It’s A Generational Thing — Reviewing ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return’ #4

Whether fair or not, the choices (be they sins or not) of those before us often weigh heavily upon us. Sometimes dictating what we might have to deal with in our lives, the good and the bad.

It doesn’t get much heavier than being the child of a Power Ranger or their greatest enemies, as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 shows. This concluding chapter by Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson, Nico Leon, Dono Sanchez-Almara, and Ed Dukeshire brings the age-old conflict to an end (sort of).

Originally, that first run of Power Ranger seasons were about quite a number of things. Sure, fighting monsters and such was paramount, but there were often little lessons or moral beats that were attached to the overall stories. A major thing though was about the idea of family, or more precisely, found family. Especially since the actual blood or related families of the characters didn’t really factor into things (for a variety of production, time limit, etc. type reasons).

Both on screen and behind the scenes, to an extent (like all families there was drama and folks who didn’t get along a well), this was the case. It is the case in this comic too.

Johnson and Hotson bring that to the heart of things here as not only does Kimberly and Tommy’s daughter play a huge role, but a missing family member is also brought back to the fight. While it was a beat that part of me should have suspected, and maybe it did, I was still cheering and a bit surprised to see it actually pay off. It was seeded pretty well through the issues now that I’m really thinking about it, and that’s a big plus.

Normally a story that ends but also leaves things open like this would bother me a tiny bit (just because I enjoyed it so much) I loved it here. Whether we get more of this universe or not, the Power Rangers is a story that kept going season after season, with the lives of the previous characters carrying on (sometimes we got to see those lives for a moment). This ending preserves that feeling for this cast of characters and it’s nice.

Such a truly gorgeous book, because Leon is just such a great artist. Able to handle both the big frantic energetic scenes and the smaller more intimate ones with the same sense of scale, power, depth. Emotional energy and weight are present everywhere to help make sure this world that we sort of know quite well has weight and a lived in feeling all around.

When an artist goes wild and out there with paneling, it brings a smile to my face. Something about eschewing the sort of standard panel styles brings a different, not better but just different, energy. Seeing characters bursting from panels, that slip and slide against or alongside one another, is such a bold choice. It adds to the sort of frantic energy that inherently comes with superhero stories.

Power Rangers are bursting with color, and we see that from Sanchez-Almara, but there is more there too. Shadows and darker tones swirl around to bring the right atmosphere to spaces like Rita and Zedd’s place. Shifting to let more colors take dominant stance as we visit lighter and more friendly spaces in the wrap up of the story. Only to bring a different ominous palette of colors for the broken-down abandoned Command Center.

Capturing energy and blasting it across the page is a simple assignment for Dukeshire, making sure it all is right there at the forefront. Dropping in variations to the fonts, bubbles, and more to capture the right energy not only for the moment but often for individual characters. So that their voice is brimming with personality and the right tone to echo in our minds.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 is now available from BOOM! Studios.