Review of “Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Return (Issue #1)” by Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)
WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Return (Issue #1) is an emotionally gripping homecoming for the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (MMPRs)! It is co-written by Matt Hotson and the original Pink Ranger herself, Amy Jo Johnson!

What really elevates this book are the solid illustrations by the talented Nico Leon. Furthermore, Francesco Segala adds a vibrant touch in terms of color.

These two did a brilliant job at bringing these timeless characters back to life while also capturing the likenesses of the cast members themselves. In particular, Zack (the Black Ranger) and Billy (the Blue Ranger) look almost exactly the way that actors Walter Jones and David Yost do in real life. By comparison, Amy Jo's character, Kimberly (going by the alias “Emma Phillips”), appears a bit more cartoonish and more like a generic red-haired woman. Her facial features subtly change in different panels. For example, her nose is noticeably shorter/smaller from pages 13-22, then resumes to being longer on page 23, more resembling the actual person. This might be a minor gripe, but it's something we definitely noticed. Amy Jo Johnson was every boy's crush in the 1990s and she genuinely remains one of the most beautiful women alive into the 2020s, so we'd liked to have seen her in a bit more flattering light.

At the same time, there's an aspect to the character's appearance which works for the sake of the character and story. Kimberly is clearly a person who has been through and suffered a lot. The character isn't a young, hopeful spring chicken doing handstands and somersaults anymore. She is someone who has lost numerous people she has loved including Tommy, her love, and Trini, her best friend. She is someone who has fought the forces of evil and survived almost daily assaults from the likes of Rita, Zed, Goldar, Putties, and giant monsters. She has been possessed/turned “evil” multiple times by multiple villains. She has almost died numerous times. So, we can understand why the character would appear a bit more downtrodden than the gorgeous actress she's meant to reflect.

And that comes with pros and cons. On one hand, Kimberly is a much more serious and brooding character than she ever was before. She exudes an introspective, dark, mysterious aura in contrast to the outgoing, friendly, positive aura she used to have in the series.

On the other hand, Kimberly—in all honesty—comes across as a real Debbie Downer or party pooper in this first issue. Her light is all but extinguished. She's constantly irritable, angry, and upset with other characters. One such incident is when Billy & Zack revealed how they've been trying to use their Morphin' grid/Morphin' coin powers for good. Billy was using it for his potentially life-changing research (teleporting food and medical supplies to those in need or teleporting people out of disaster zones). Zack is using it to produce clean energy (presumably to address climate change). Kimberly throws one of several fits or outbursts in this scene, even going so far as to hit the table and get the attention of the waitress and others in the establishment. She has seemingly convinced Billy & Zack to lie about who they are and where the Power Rangers come from. Which begs the ethical question: Should Power Rangers lie?

We understand that she's doing these things for good reasons: to protect the secrets of the Rangers so they don't get misused or fall into unscrupulous hands. However, these scenes paint her in a really negative, unlikable light. Keep in mind: Kimberly (the Pink Ranger) is arguably the most beloved Power Rangers character of all time. Really, her only real competition is Tommy, the original Green/White Ranger. That's not to say there haven't been other great Power Rangers characters like Astronema/Karone from In Space, Olympius from Lightspeed Rescue, or Trent from Dino Thunder, but the original Pink Ranger is absolutely ICONIC. Kids of the 90s think about Kimberly a lot like others think about Luke Skywalker, Optimus Prime, or Santa Claus, especially girls who grew up at the time. This is a character who is supposed to inspire hope and optimism. So, similar to Luke Skywalker's portrayal in The Last Jedi, it is extra painful to see her portrayed as being such a depressing, negative, and gloomy person. That is something that bothered us a little bit.

Again, we're not invalidating the character's right to mourn for those she has lost and to wrestle with the PTSD she most certainly suffers from. However, there's a way to go about that for a character like Kimberly. For example, think about Vash the Stampede from the original run of Trigun. The pain, suffering, and loss he experienced was immense, but he buried it behind a facade which overcompensated for the hurt in his heart—overly cheerful, overly happy, overly positive, so much so that it became obvious to those close to him that he was hiding something deep inside.

Kimberly in this book is so explicitly grim. She's so... doom and gloom. She's so crushed and defeated. It really is tragic to see such a positive, uplifting character fall into such a pit of despair. And perhaps that's what the creator were going for. It's the ultimate twist to show a character who was once so full of life and hope become someone who seems to be waiting for time to expire.

