Power Month is almost over but days after the 30th anniversary of Power Rangers Boom Studios with a Morphin Grid Sized team of writers and artists give us a huge special edition that as a fan should most definitely be on your shelf!

This Triplesized issue is filled with 6 heartwarming stories that put a different perspective on the Ranger Universe.

For this one, I’m going to take a different approach and comment on each story before going to the next.

Ode To Ernie

Page Courtesy of Boom Studios

Ernie is ready to throw in his Hawaiian Shirt and call it quits. When a monster attacks and yet AGAIN damages the juice bar. The Rangers take care of the situation with the Villain of the Week. Offering their support to Ernie while trying NOT to give away their identities, the team finds out about Ernie’s frustration and plans on selling. The Rangers tell them how important the juice bar is and how Erine is a positive role model for not just them but all his customers. Ernie tells the potential buyers to bugger off and keeps the juice bar going while knowing that at some point the Rangers come in using their secret identities!

Thoughts from THE JUICE BAR

What a sweet homage to the unsung hero of the first several seasons! Ryan Parrott always knows how to coax out those feelings in his characters. Ryan reminds us that as much as times get tough for us, there is always someone else who depends on us.

FOR RICHARD!

Wedding Vows

Tommy is headin’ for a weddin’! His own, in fact! Seems he needs his OTHER suit today! Melissa Flores, the current Storyteller for Boom! Studios Power Rangers comics fill in the gaps of Tommy and Kat’s relationship.

We get a glimpse of the eponymous college break up, returning home, rekindling the flame, and even a glimpse of the future with the birth of JJ. All Circling back to I DO.

Thoughts from the Bride and Groom Side

WOW! Melissa knocked this one out of the park! We know most of the Rangers’ stories, or so we thought! Filling in the gaps is just smart. What’s even better is we now have a better grasp on the timeline of when things happened, with the reference to Dr. O. so it’s post PRDT. a huge plus we get to see the Master Morpher! the best fan fic turned reality in canon! (Shout out to BD15 and HENSHIN VAULT) I still want an official backstory of said Morpher.

Let’s not forget the two cameos at the wedding party. Well, now we get an idea of WHEN a certain Yellow Ranger ended up. As an extra kicker, David Trueheart is Tommy’s groomsman.

There is so much heart in this story. It’s cathartic that we can still get these love-filled stories for our fallen friend. Keeping him still alive in our hearts. No matter what color his ranger suit is, we miss you, Jason…

The Alpha Directive

Starting on Edonoi, home of the Masked Rider, we see the creation of Alpha 5 getting the option NOT to have a protocol. King Lexian saw the error of his way with Alpha 1, so he built Alpha 5 differently. Lexian gifted him to Zordon, and as the 10,000 years past, Alpha learned what he could from his surrogate father figure. He too learned what it was like to be a part of a family with the Rangers.

We get a touching scene inside the Power Chamber just before Zordon and Alpha leave for Eltar (During Power Rangers Turbo) as he creates his replacement with the wiseguy Alpha 6. Giving him all his memories and the same lack of objective to find his own self.

While on Eltar, we see the day Zordon is captured by Astronema’s forces. Zordon pleads that Alpha saves himself. Alpha tells Zordon that he will follow HIS primary directive. Never to leave his friend alone.

Thoughts from The Programmer

Mat Groom’s choice to do a story about everyone’s favorite android companion is just so warm and genuine, which is a testament to his writing style. The flashbacks intermittently over 10,000 years really give you the perspective that both Zordon and Alpha didn’t just sit around and wait.

Let’s not forget the most important cameo yet! Alpha’s Teddy!!

What Time Is It?!?

This starts off boom right in the middle of a fight scene. Goldar ran his mouth, and The Rangers went through their paces. Quips going back and forth and then calling out for not just Megazord power but even Dragonzord power! With Goldar perfectly pitted between the two of them!

What time was it?!

Seriously, I have NO idea where or why this was shoehorned in. It seriously read so fast. If it were on TV, it probably would have taken about two and a half minutes, and that’s COUNTING zord summoning and combination sequences.

The only credit I will give this section is the fact the color and texture are a throwback to older comics. You can see the texture of the paper vs. today’s modern printing techniques. Let’s not forget the exaggerated figures and poor drawings. That’s a callback, too!

I THOUGHT THERE WERE 6 STORIES?!

Yes, just like most Ranger teams, there are 6 parts. I wanted to make sure these 2 were given a little extra treatment as they are going to tie into NEW stories coming out from BOOM! Studios.

Ranger Academy: Office Hours

Billy is living on campus during his graduate program when he gets an odd message from “The Headmaster” who is a total rip-off of Zordon. Billy is skeptical, wondering who this floating head is, but they are well aware of who Billy is. He asks to talk to a new student who isn’t sure if they belong at the school. Oddly enough, Billy is just starting his student teaching, so it is funny how, on his first day, he’s already counseling a student, just not the kind he thought it would be. As they chat, the cadet admits that she, too, wants to be a Blue Ranger inspired by Billy.

Office Hours: Extra Credit

This is such a sweet story! Obviously, this is most likely in a separate timeline, but we already have established that the comics are not 100% beholden to the TV series. I wonder if they threw this in as Billy will return for the next “season” of Cosmic Fury.

RE-IMAGINE

This story is done entirely from an off-page narration, Kimberly reminiscing over the years of everything that has happened. But this perspective is different than we know from what we already know. Kim and Tommy get married instead of Kat. The Stone Canyon kids never transfer powers. Each page starts at 30, then 20, then 28 years ago, until we get a destroyed Commander center, and Green Ranger Tommy says we take the fight to them. Seeing Kim’s unmorphed face, in the next panel, we are in an airport at a gate asking for Emma Phillips. Flash Forward to TODAY, and we see a middle-aged “Kimberly” still Narrating how you have to Re-Imagine who you are.

Thoughts with a different perspective

Wow, considering we just came off of seeing Kat and Tommy’s wedding, getting to see one from another angle was very unexpected.going away from both the TV and Comic canon. These breadcrumbs sprinkled in this first special issue have really interested me in what Amy Jo Johnson has planned for this new story coming out later this year.

Still covered 30 years later

10 amazing covers! even doing a throwback to the old 90’s comics and one that is a high gloss foil cover of MMPR #1 from a few years ago.

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