My thoughts on Boom Comics Power Rangers
Before you ask, no! I'm not going to review comic books because they keep getting rebooted and retconned. Since one of the writers is leaving and both comic book series are starting to connect with each other, it's time for me to give my thoughts on them.
Boom Comics created two comic book series called GO! GO! Power Rangers and Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. GO GO takes place after the first episode and before you know who showed up. MMPR takes place after Mr. Overrated shows up. Plus, Boom Studios did other Power Rangers comics like annuals, Pink, and Soul of the Dragon. Pink tells the story of Kimberly after she left the Rangers in season three, annuals deals with the everyday life of the Rangers, other characters, and gives us a backstory on the villains. Soul of the Dragon is the old man Logan's version of Power Rangers.
These comic book series capture the potential I saw in this show! The Original MMPR show could have been this good if it wasn't tied down by the sentia footage. This comic book series did something that the Clone Wars series failed to do with the prequels, that is, make it better. It answered some unanswered questions like what happened to the astronaut who freed Rita, and why Rita's monsters are so dumb? The reason why I'm fond of this series of comics is that it tells silly and mature stories without losing its lighthearted tone. I also like how the writers are creative with this franchise; it almost feels like I'm watching kids writing these comics.
The Lord Drakkon story is a what-if tale for Tommy. If you wonder what would have happened if Tommy stayed evil after being free from Rita's spell, then this is for you. I'm not crazy about this story, I'll explain later. Shattered Grid is about Lord Drakkon manipulating the morphing grid. This story makes me mad not because I think it's bad or that it turns Lord Drakkon into Thanos. It's because this is what Neo-Saban should have done for the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers.
I'm impressed with what the writers have done with these characters, for the most part, because they made the rangers feel like real teens, and their parents are in their lives.
This comic focuses on Jason/the red ranger being a hothead, and we get his backstory on why he's like that. I'm surprised that he asked Zordon to break one of his rules to help him.
Zack/the black ranger is more of a people person in this comic. I don't buy his subplot in the comics; the writers should have given this to Billy/the blue ranger.
Speaking of Billy, sadly, these comics didn't do anything new with this character. That annoys me for reasons I'll get into that later. I'm not crazy about his past with Skull.
Trini/the yellow is the same as she was in the show, minus her being an environmentalist. That's a shame because she's underdeveloped in the show. We learn that she moves around a lot, and she wants to be a doctor. I don't like that these comics made her promiscuous instead of her being with Billy. This wouldn't anger me so much if the writers of these comics didn't grow up watching Power Rangers.
Kimberly/the pink ranger, is Ms. Princess. The comics focus on her family problems, and she has a boyfriend. She did something to Skull that's messed up. Thankfully, he saw what she was trying to do. Her spin-off story addresses the Dear John letter; however, we don't know why she wrote it. Plus, it makes Kimberly look like a jerk.
I'm disappointed that the writers didn't do anything to justify Tommy/the green ranger's popularity. They could have if they gave him the same character traits as Lord Drakkon.
Bulk and Skull are comic relief characters in these comics.
Matthew Cook (Kimberly's boyfriend) is friendly.
Zordon feels like a mentor in this series. We learn something about him that adds a plothole to the first episode of MMPR.
Alpha 5 is less aggravating.
the Ranger Slayer is the Sarah Connor of Power Rangers.
Rita is a huge improvement from the original show; she's more menacing in these comics.
Goldar is a bloodthirsty warrior.
Sadly, the writers didn't do much with Scorpina.
Finster is a mad scientist.
Lord Drakkon is ruthless and egotistical. However, in Shattered Grid, we see that there's more to him than that.
One of the many problems I have with these comics is that I don't know how the morphing grid works in this world. What bugs me about the Lord Drakkon story is that it made Tommy more popular than he already is. This is why I enjoy reading GO GO more, because I don't want the writers to think they can't make a good story without Tommy. Because of this, I didn't want to read Soul of the Dragon.
My Gripe with the Shattered Grid story is that this should have been an evil Billy story, I mean, isn't this something evil Billy would do? (I'm still waiting for an evil Billy story.) This could have been the sci-fi version of Revenge of the Nerds, but no, you have to kiss Tommy's butt. Boom Studios, I better get a Billy spin-off story in the future. I mean it! I'll get a lawyer, there'll be blood to pay! Issue 17 of GO GO is coming out next week. I don't see the need to read it, besides tying up some loose ends. I don't see what story the writers can tell from here. (If I'm wrong, then I stand corrected.)
These comics are a good example of fans adding something new to a franchise that they love! I would recommend these comics to fans and non-fans.