Review of “Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Return (Issue #4)” by Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS (MORE SO THAN REVIEWS OF ISSUES #1 & #2)

Might Morphin' Power Rangers: The Return (Issue #4) is the climactic grand finale of this phenomenal comic book series by Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson! Once again, it is brilliantly and beautifully illustrated by Nico Leon.

This book picks up where the last one left off, revealing how Olivia Hart, the daughter of Kimberly Hart and Tommy Oliver, came into possession of the green ranger power coin. Olivia Hart is clearly a fish out of water, lacking the training, conditioning, and experience of the seasoned, veteran Power Rangers. Olivia even says she thinks she needs to throw up after teleporting because she's not used to the Ranger powers.

We love that, even though Olivia is morphed, she isn't portrayed as adult-sized or as an insta-badass, which is something that was really annoying about Justin, the blue ranger in Power Rangers Turbo. Yes (in the case of Justin), it's kinda empowering for kids as a kind of escapism, but it also feels unearned and undeserved. That's not the case with Olivia, who has to adjust and adapt to the suit and her Power Ranger powers.

Selena Repulsa, the conflicted daughter of Rita and Zedd, is easily able to get the upper hand. Making matters worse, Finster and his putties are ready to join the fight. Thankfully, however, Kimberly is able to use the fallen dragon dagger—one of the most iconic items in the entire history of Power Rangers (gosh, you can just hear that catchy tune it used to make in your head)—to pry the entrapping forcefield open! This releases the OG Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers to join Olivia in her fight against the forces of evil!

You can't help but punch your fist in the air, jump, and cheer when you see all of these iconic characters finally get to fight side-by-side again!

It really is awesome to see each and every one of these characters let loose and throw down! Something that needs to be mentioned is that Zack brings out his original “hip hop kido” fighting style that looks more like break dancing! So nostalgic! Somewhat humorously, he can even make observations and carry on conversations while fighting like this. The grand majority of us would be out of breath and probably trying to hold down our lunch.

Anyway, everyone transforms after this including Selena Repulsa, who has possession of the late Trini's triceratops/yellow ranger morpher. It's so cool!

As the characters explain, Selena possesses some of the powers of the yellow ranger in combination with the powers of Rita and Zedd. She is a force to be reckoned with! At the same time, she's not invincible or invulnerable. Similar to the previous issue, she still drops her guard and shows her inexperience from time to time. This, similar to Olivia's situation, was great to see!

It's like if two angry teenagers with attitude just happened on some morphers, lacking training and experience. It's kinda fitting in that sense, when you really think about it.

Another character that needs some props and attention is Finster. Once again, Finster gets a lot more screen time and development than he did in the original series. For once, you can actually tell that he's both angry and vengeful for all the pain and misery the Power Rangers put him through for years, destroying his creations, his home (presumably the Moon Palace) and almost destroying him. So, like that one guy who drank the whole Dr. Jerkyl & Mr. Hyde potion in League of Extraordinary Gentleman, he transforms himself into a hulking, four-armed, blade-wielding version of himself.

Now, we have to say that this is both very cool and very weird. This is really unlike Finster. Finster is a bubbling coward and has always been a bumbling coward. He has rarely—if ever—been front and center in a battle the way that Goldar and Scorpina have. Quite simply, he has never been a fighter. He has always been a thinker. So, to see him throwing himself into combat like he's Leonidas in 300 is pretty dang bizarre, but we can play along for the sake of this great story.

Anyway, there are a few big, huge reveals that we have to talk about. If you're still trying to avoid spoilers, maybe click away and read the comic.
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BIG SPOILERS AHEAD
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Are you still here? Ok. Well, the contraption that Finster and Selena concocted to bring Rita back brings about a very different outcome. Rather than bringing back Rita, it brings back Tommy. Now, this is sure to divide the fan base. Some like the finality of Tommy's sacrifice and how it reflects the actor's real-life passing. Those are the fans who probably emphasize stakes and consequences. Others will be happy to see Tommy back and reuniting with his friends and family. Those are the fans who want a more positive and uplifting story.

We were somewhere in the middle.

However, this did give us a great payoff in terms of some development for Rita Repulsa. Apparently, Rita saw that Tommy was desperately trying to protect and save Selena before the Benevalator exploded, so she decided to save him as well.

This is actually powerful and beautiful. And, no, this isn't a character betrayal.
We've long known that Rita, despite all of her evil plots and eccentricities, was never pure evil. How do we know that? Well, because the original Z-wave in Countdown to Destruction: Part II (in Power Rangers in Space) didn't kill her or Zedd, it reverted them to benevolent human forms. In Power Rangers Mystic Force, she was even one of the more powerful forces for good in the form of the Mystic Mother, the “empress of all good magic.”

Furthermore, we know that Rita had the ability to love. She genuinely loved Zedd and remained married to him long after his love spell had worn off. She also genuinely loved and cared about Selena, as shown by the fact that she had Squatt and Finster take care of her and also wanted her to be a part of the post-war celebration. So, we can totally buy that Rita would do a kind and even self-sacrificing act to reward someone for taking care of her daughter.

So, ultimately, this book is able to be a lot deeper, more emotional, and more impactful than you might expect from an action comic. It's about family. It's about love.

Even Selena seems conflicted at the end of this book, similar to Astronema in In Space. That's really something we love to see!

There's also the mystery of who the new white ranger might be. Is it Trini somehow back from the dead or from another timeline? Is it a redeemed Rita Repulsa?

What a cliffhanger!

Check it out on Amazon!