Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have  reached new paradigms and done the unthinkable. Something that would never happen in the show, has now taken place in the comic. The Rangers actually fought outside of Angel Grove. You mean to tell me that there’s a whole world out there Rita is trying to conquer? Not just the tiny town these teenagers with attitude happen to live in? Insanity, I say.

MMPR #5 takes place months before Tommy’s arrival when Rita sends a giant Vitruvian monster to Italy and destroy it for daring to take a stand against her attacks. As she sees the Rangers (again, outside of Angel Grove but I’m almost inclined to believe it’s actually Angel Grove, Italy) battle the DaVinci quoting monster, she sets her sight on a possible candidate to fight for her as the Green Ranger.

Being this a stand-alone issue with Venom artist Thony Silas, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot more than a fun one and done story. And I got that and more, this issue reveals more background on the Green Ranger power from the perspective of the Power Rangers themselves, it allows breathing room for Rita to state her true intentions for conquering the Earth, and a hint at the history she’s had with Zordon in the past, which I hope Higgins and co. will come back to. This issue manages to deliver both a fun story that, although with some quirks that by now would belong more in the show than this comic, is still in line with the tone of this book and manages to come back around to what this comic is building in the overall arc. By the end of the issue I was brought back to the main story and a renewed sense of unity for the Power Rangers, which I sorely needed after the recent news about the upcoming movie… but I digress.

Putting Thony Silas on art duties was very well thought out. The chemistry between writer and artist is still palpable, as well as it’s a good transition that shares similarities with Hendry Prasetya’s art, but is also different enough to let us know we’re reading a different Power Ranger story than the one we have been so far. The panels have a funk to them with stylized action sequences that would remind me of a lighter version of what a Jim Mahfood take would look like, but bringing it back to what we’re more familiar with, when the helmets went off.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5 continues to build on a strong story they’ve set up, and take a one-shot opportunity to deliver an expansion on the Rangers, the villains, the lore, and even leaving Angel Grove! I’m never getting over that.

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