Friends (Maybe) In Need — Reviewing ‘Power Rangers Prime’ #8

Once upon a time, a group of Angel Grove friends were given amazing colorful powers from an ageless alien sage. Thus, the Power Rangers were born, a solid team of heroes who protected the world from evil.

This is not that universe.

Power Rangers Prime #8 continues to build this altered, Eltarian controlled, world and the still-divided teenagers given those colorful powers. With one of their own on the line, are they willing to give up another and risk everything or can they become an actual team? That question and more are delivered by Melissa Flores, Michael Yg, Fabi Marques, and Ed Dukeshire.

So much of what makes this world work is the time spent really dissecting the characters. From this version of Rita to each of the new Rangers themselves to even former soldier Bulk and the antagonist VR Troopers. No one is perfectly leaning one way or the other on a good or bad scale. They are complicated figures living in a complicated world with their own motivations, desires, and hopes.

Flores handles all these characters with ease. Some get more spotlight than others in issues, where we learn more about them, without letting the others feel like accessories. Even if we’re not diving into their personal realm, they are still very important and pressing in the current narrative.

Slow builds like this are not the easiest to do in a monthly chunk release format. The audience can get bored waiting for things to happen or for plotlines to reach some peak or resolution. This is clearly considered, as Flores gives enough to slightly sate our appetite while leaving us just hungry enough to keep coming back. The very intriguing cliffhanger reveal of this issue definitely reignited that remaining hunger, and the next issue can’t come soon enough.

So many emotions are passing through the characters we’ve been introduced to. All the confrontations, revelations, moments of guilt, and grief are tangible as we turn the page. Yg has such a fresh and filling artistic style. Every figure and space on the page have weight and presence built from the heavy detail and depths brought forth. Facial expressions and body language are speaking volumes every single time.

An inherent smoothness leads the way with little flecks of roughness. A perfect merging befitting of the darker world and the flash of hope these characters can eventually bring.

This balanced merger is felt within the colors as well. Marques follows with a palette built on a foundation of more natural middle space tones. It creates a variety of settings in a way that allows them to feel familiar and alien at the same time. These more toned-down elements playing into how most spaces in the world feel or appear to us at any given time.

With much of the story taking place at night or underground, there are lighting effects to consider. Marques handles this so well because the darker atmospheres feel so authentic at every turn. Adding more darkness for the VR Troopers and Rangers to clash with as their colors come roaring into being. Both flashy and positive-feeling despite their differences and the fact of where they stand in regard to Earth’s occupied situation.

Another element necessary to conveying the voices of the characters is lettering of course. Lettering which really captures every emotion and inflection, while having some fun at the same time. Dukeshire has been doing this for quite some time now when it comes to Power Rangers stories. Giving everything the heft, color, and vocality that it needs. Shifting fonts and bubbles to play into the uniqueness of voices, both in and out of costumes (with helmets).

Power Rangers Prime #8 is now available from BOOM! Studios.