The Green with Evil plotline is one of the biggest changes in early Power Rangers history. Tommy is freed from Rita’s power, joining the team as the sixth member and eventual leader. But what if Tommy had decided to go back to Rita for more power, and gone full villain?Â
Enter the world of the Coinless: an apocalyptic version of Angel Grove where the depowered surviving rangers are in hiding and Rita Repula is dead. This volume collects materials from both Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers to tell the origins of Lord Drakkon, the evil green ranger.
The writing team is split with Kyle Higgins largely on Mighty and Ryan Parrott on Saban. While the writers are both great at writing the rangers from the television show, it’s the writing for Drakkon and the Coinless that really brings in the reader. Tommy’s fall from grace in early issues, and his corruption by Rita’s power, causes the death of one of the rangers. Trini and Zack lead the group of people in hiding using whatever tech they can salvage from their time as rangers. And while this volume does contain a complete arc and story, it also sets up the next big event, Shattered Grid.
As this is a compendium, a number of artists are included, but three feature largely throughout. Hendry Prasetya’s work features Billy and Tommy stranded in the Drakkon timeline and his use of light and shadow throughout are on full display. The differences between Drakkon and Tommy have Tommy often looking up into the light, with Drakkon looking down into the shadows cast over him. Jonas Scharf takes over the series from Prasetya and the change in style is stark. Scharf’s ranger helmets look more bulky and cumbersome over Prasetya’s more sleek designs. Finally, Dan Mora’s peeks into the Shattered Grid event shows us the Drakkon version of Kimberly and his art feels as if it were in motion as he details the jumps and flips Kimberly does through the wreckage of Angel Grove High.
This volume is actually one of the best jumping on points for a library with little to no Power Rangers, unless you would prefer to start with the newest series Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers. If you were to purchase this volume, you could follow it up with the Shattered Grid volumes to have a substantial part of the series so far.
Boom! Studios did not provide an age rating, but this would fit in well with the teens 13 and up as well as nostalgic adults. The volume is just shy of 300 pages, and collects over 11 issues worth of material, so you get a lot of material for the price. If you’ve got a budget, you could easily skip the first 9 volumes of these series (Mighty’s first 6 and Saban’s first 3) and purchase this compendium instead.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rise of Drakkon
By Kyle Higins
Art by Hendry Prasetya, Jonas Scharf, Dan Mora, Ritchie
BOOM! Studios, 2020
ISBN: 9781684156351
Related media:Â TV to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
