Mighty Morphin #2 is published by BOOM! Studios, written by Ryan Parrott, illustrated by Marco Renna, colored by Walter Baiamonte (with assistance by Katia Ranalli), and lettered by Ed Dukeshire. Following the events of Power Rangers #1, the Power Rangers are shaken to the core by the Omega Rangers’ liberation of Lord Drakkon. Meanwhile, Lord Zedd uses his new chaos powers to spring a trap for the Rangers.
Parrott expertly weaves threads from Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers together, presenting each series as half of a whole story. Yet even though both are intertwined, Parrott never loses focus on the main story in either series. The Power Rangers are obviously shocked by their friends’ actions, but it doesn’t totally overwhelm their battle against Zedd. Parrott also continues to seed the issue with flashbacks to Zordon’s youth, helping set up the secret origin of the Power Rangers.
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Where the writing truly excels is the depiction of each character. The Power Rangers feel like actual teenagers outside of their superhero duties; they play basketball, they go to music festivals, and they even date. While I like punch-em-ups as much as the next superhero fan, it’s important to balance the mundane with the fantastic so that readers connect to the characters. Even Bulk and Skull get a rather heartfelt moment, and they’re the comic relief! That’s how good Parrott is at his job.
It also helps that Renna makes the Rangers feel like real teenagers. Each Ranger has different flourishes to their design, whether it be Billy’s glasses or Adam’s eyebrow ring. Renna also continues to make his villains feel extremely menacing, especially Lord Zedd. The villain now has tubes connected to his body that pulse with chaos energy, adding a sickly greenish tint to his exposed flesh. He also towers over his minions, which serves to install fear in them. Lord Zedd has always been my favorite Power Rangers villain for the sheer menace he portrayed when he first appeared, and Renna captures that menace perfectly.
Rounding out the artistic team is the ever-reliable Baiamonte on colors. Baiamonte has been the go-to colorist for the Ranger books and gives the issue the vibrancy you’d expect from a Power Rangers book. When the Rangers morph, they are shrouded in light as they strike their signature pose, making them look all the more heroic. Zedd’s castle on the other hand is shrouded in darkness, with Zedd and his minions having darker colored skin and armor. That key visual helps differentiate the good guys from the bad guys.
Mighty Morphin #2 continues to develop the new era of Power Rangers, never losing sight of all the elements that make the franchise what it is. Between this and Power Rangers, I’m glad that BOOM! Studios is continuing to put its mark on the Rangers and that Parrott is continuing to write their adventures.
Mighty Morphin #2 is available wherever comics are sold.
Mighty Morphin #2
TL;DR
Mighty Morphin #2 continues to develop the new era of Power Rangers, never losing sight of all the elements that make the franchise what it is. Between this and Power Rangers, I’m glad that BOOM! Studios is continuing to put its mark on the Rangers and that Parrott is continuing to write their adventures.
