkably like a quick cash-grab (though nearly everything from this era of Power Rangers does) with art that's a real mixed bag.
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Writing1
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Art4
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Coloring4