SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

February 3, 2016 by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Review: ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0’

February 3, 2016 by J. Caleb Mozzocco   Leave a Comment

#0Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0
Writers: Kyle Higgins, Steve Orlando and Mairghread Scott
Artists: Hendry Prasetya, Corin Howell and Daniel Bayliss
Boom Studios; $3.99

It seems like just yesterday that I was telling you about the return of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in a new comic book series, but that’s just because I have a bad memory: It was actually almost two years ago, when Papercutz launched a line of Power Rangers original graphic novels for kids.

Well, the Rangers are re-returning this spring, and this time the publisher doing the honors is BOOM! Studios, who will be eschewing Papercutz’s graphic novel format for a traditional paper-and-staples comic, with eventual trade paperback collection all but assured. The ongoing series won’t launch until March, but BOOM! recently published a #0 issue to help prime the pump.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It succeeds.

The Papercutz version rather pales in comparison, largely because the BOOM! Power Ranger comic seems to be directed squarely at adult comics readers with a great deal of nostalgia for the early ’90s television show/merchandising phenomenon, and therefore it features much more sophisticated and accomplished artwork and comics storytelling. Not that the comic is what one might consider “adult” by any stretch of the imagination; it’s just as all-ages and family-friendly as any previous Power Rangers media. It’s just awfully good-looking.

The 20-page comic features three short stories, two of which will be regular features in the ongoing. The first is by writer Kyle Higgins and artist Hendry Prasetya, and is a 12-pager about Green Ranger Tommy Elliot’s early integration to the already formed Ranger team. A mind-controlled mole for their archenemy Rita Repulsa, he struggles between evil programming and a desire to be good, just as he struggles to fit into the clique.

Higgins updates the setting to the present and Prasetya updates the fashion, so the story loses it’s inherent 90s-ishness along with the goofy charm of its budget special effects. I wouldn’t expect either change to garner many complaints, although it did take me aback to see Kimberly texting emojis to Tommy in class.

That story is followed by a two-page “The Ongoing Adventures of Bulk & Skull” by Steve Orlando and Corin Howell, in which the TV show’s comic relief duo gets a mostly Ranger-free spotlight, and, as the title indicates, this too will continue into the ongoing series.

The final story is a reprint from an SDCC exclusive, a short, six-page story by Mairghread Scott and Daniel Bayliss. It’s about as generic as a Power Ranger story could possibly be. The Rangers fight Goldar, he grows giant, they fight him in their Megazords and then they combine those into their giant robot form and win the battle. Bayliss’s art, featuring sharp, dramatic angles, kinetic action and lush coloring, transforms it into a really rather great comic book action scene (Wait, did I say “transforms”…? I should have said “morphs”).

As brief and pointless as the story may seem, it’s a pretty great sizzle-reel style distillation of everything cool about the Power Rangers, presented economically and as well as the franchise’s various virtues have ever been presented in any medium.

Like I said, in terms of building anticipation for the Spring ongoing series, this #0 issue succeeds: If you weren’t excited about he prospect of a new Power Rangers comic before reading Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0, you almost certainly will after you’ve read it.

Filed under: Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Boom! StudiosCorin HowellDaniel BaylissHendry PrasetyaKyle HigginsMairghread ScottMighty Morphin Power RangersPower RangersSteve Orlando

About J. Caleb Mozzocco

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a way-too-busy freelance writer who has written about comics for online and print venues for a rather long time now. He currently contributes to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6 blog and ComicsAlliance, and maintains his own daily-ish blog at EveryDayIsLikeWednesday.blogspot.com. He lives in northeast Ohio, where he works as a circulation clerk at a public library by day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

May 2023

School-Live!: Letters | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

Spider-Man Fake Red | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

My New Life as a Cat, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

Thinking of You (But Not Like In a Weird Creepy Way) | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Listen to Gene Luen Yang on TED Radio Hour

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Anatole by Eve Titus, ill. Paul Gadone

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Late May 2023 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

And now there are 38: May Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Suggestions

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Book Review: Code Red by Joy McCullough

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Trying Something New: SPEED ROUND w/ Marla Frazee, Doug Salati, Dan Santat, and Amina Luqman-Dawson

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Jen Wang Draws from Reality

10 Sports Manga for Hardcore Fans and Newcomers Alike | Mondo Manga

Graphic Novels for Armchair Campers | Stellar Panels

Be Afraid (but not too afraid) | The Year in SLJ Covers

Graphic Novel Stars at the SLJ Summit

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023