Author’s Note: While this has some spoilers for those that haven’t read it, I will being making a separate detailed review going over the entire story arc (despite the fact that I have to read some of the other comics to make connections to Shattered Grid which expands on it). For the most part, I’m covering how this connects to MMPR (the season in general) as well as making an original story and focusing on a few particular themes. One of them being stated by my favorite season, Time Force.
Before I go on how this amazing comic series done by Kyle Higgins exceeded my expectations on story telling, I wanted to point out how much I am more of an average fan compared to those over zealous emotion drained hardcore fans that doesn’t know how to reason well. Yes, I was a Tommy Oliver fan as a child and despite having no problems with TomKim shippers, I just found Kimberly cute for the most part. I felt more of a KatTom ship to a degree mostly because of what happened after one particular Zeo episode. (I did find a rendition voice over done by Jason David Frank himself on that scene on his Instagram page). I explained that while I understood and felt sympathy for Tommy (I remembered explaining to Catherine Sutherland back in 2009 how I liked how her character supported Tommy during that time despite her character having a brush with darkness) regardless of how character bashers usually act childish, from a literary standpoint, it works. Did I think that the Green with Evil story arc was pretty good? For its time, yes…I did. I have watched episode 4 countless times and even told Jason David Frank that I had an idea of wanting to try and cosplay as the Megazord and re-enacting that fight, although I know that trying to find someone to cosplay as Scorpina in her scorpion monster form would be difficult and that I would be fine with a Scorpina cosplayer for that fight (and not surprised that he actually liked my suggestion). With my little fanboy explanation out of the way, I’ll now start to explain a bit on how the comics was a connection to the show.
(Connection to the MMPR show):
While the Rangers were trying to adjust after saving Tommy from Rita’s influence, what really caught my attention immediately was how the possibility of residual effects could linger despite the Rangers’ victory. In the TV show, Jason doesn’t question Tommy’s allegiance to the team after being accepted because there’s only so much that can be adapted. In the comics medium however, since the author wanted to go with an original story, that allegiance gets put into question while going a bit further into the Rangers Zords and how their powers and skills differ from each other. Most fans know that Billy is pretty bright but Trini is pretty observant of certain things. In one of the issues she is examining how each of their auras gives off a certain signature but Tommy’s is different from the rest of them because of how the five of them harness their powers differently whereas Tommy’s was created by Rita Repulsa.
(Original Story):
The way how the comics differed greatly from the TV show is how the characters themselves were treated in this medium. While the high school aesthetic is brought up a few times, it is only a temporary focus as the Rangers are then facing a seemingly new threat as Rita harnesses the power of the Green Ranger’s aura and seemingly creates a new evil Zord known as the Black Dragon. However, despite the Rangers’ best efforts to stop the Black Dragon, upon further inspection they find out that it has traits similar to that of the Dragonzord itself. Just when the Rangers thought they could relax, some unknown force strips the 5 Rangers of their powers. Not only that, but Tommy and Billy get transported to an alternate universe. Or…in the case of Power Rangers…a post-apocalyptic Angel Grove in which evil has won. The Rangers that were stripped of their powers from the Morphing Grid are known as the Coinless, the resistance fighters who are fighting against a particular evil in their realm. This all leads up to a familiar face showing up as the main antagonist for the rest of the story arc which gets known as Shattered Grid: a completely evil version of Tommy Oliver known as Lord Drakkon.
(References to the Other Seasons):
The only way how some of the other seasons get mentioned is during the main story arc known as Shattered Grid. Drakkon goes through various timelines to amass power. However, the only other reason that Time Force gets involved is because of the Hyper Force Rangers themselves in coming across Drakkon’s energy signature. There was also a couple of Anniversary Edition issues one for both 2017 and 2018 in which the latter year was when the event of Shattered Grid ended. In both of them, there are visits to other timelines. In the Hyper RPG show of Power Rangers Hyper Force which is a board turn based role-playing game, two episodes of the show is dedicated to the Shattered Grid event in which Drakkon infiltrates the year 3000. Jason David Frank, the “face” of the franchise (to me that’s putting it lightly when he is referenced like that) has appeared in 3 episodes of Hyper Force. Once, for a Dino Thunder episode and twice for the Shattered Grid event.
(The Beginning of the Shattered Grid Story Arc):
As I stated before my heading about the references to the other PR seasons, after the 5 Rangers get their powers cut off from the Morphing Grid while Tommy remained unaffected, a bright flash of light out of nowhere engulfs Tommy and Billy and they find themselves teleported to a post-apocalyptic version of Angel Grove. After finding Saba and the Coinless, both Tommy and Billy find this dimension’s Trini and Zack as well as Aisha (who is the replacement of Trini in the TV show). However, when they run into Lord Drakkon, that is the start of the Shattered Grid event.