And, you know what? We get it. There have been times in our lives when we've lost our smiles. There have been times in our lives when we didn't want to go out and party, choosing instead to be alone to wallow in suffering in pain. It's part of a process—a grieving, coping, and healing process.

The ending of this book introduces us to some hope for Kimberly's character. Perhaps a relative of Trini's can restore her hope and faith in the future?

On that note, perhaps the best thing about this entire first issue is the amount of respect paid to the fallen Power Rangers. Seriously! Both Trini and Tommy, whose actors passed away in real life, are given epic tributes throughout this book. In fact, we found ourselves genuinely emotional and teary eyed during several of these scenes. There's a scene in which Billy is talking publicly about Trini's life, accomplishments, and how she touched people, and Kimberly is shown reflecting on the times that she and Trini spent together. That whole panel was probably the best and most beautiful part of the entire book! It helps that those flashbacks are so much brighter and more vibrant than the rest of the book, portraying the characters in their classic overly-bright 90s outfits. That is contrasted with a shot of Kimberly in a much darker panel saying, “I miss you, my friend.”

We then immediately transition to Kimberly visiting the grave of none other than Tommy Oliver, the love of her life, leaving a white rose at his grave. His gravestone reads, “His spirit lives on.”

Both of these scenes grabbed us by the heartstrings.

One thing that we're still wrestling with is what's going on with Jason. Apparently, Jason was a firefighter who underwent a deep trauma of his own. He became trapped in his Red Ranger morphed form, apparently becoming a kind of vigilante in that form. We're expecting Issue #2 to expand on this a bit more.

UPDATE: So, apparently some of us less cultured judges misunderstood the panels about Jason. One of our nerdier judges pointed that out today. Apparently, Jason isn't permanently trapped in his morphed form, it's more so like he became addicted to using the Morphin' powers to do good, probably to fight terrorists and gangsters or something. What actually happened was a mysterious cloaked figure attacked him and took his Morphin' coin, which will likely play out and be explained in the next issue. Who is this mysterious figure and why did they want Jason's Morphin' coin?

Our biggest gripe with this first issue is that it FLIES. It actually almost feels rushed. Furthermore, exacerbating this feeling, about 75-80% of seems like exposition. In other words, there's A LOT of explaining in this book. Most of it is all crammed into one diner scene. So, in all honesty, we came away from this issue thinking, Is that all? Really?

It wouldn't be half bad if there wasn't already a 30th Anniversary Comic Special serving as a prelude to all of this, explaining a lot of what's going on. It's almost like having a prologue, then explaining the prologue in chapter 1. Then, why have a prologue?

Another feeling we had was:
Haven't we been here and done this already?
How many more times can you retcon the same story? Just last year (in 2023), we got Power Rangers: Once and Always on Netflix, which we have mixed feelings about, and which this seems to mirror a lot. We also got the Power Rangers movie in 2017. As much as we love Power Rangers, we were really hoping for something new, fresh, and different as opposed to the same ole' same ole'. Like, Rita Repulsa herself has been done to death. The poor lady was already redeemed in Countdown to Destruction, yet we had to see her continuing to be evil in Once and Always and on planet Nibyro in Power Rangers Dino Fury.

UPDATE: After reading some of the other issues, our concerns above were addressed and we were genuinely elated by the surprises in this series!

Lastly, we wanted to mention a few of the beautiful nods and homages to the original series we noticed. There are so many, but here are a few:

- Bulk and Skull make cameos near the beginning of the book. Well, actually, it almost appears as if Bulk is here reflecting on his time hanging out with Skull. So, like... is Skull... dead? Or did he just move on from Angel Grove? The last we remember, Bulk & Skull (of all people) led the human revolt when Dark Specter's armies under Astronema tried to force humanity to submit to their rule in Countdown to Destruction. We don't remember Skull dying. Maybe we're reading too much into that panel.

UPDATE: One of our nerdier judges pointed out that the character we thought was an older Bulk is actually an older Ernie, the owner of the restaurant that the characters frequented in the original series. Apparently, his actor, Richard Genelle, had actually passed away, so it is touching to see a third OG of the series receive a tribute here.

UPDATE: One of our nerdier judges pointed out that Countdown to Destruction probably didn't happen in this universe because it's an alternate retelling and alternate version of what happened at the end of the Zordon Saga.

- Kimberly still appears to wear the half-heart locket necklace that Tommy gave her in White Light, Part II

- Selena appears to be the spitting image of Trini. It's almost chilling how similar they look!

- The head of Alpha 5 can be seen on Billy's desk with a rose left there as tribute.

We are super excited for issue #2!

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