REVIEW: ‘Mighty Morphin,’ Issue 3

Mighty Morphin #3 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 Mighty Morphin’ #2, the Power Rangers are outnumbered by Lord Zedd’s new Chaos Energy empowered Putties. To make matters worse, Adam is corrupted by Zedd’s Chaos Energy, and Aisha learns that another Ranger is hiding a shocking secret from the team.

With this issue, secrets are established as the underlying theme of the new Power Rangers era. The new Green Ranger’s secret identity, the Omega Rangers forging a secret alliance with Lord Drakkon, and the secret Billy is hiding from his fellow Rangers all tie into that theme, and Parrott’s script explores the cost of those secrets.  Billy and Aisha come to blows over his secret, which threatens the bonds that the Rangers have. And given that Zedd has the edge over them, that’s something they can’t afford.

Parrott also writes Lord Zedd at the height of his power, which is extremely pleasing to me as a Power Rangers fan. When he first appeared in Season 2 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Zedd was utterly terrifying- both in terms of his design and how he could give the Rangers a run for their money. Now that he has absorbed the Green Chaos Crystal energy, he’s even more of a threat, which ups the Rangers’ stakes. The most interesting thing you can do in superhero fiction is to provide the heroes with challenges, and Zedd will be an immense challenge.

Renna and Baiamonte continue to impress with their artwork. Renna’s designs for the Chaos Putties are utterly frightening; they have multiple arms and glowing red eyes, with mouths twisted in horrifying grimaces. They also have cracks in their bodies, revealing the Chaos Energy pulsing through their veins. When Zedd brainwashes Adam, he sees the other Rangers as demonic monsters with features representing their respective Zords. Baiamonte continues to utilize bright, eye-popping colors throughout the issue-with the most dominant being the electric green of the Chaos Energy that powers Zedd and his Putties.

Perhaps the most interesting element of Mighty Morphin‘ so far are the flashbacks focusing on Zordon. It’s a far cry from going from “all-wise mentor trapped in time in space” to “young warrior keeping the peace,” but it’s an intriguing element that promises to shed light on the ‘secret origin’ of the Power Rangers and how Zordon got to his current state. Also, it ties into the theme of secrets; why hasn’t Zordon talked about his past? And could that potentially affect his relationship with the Rangers? Future issues will tell.

Mighty Morphin #3 establishes secrets as a key theme of the “Unlimited Power” era of Power Rangers comics and features Lord Zedd in his prime as a top tier Power Rangers villain. With every issue, this series continues to remind me of everything I love about Power Rangers while presenting a modern and engaging take on the mythos.

Mighty Morphin #3 is available now wherever comics are sold.