(Occurring Themes of Both Power Rangers Comic and the Shattered Grid Story Arc):
There are a couple of themes that I spotted within Shattered Grid. One of them being the “price” of deception which both Drakkon and Rita pay showing how evil deeds yield bad results and the other being stated by Jen Scotts (Time Force Pink) when she’s in the Pterodactyl with Kimberly piloting it. “You can never get back what you truly lost”. The latter being the real theme of the story arc. What really caught my attention was during issue #25 right when Tommy was dying in Kimberly’s arms after he gets stabbed by Saba from Drakkon. He faintly says “So that’s what she meant”. What caught my curiosity was who was the individual that Tommy came across.
It is when Drakkon is trying to re-establish contact with the individual known as “Ranger Slayer” that I find out that it’s an evil version of Kimberly. (While I still have to read the 2017 Annual issue, I have the 2018 one).
The only comic scene that I recall faintly but have yet to spot was of Drakkon betraying Rita by stabbing her in the back and Rita’s shocked eyes as this happened. While Drakkon was a version of Tommy that was power hungry for odd reasons, it was during the attack on the moon where Drakkon resided and Jason’s heroic sacrifice that everything that has happened all led up to what I had suspected all along about Drakkon.
Before I get to the overall review of the story arc, I just wanted to quickly point out how some kids that dressed up as the evil Tommy (just because of how he looks and all), I find it ridiculous. While it looks adorable, the minor criticisms such as the message that is being given to young minds about overglamourization of evil I seriously take issues with (no thanks to Hollowood celebrities). Some would say that he’s misunderstood (and the kids who say that and really understand his insecurities but realize the way he went about it was wrong, they have my admiration and respect) because those are few far and in between.
In the final issue (#30) that illustrates how the Tommy that supposedly died and how Drakkon’s reason for amassing power was because of (as mentioned above) his insecurities and fears and how he was egotistical, narcissistic, but most importantly of all…the weak one because he had no friends, allies, and the like. Drakkon’s arrogance about strength was in fact, his one weakness. He let his fears get the best of him. The fact that he couldn’t handle being rejected is the reason Drakkon unknowingly created a prison of his own making without realizing it. Despite Tommy coming back and confronting Drakkon while giving his friends and allies the open window to steal back an important artifact known as the Heart of the Master, he still tries to do the right thing regardless of all that Drakkon did.
(Overall Review):
To be frank (excuse the pun Mr. Jason David Frank) when I first heard of the Shattered Grid comic story arc, I realized that I had to read through the comic issues that would ultimately lead me to the said story arc. It took me time to find a website in which I could read them and I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. What really piqued my interest was the question of not “What if Tommy chose to stay evil?” but rather “Why would he cling to power and isolate himself just to live in a fantasy of his own making but with no one to share it with?” To me, as a starting writer and a Power Ranger fan, that is one hell of a lonely existence. While I still have yet to completely piece the other parts of the remaining puzzle, I will admit that the Hyperforce team tie-in was a good connection to the story arc in and of itself. For those that are wondering what I am talking about, there was an RPG tabletop series called Power Rangers Hyperforce on a Twitch channel called Hyper RPG.
I found the story arc of what happened post “Green With Evil” and the like fascinating to read because it gave some insight to the Rangers that couldn’t easily have been covered in the TV shows. Also, it gave the writers a bit more leeway because of not just the vast library of the Rangers themselves and the various seasons, but there is also a tie-in at least in one of the issues to the Power Rangers in Space season in which Drakkon explains to Rita and Zedd of their ultimate fate that alludes to when Andross shatters the energy tube of Zordon to rid the galaxy of a good amount of evil. Shattered Grid gave an interesting look into what would have happened if Tommy made the wrong choice for the wrong reasons and I could understand to a point as to why he is considered a “turncoat” character. However, I just as much liked his character in Dino Thunder compared to his other appearances but the only thing that was lacking was more of a backstory that never got explored compared to say…the first team of Rangers before the ones that we knew and love came onto the scene. The fact that the first Red Ranger was a female wasn’t as surprising since I still recall Jack’s reaction from SPD in my mind. I don’t have an issue with female characters or leaders unless they’re poorly constructed or they’re full of themselves and don’t really know how to lead (both fictional and real women). Personally, I don’t care about feelings of foolish Socialist sheep that undermine their own gender at their own peril (which is the sad state of things in all aspects nowadays – entertainment, sports, business, legal, medical, and educational). But if the hard questions are not asked, then who will ask them?
What the Rangers had to face with Drakkon and about themselves was a good journey to say the least. Is it perfect? Far from it. But I will say this, it was a really great series that I have read in a long time since I first started reading comic books as a kid.
Final note: I will eventually make a detailed analysis of the comic story arc as well as Shattered Grid although it would mean that I have to re-read the whole thing while taking notes and expanding on the said themes that I just covered, but it will be worth it (IMO). In a way, I would consider this more like a part one of my review of the comic.
Oveall rating: 8.0/10
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