A Light Amongst Darkness: Reviewing ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ #117

All it takes to potentially break through consuming darkness is just a bit of hope and a spark of light. Hope and light are things that Rangers carry in abundance, and it just might save everyone across time and space.

Dark Specter’s Darkest Hour is almost complete, but the Rangers have one final card up their sleeve in the character-packed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117. Writer Melissa Flores and letterer Ed Dukeshire are once again joined by artists Simona Di Gianfelice and Marco Renna as well as colorist Raúl Angulo with assistance from Jose Enrique Fernandez.

It’s about that time in the story when the forces of good begin to gather what forces they have left for a final stand against evil. Despite being a common occurrence in these types of stories, nothing is ever common when it comes to Flores’ direction.

We bounce all over the galaxy and far beyond, taking in tons of sights and characters. It’s a rapid-fire affair, but it never feels overwhelming. That’s because Flores knows how to handle this world and what characters to bring into play. Leaning into that nostalgia a bit with the era-spanning choices, but in a way that is natural to this overall story. It’s a 30th anniversary celebration so everyone who is a Ranger, big or small, has been invited to the party this whole time.

Alongside that, we get such great beats with Mistress Vile, as she loses her closest ally and must make a choice about her continued service to Dark Specter.

Not many writers could juggle all this while making sure to give tons of weight to each moment. Flores excels at character beats, and we can feel that on every page of this issue.

There is a mostly seamless transition between the artistic duo of Gianfelice and Renna, their styles being very complementary. Full of big bold visuals, tons of depth, and emotional energy bursting through the facial expressions and body language. Each has a very smooth nature to their work, a bit of whimsical heroic energy crackling the whole way.

The last issue went for the differing styles to make a point between the time periods, whereas this one is far more unified.

Di Gianfelice and Renna’s action scenes are just as dynamic as much of the live-action TV show scenes. They are even more compelling and action-packed in some instances, because there are no limits with comics. No budgets or footage to use from another show. Just wall-to-wall fights packed with characters of all shapes, sizes, and forms.

Being a Rangers book means a lot of bright flashy rainbows of color on pages. Yet, Angulo and Fernandez also mix in a lot of heavier and darker tones. This is the Darkest Hour after all, and it feels like that at times. A battle between light and dark is happening on the page with the characters but also within the tonal makeup of the pages themselves.

Some pages feel bright and hopeful, as the Rangers make their moves. Others are darker and foreboding as Dark Specter keeps making his moves. Just like the two art styles though it never feels conflicting or jarring. A strange unity is found between the two tones, as they push back and forth against one another.

A stalwart of these books and so many from BOOM! Studios, Dukeshire always brings the beyond A-game to the pages. Allowing the dialogue and captions to flow naturally, full of personality and energy as needed. From there though is where he does things that make him such a great letterer. Shifting bubbles in size and shape, filling them with colorful fonts, exclamations bursting out of the bubbles, and so much more. Power Rangers is a big campy loud series and Dukeshire taps into that visually, letting everything feel bigger and louder than it might otherwise.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #117 is now available from BOOM! Studios.