Mighty Morphin Mutant Ninjas: Reviewing ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II’ #3

Shredder is back and it’s one of those the enemy of one’s enemy is their friend or at least temporary ally. As Rita and Krang begin their invasion of Earth, starting in Angel Grove, the Turtle’s long-time enemy might just be theirs and the Power Ranger’s only salvation.

There is so much about this series that taps into fandom and canon, with tons of big gasping shock moments of things we could never see in other mediums with these characters. Yet, it’s rooted in a very logical plotline that builds upon the previous miniseries and the various bits of each of these franchises which so smoothly cohabitate in the same space. That’s because Ryan Parrott knows these worlds so well and clearly cares for these characters, tapping into everything he can to make it a fleshed out living breathing world that we want to spend as much time as possible within. Never did I think that there would be a point where the Power Rangers would get to mutate into versions of their dinosaur/dragon namesakes, but here we are and it’s freaking awesome.

That awesome bit of mutation power is just one tiny bit of the enormity of what happens in this issue. Not only does Parrott make all of the characters and worlds sing together, but this is also a rapid-fire-paced issue that never once feels like it’s overwhelming or trying to do too much. Every moment has the right amount of space to breathe and segues right into the next moment, building towards the latest cliffhanger and the planned ending point for the whole story.

Honestly, I would read an ongoing series with these characters and worlds merged because it is such a seamless fit. There is so much in common between the characters and the way their groups and dynamics work and the various enemies make so much sense together as well. Makes one instantly forget about the one time the characters shared the TV screen back in the 90s.

It goes without saying that this is a truly gorgeous series, and one would expect no less with Dan Mora and Raúl Angulo behind the art and colors respectively. Mora brings a depth and amount of detail second to none that does every single character and element of these worlds justice. It’s a world where all the more human-looking elements of the Power Rangers world and the more mutated world of the Turtles co-mingle in a way where everything feels real and powerful and from the same space. Emotions are clear as day upon faces with body language that speaks volumes and action scenes that flow smoothly as butter or water or whatever phrase one wants to use of this nature.

There is no such thing as wasted space here as no matter if something is filling the panel or page or not, Mora makes it all count for something as every single moment takes the story forward and builds this world higher and higher from its already solid foundations. If it all burst off the page right now to come fully alive before my face, I would not even be one bit surprised, in fact, I almost expect it to do so any moment that I’m looking at the issue. Mora makes things feel tangible and makes a person fully believe that any of the various worlds he’s helped bring to life are real and we can be part of them.

Adding the colors of Angulo on top of this is like adding the frosting or other toppings that takes a desert to an even higher plane of greatness than it had already achieved. Because Angulo is currently handling colors on the main Power Rangers series, it brings a sort of connective tissue to these books, yet the colors are not just cut and paste. No, there are differences that are so apparent because the coloring style shifts and morphs (sorry I had to do it) in order to fit perfectly with the art style that is in either book. They are vibrant as one would expect and desire in a series focused on two very color-coordinated groups of characters, but also have a deep shadowy weight to them and an almost toned-down nature at the same time, which allows the ‘real world’ elements and the more fantastical ones to co-exist beautifully.

Mixing the levels of colors makes sure that various elements can be on the page together, with the duller or more natural-colored aspects making the more colorful ones pop even more. It gives this the feeling of being actually within a world that we can visit or see outside of our window rather than something so outlandish that we know that it’s somewhere far away, which there is nothing wrong with that. For this type of story though we need to feel the realness of it, the dire nature of things, and the tension and threat, and Angulo helps make sure that we do.

Angulo is not alone in bringing some of that Power Ranger fire over from the main series as letterer Ed Dukeshire is on that series as well and is just seemingly the go-to letterer for so many BOOM! Studios things for absolutely good reason. Lettering makes sure that we see things like dialogue and captions and more often than not SFX within a series and sometimes more, but the great ones bring so much more to the table. Reading the words that characters are saying or thinking isn’t enough, we need to feel and hear them as we do and Dukeshire brings that energy every single time. Emotions are infused into the words helping create distinct voices and tones/volumes that we pick up instantly and just know how it should sound in our heads.

We see the emotion/feeling/mood on the page and then hear it in our head, completing the whole package. It brings a tangible factor to so much of the stuff, tying it together with the rest of the artwork seamlessly. There is also 100% art to making sure that the lettering flows across the page in a way that never hinders the rest of the artwork but instead enhances or accompanies it where we need to go. In many cases, the dialogue and captions actually work as the perfect proverbial arrows that essentially guide us through the myriad of panels in the way that they are meant to be taken in, even if we don’t realize that they are doing that.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3 is now available from BOOM! Studios.