It’s A Vile World After All: Reviewing ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ #110

Hello darkness, their old friend. You’ve come to get the Rangers once again. Because a Mistress Vile is loudly creeping. Lefter her seeds while they were watching, and the darkness that was envisioned in her brain still remains. Within the Darkest Hour.

Hopefully, that’s not something that we can be sued for. Sorry, could not resist.

Yes, at long last the yearlong event that will take over Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has arrived. Every moment since Mistress Vile blew onto the scene in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #101 was leading to this moment. One of the big takeaways from this run is how it has elevated Rita Repulsa/Mistress Vile to the heights that she deserves. We’ve heard and seen all along that she’s multiple steps ahead of the Rangers & Zedd, and this issue fully shows that off.

Everything feels epic because of the stellar work that Simona Di Gianfelice and Raúl Angulo, with assistance from Jose Enrique Fernández, continue to deliver. I mean hell, that opening shot of the ships coming through the atmosphere of Safehaven is just gorgeous. Beautifully rendered with such detail and depth/weight, perfectly colored so it’s powerful and imposing. It all just keeps getting better from there.

There is tons going on here, just like the last issue, but it never feels rushed. Everything gets the love and detail that it needs so that we feel how overwhelmed the characters are. The odds are stacked against them, and every panel/page reinforces this feeling. A lot of that comes from how Di Gianfelice uses paneling to create such a trapped atmosphere. We’re not only down on the ground with the characters as things turn, but we’re also so deep in the action one might fear that the bad guys will get us too.

Color-wise there are plenty of vibrant big bold colors befitting the franchise roots, but it’s also heavy/dark. Angulo and Fernández make sure to infuse shadows and darker palettes into every moment that they can. This is not the lighter Power Rangers of our youth. It has that spirit fully but it’s Power Rangers as it can be when it’s not just aimed at kids.

Longform storytelling in monthly comics is tough. With those gaps, it takes a lot to make sure that readers stay engaged. If things go too much into character or too much into plot there are chances that readers might lose interest in the complete package. Melissa Flores is a writer that stands on that highwire like it’s nothing at all, effortlessly walking to the other side.

We’ve gotten tons of great character development or moments with just enough stuff being seeded and added to build the plot. Every moment in this issue, and the last, feels earned. Nothing is coming out of nowhere; we the audience fully believe that everything has been leading to this moment. We feel the failure of the characters and the triumph of Mistress Vile. Honestly, it also doesn’t feel like this took ten issues to get to this point, yet it also does. Credit goes to Flores for packing issues so deeply that each one feels like a couple of issues merged.

It comes down to Ed Dukeshire to take the words that Flores writes and make them bigger on the page. Adding the right little quirks or energies allows us to perfectly hear and feel what the characters are saying. Giving the world depth and feeling that compliments every feeling that the rest of the art is displaying.

Big bubbles, bold words, colorful font, little dashes to create pauses, and so much more make it all stand out. Gives that little push that makes the words more than just words. They become genuine voices that one can hear in their head, some probably borrowing the voice of the actors, adding so much to the story.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #110 is now available from BOOM! Studios.