Advance Review – MMPR: Shattered Grid #1 Is One Impressive Way To End An Event

After everything we’ve witnessed so far, how can Shattered Grid possibly come to an end? Well, the short answer is in the most remarkable way imaginable. The battle rages on with Power Rangers from across time and space fighting back Lord Drakkon’s forces on the moon. Then reality itself breaks apart as the villain emerges more powerful than ever. A flash of light occurs and then…

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 spends a chunk of time examining the inner workings of Lord Drakkon’s mind. Writer Kyle Higgins does a deep dive into this character to see what makes him tick. What motivates a psychopath like this? What has driven him to want to destroy all of existence?
This is an intriguing one-shot that examines Drakkon’s many deep-seeded flaws. They can be summed up by the fact that in all the alternate dimensions out there, this Tommy Oliver is the only one that stayed bad. Every other one turned the corner and became a good guy. He’s the only one that was all alone and that led to the darkness overpowering him.

With Drakkon holding all the power, he fashions a world where he is the hero. This is one of the saddest and most telling scenes in this entire event. It almost makes you feel sorry for him. I can’t quite forget the horrible things he’s done in this demented quest of his.
Drakkon is haunted by images of his past or alternate versions of himself. I love how letterer Ed Dukeshire presents this conscience with green font, popping up as a reminder of the harm Drakkon has caused and the true hero he could have become.

Artist Diego Galindo and colorist Marcelo Costa handle this new alternate reality and it serves as a nice change of pace with the overall story. It has a different look than the rest of the book, especially the colors. It’s like that the sun shines a bit too bright here, making you realize that this place is unnatural.
Let’s bounce back to the battle for a minute. I was already excited at the idea of seeing all these different Power Rangers fighting alongside one another. Add in the fact that their Megazords are up there too, and you’ve got my inner child’s dream. This issue somehow finds a way to top that.

I should have seen this coming in the scheme of things. In hindsight, this was the only other thing we didn’t see. Artist Daniele Di Nicuolo and colorist Walter Baiamonte bring this to life in the most awesome way possible. It’s a perfect capper to an already incredible battle. I was imagining the Power Rangers theme booming while I was reading those pages and I’m sure I won’t be the only one.
Although we don’t see the faces of many of the Rangers, we still feel the emotional toll this war has put on them. Occasionally we’ll get a glimpse of their eyes through their helmets staring fiercely at their foes in the heat of combat. There’s a great panel where a number of Rangers are lined up and you can see cracks in their visors. This works on so many levels, not only showing the damage they’ve taken, but speaking to the overall tone of Shattered Grid and the cracks in reality that are popping up as a result of Drakkon’s actions.

Power Rangers: Shattered Grid was billed as an event that would shake the very foundation of the franchise. It delivered on that in spades. Although this storyline is ending, it does so in a way that presents a new beginning. This was an incredible ride and as a result, I’m even more excited about Power Rangers comics than I was before. This issue in particular is a huge payoff for fans that have been reading MMPR from the beginning. It represents the end of an era and an amazing story.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1 from BOOM! Studios is available on Wednesday, August 29^th at your local comic shop or digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.