No Peace For The Weary: Reviewing ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ #119

Darkness has claimed much of the known universe(s), snuffing out more and more of the morphing grid and all hope. Except, the Rangers are never out of hope, as they begin to devise one last ditch effort to save everything.

With only a handful of issues left, of the event and the series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #119 deals snack-sized bites of emotionally heavy hope. The road to the series endgame comes from Melissa Flores, Simona Di Gianfelice, Marco Renna, Raúl Angulo, Jose Enrique Fernández, and Ed Dukesire.

I’m so not ready for this series to be over. For those that missed it, the announcement came down that July’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 will not only conclude the year long event but also the entire eight-year BOOM! Studios series saga. No word came with that about if there will be more comics after that (from either BOOM! or some other publisher if Hasbro so chooses), meaning our time with these colorful heroes is currently quite short.

What a way to go out though. As much as I want to see far more of the characters and world from this creative team, what we’ve gotten with the last almost two years has been fantastic. Flores understands these characters, through and through. Every emotional beat, plot moment, and story building choice has been expertly crafted to maximize the rich energy that comes with the franchise.

Allowing the characters to be themselves while fully growing, changing, and facing things they never could have faced on the television show. It’s been a true love letter to not only the franchise as a whole but to what so many creators have done with the series since it launched at BOOM! almost a decade ago.

Here we witness Billy watching and learning, realizing what can be done to protect and save what Rangers remain. Around it, Flores explores the toll that this experience is taking on our characters. Showing how trauma isn’t something that is just brushed away but has lasting effects on us all. Even the villains get their moment, as Zedd seals Rita away once again and she comes to a decision that this quest for evil is beyond her. She’s ready to stay within the jar this time, resigned to moving past the whole good vs evil, never ending debacle.

Capturing all that energy visually is no small feat, except the combination of Di Gianfelice and Renna definitely makes it appear that way.

Together they continue to dance through the issue, taking on the various scenes and creating very complimentary artwork that feels seamless. Even though there are clear indicators of their differences, everything is so compelling and connected that reading through it without noticing is basically the default. Despite knowing they were handling this together again; I went through the issue feeling like it was just one combined artistic being who brought everything to life.

It’s not just the emotions and character features that sing. How they choose to frame everything makes things so much more powerful. Keeping us right in the thick of things, slipping from close-ups to wider shots with ease. Letting the characters, and the moment, decide what it needs so that it can own the power.

Similarly, the color work of Angulo and Fernandez swirls together so smoothly. Letting the vibrancy of the Power Rangers naturally bleed through, while creating connective tones that are heavier and grounded. This lets the spaces they exist in feel both real and fantastical at the same time.

On the show, naturally, many of the sets felt ‘fake’ or ‘not real’ because they were not. Majorly though it was the fact that in live action, those sorts of spaces felt so out of place your brain will always notice. Sure, as a kid, those things are brushed off more, but it’s always there. With comics though it all is of the same style and these places, from the Command Center to the Moon palace and beyond, have weight and dynamic power to them.

How they are rendered helps a ton, as does how the color palettes change. Different unique tones are found in each space, giving them fully separate identities.

Wrapping it all up are the voices of the characters brought to life. Every emotion, every tonal change, and every verbal punch is given life by Dukeshire. Reaching right into each character to allow their personality and natural selves to come through in their words. Choosing the right ways to modify the letters so that maximum energy is expelled, leaving no moment undecipherable. Authentic voices, more often than not played out with the actors in my head, fill every page, giving the whole thing that much more weight.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #119 is now available from BOOM! Studios.