REVIEW: ‘Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger,’ Issue #1

Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger #1 is written by Paul Allor, illustrated by Kath Lobo & Anna Kekovsky Chandra, colored by Fabi Marques & Sara Antonelli with assistance from Sharon Marino, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire. It’s published by BOOM! Studios. Years ago, the Omega Rangers had one of their fiercest battles ever — and it resulted in the death of one of their own. This shocked the Gold Omega Ranger Spa’ark to their core, and they sought to resurrect their friend, albeit with horrific consequences.

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, the Unlimited line of one-shots has been a great way for creators to branch out from the main Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers title and expand on the lore that’s been presented in that title, as well as highlight fan-favorite seasons and characters. Death Ranger even builds on the previous one-shot Countdown to Ruin, as the main story is framed by a sequence of a young Andros and Zhane — aka the Red and Silver Space Rangers — being read the story of the Death Ranger by their adoptive mother Maavi. And once again, it features the return of a previous Rangers writer, as Allor had previously written the Power Rangers in Space graphic novel The Psycho Path.

In the same way that The Psycho Path focused on the origin of the Psycho Rangers, Death Ranger reveals how Spa’ark slowly slid into darkness. But Allor takes an unusually introspective look at this origin, particularly how it connects to the theme of death. Death in comics, particularly the superhero genre, has often been shrugged off as “just something that happens,” particularly as heroes who die come back just as quickly. This year alone celebrates the 30th anniversary of The Death of Superman, and that event was crafted solely to boost interest in the Man of Steel’s waning comics.

On the other hand, Allor shows how death affects the people you love. Early in the story, Spa’ark talks to the Blue Omega Ranger Haza about their people’s connection to the Legacy, a hivemind that keeps the collective consciousness of their people when they die. They can’t wrap their head around death, and losing their friend leads them down a dark path. I never expected a Power Rangers comic, of all things, to have profound meditations on the nature of death. Still, Allor is very thoughtful about the subject and delivers a heartbreaking story.

This is only enhanced by the artwork, particularly from Lobo. She not only draws terrifying monsters, including the massive Sister Supernova and the humongous toothy monster known as the Galactic Maw, but she also gets to draw a wide variety of aliens for the Omega Rangers’ roster. Yellow has three eyes, Red has elven ears and red markings on his face, and Black is a hulking brute with orangish skin. The depiction of Spa’ark’s transformation into the Omega Ranger is also chilling, with their Omega Ranger outfit growing a skeletal mouthpiece and their eyes being depicted as soulless under their visor. Lobo was responsible for one of my favorite comics of the year in Good Game Well Played, so I’m proud to report that her artistic skills are a perfect fit for action-based comics.

And, of course, there are the colors. The team of colorists bring the vibrant energy you’d expect in the opening, as the Omega Rangers battle Sister Supernova in the cold blue void of space. Things grow exponentially darker when Spa’ark starts experimenting with their Omega Morpher’s power. And throughout the book, Maavi’s word captions are depicted in gold, a fitting choice, given the subject of her story as well as how in-tune Dukeshire is with the Rangers’ visual aesthetic.

Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger #1 delivers an emotional narrative that tackles the nature of death and introduces a vicious new antagonist to the Power Rangers universe. Even if you haven’t read any of the Power Rangers comics before, this is still worth checking out.

Power Rangers Unlimited: The Death Ranger #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.