Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Dan Mora
Colors: Raul Angulo
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
For well over 25 years now the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have been a staple of our pop culture. First premiering in 1993 the show became an instant hit, which wasn’t a surprise with its colorful heroes, giant monsters, larger than life robots (sorry, zords) and just enough melodrama to keep a teen audience engaged. Yet of all the iterations the original Rangers tend to be the fan favorites and amongst those original Rangers the Pink Ranger, Kimberly Hart, seems to have a soft spot in most fan’s hearts. Yet what happens when Kimberly goes bad? What happens when Kimberly uses her morphing abilities to travel to all the parallel realities where Rangers exist and kill those Rangers for their power coins? The answer is the Ranger Slayer.
Boom Studios has put a tremendous amount of work into making their Power Ranger comics absolutely fantastic and they have succeeded. As I recently wrote I took a deep dive into the world of the Power Rangers and fell hard for what Boom was doing. All the original mythos and characters were present but they were written and drawn in a more serious manner. Amongst these stories was the tale of an evil Green Ranger, Tommy Oliver, who never escaped the influence of Rita Repulsa and went on to become the dictator known as Lord Drakkon. While the other original Rangers (Jason, Zack, Trini, and Billy) went on to lead the resistance movement against Tommy, Kimberly, the original Pink Ranger, went on to be the mind-controlled assassin known as the aforementioned Ranger Slayer. For every coin that Kimberly retrieved Tommy would use said coin to create shock troops designated by the original Power Ranger color schemes to maintain order through his realm. Yet Lord Drakkon is no more, deposed during the Shattered Grid storyline, and a freed Kimberly has been traveling outside of space and time trying to right her wrongs with an eclectic group of Rangers in the Beyond the Grid storyline. Now those travels are at an end and Kimberly has returned to the world of the Coinless, her reality, which is once again in jeopardy. Yet will anyone be willing to accept the help of the fallen Pink Ranger, the Ranger Slayer? This is the story of Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer #1.
Even though Lord Drakkon is no more the world of the Coinless is still in the midst of chaotic violence. The remnants of Lord Drakkon’s army are under the command of Scorpina while the original Rangers Zack and Trini are joined by one-time bully and now hero Bulk in leading what remains of the resistance. Yet a third threat has emerged, Ghost Rangers. Evil spirits of the fallen Ranger shock troops threaten both factions, neither side has a plan on how to defeat this new threat, and no one is capable of fighting a two-front war. This is the world the Ranger Slayer finds herself dropped back into and she finds herself trusted by neither side but a bridge to both. Yet the hero finds her way and with a return of a few classic villains and some great zord on monster battles Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer is another fantastic read.
Ryan Parrott really knows how to write a Power Ranger story. Parrott currently writes the two main Ranger titles for Boom but I am glad that he found time to revisit the world of the Coinless. He really has the sense and sensibility to keep the lore and mythos of those original Power Rangers shows but does it in a more grounded and serious manner that works. The ridiculousness and camp of the show is left by the side for Boom’s take and I am for one very happy for that. It also didn’t hurt that Dan Mora, Parrott’s original partner for Boom’s second Power Ranger title- Go Go Power Rangers, joined him for Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer. Mora was most recently seen in the amazing Once & Future with Kieron Gillen but luckily for us found the time to return to the Rangers for this special as his stylized and detailed style is a perfect fit for this story. I hope we see more of these two together and another return to the world of the Coinless would be much appreciated.
Verdict: Whether a long-time fan or a first-time reader everyone will find something to enjoy about Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer. With its great story and beautiful artwork no one should pass this up. Buy!
