One of the world’s most popular superhero franchises once struggled to find itself in the comic book format.

My friend was amused.

So its all about her being the Pink Ranger?

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Yes, but its more than just that, I insisted.

Havent you heard about the new comic series anyway?

Theyre practically flying off the shelves like little ninja crane zords.

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Wow, I thought.

Then I paused for a moment and reflected on how we got here.

Its been a bumpy ride for the Power Rangers in the funnies.

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Most of them didnt quite work out the way the fandom wanted.

And the ones that did fell into immediate obscurity.

So what if the art or the writing wasnt technically the best?

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Lets morph into action!

Wait…you in the back.

Youre doing it wrong.

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Thats a henshin belt.

Pick up the Dino Buckler.

But they werent cool enough to get picked up by Marvel or DC yet.

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And since they werent restricted byDairangerorZyurangerfootage, well, the sky was the limit.

But its highly apparent the original script did not.

Zedds mannerisms are practically identical to Ritas.

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And the inconsistencies dont stop there.

Continuity issues aside, Menace of Dracula is a fantastic way to kick off the Hamilton run.

1, Issue 2: Switcheroo!

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Did you ever wish one of the big bads would turn Ernie into a monster?

I mean, it happened to Bulk, right?

Well in this particular issue, he did.

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Like most stateside monster creations, Goat Man doesnt have the most inspired design ever.

Other than that, this story is pretty darn good.

But Zedd and the Thunderzords?

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Still written like their Season 1 counterparts.

So the team reallyreallyneeds Kimberly to come out and play with them.

But her stepfather wont budge, and Zordon wont get in the way of good old-fashioned parenting.

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Whats a group of intergalactic city park defenders to do?

Kimberlys stepdad is a prick.

As she flees from the angry crowd, Aisha runs into Lord Zedd himself.

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Except, hold on, he says that hes actually…Rocky?

Since this is the only intimate memory these two lifelong friends share, Aisha goes along with it.

But Aisha doesnt recognize the friendly automaton, nor does she recall anything about being a Power Ranger either.

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What did I tell you.

Well, until we get to the one with the tiny flying elephants.

That ones nuts too.

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However, the stories featured in the second volume were even more experimental and high concept than before.

Who wouldnt have liked to see that happen on the show?

2, Issue 3 Bad Attitudes / Grey Skies

Okay, here we go.

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Thats okay because they get them back just in time to vanquish Zedds new zord anyway.

So what do the Power Rangers do to get rid of the citywide miniature winged elephant infestation?

They order a semi full of bats and unleash them to scare away the Aerophants.

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Because elephants are scared of mice, see.

And bats are considered winged mice…yeah.

You get the picture.

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So the Aerophants were run out of Angel Grove, never to return.

Where did they go then?

Did they invade Stone Canyon or something?

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They couldnt have just disappeared.

Just make a bad joke about it in the end.

Or set the timer on your VCR like I did.

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The bigwigs at Marvel had acquired the property over the summer.

What about the Power Transfer and all the cool Season 3 stuff?

So there endeth the Hamilton days.

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We head to the Marvel years on page two!

But the toys and merchandise were still pretty hot and tempting as ever.

Those power brats were now officially super heroes.

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No more anachronistic, cartoony renderings of our favorite characters!

No more creepy, tonally inappropriate storylines with existentialist baggage!

No more Lord Zedd acting like Rita!

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We didnt have to put up with tiny winged pachyderms anymore.

The world was our oysterizer.

But guess what?None of those things actually happened.

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And most of MarvelsMMPRcomics themselves werent even as memorable as a majority of issues that Hamilton cranked out.

Except in theirNinja Rangersline of comics, which was treated as its own spin-off line.

In the end, there was little to no continuity shared amongst them.

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In that sense, its efficient.

Which I totally dig.

I guess it had to do with that whole brand recognition thing.

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He grows big, the Rangers kill him with their Ninja Zords and…thats about it.

If you cant already tell by his last name, Myrons face is covered in pimples.

Two bullies pick on him at the, uh… wait, is that the Juice Bar?

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Myron gets upset and runs off because he wasnt able to defend himself.

Why would someone not want him to protect them?

And we cant have that, now can we?

That would never…Well, the Rangers are sent to stop them by a very scary looking Zordon.

Were getting deep into Season 3 now, arent we?

Whats sad is, Tommy thinks theres something familiar about the huge glob.

So he summons the Ninjazords (no Shogunzords?!)

and has Aishas Bear Zord give the huge zit a big ol ninja bear hug.

Myron Zitzner flies out.

Tommy catches him on the tip of the Falconzords wing, because ew.

Because high school basketball games are hot to bet on in Angel Grove.

Aisha is bored and ready to do something productive like laugh at the offensive coffee mugs at Spencers.

Kimberly is a girl, an airhead, and shes wearing booty shorts.

When they see it, they throw-up and turn back to normal.

The lesson of the day is this: Binge and purge, kids.

One of the citizens runs off with a car stereo after Tommy saves him.

Zordon says that saving a thiefs life was regrettable (because he is a cosmic jerk deep down).

Hes more worried about whats causing the earthquake, though, which just happened to awaken a dormant volcano.

Zordon warns that energy can only be transferred, not destroyed.

And they dont look like goobers this time.

They actually look like Power Rangers!

They dont have cheesecloth covering their faces this time.)

Zedd transports them to somewhere in Mongolia and gives them the ability to speak English.

(Uh…) When the Thunder Megazord rises up from the ground, the Dark Rangers jump inside.

As the fight goes on, the Tigerzord leaps out of the volcano after all, surprising everyone.

But seriously, what was up with the Tiger Zord?

The comic felt more comfortable exploring his world and his mythology than it ever did with thePower Rangers.

Thats becauseMasked Riders premise fit in pefectly with traditional comic book storytelling.PowerRangersdid not.

And he sees his grandfather again.

And he stops in to visit Zordon and Alpha for a bit.

Then everyone has dinner at Dexs house with his very progressive for 1996 multi-racial family.

The Papercutz team got the tone ofMighty Morphinright, but updated it just a little.

Not as much as BOOM!

Sadly enough, the Papercutz era was incredibly brief.

Only three issues were released, one of them being a free comic book day giveaway.

In some ways, the creative team got the short end of the stick.

But they still produced a couple of solidly fascinating comic books that slightly altered the way we view MMPR.

Can our heroes defeat Ritas new hybrid zord when all of their powers are mixed up?

She tells her minions the story of how she obtained the Green Power Coin.

Because she knew it was in located somewhere in the Desert of Despair (where Ninjor lives!

She eventually realizes that its underneath the statue of the ninja master the theyre busy worshipping.

Even though they were there for most of it, Ritas crew enjoyed hearing the story.

But they have to ask ask her why she hasnt used the coins powers yet.

She complains that she hasnt found anyone worthy yet.

This winds up being unintentionally symbolic, seeing as how Boom!

StudiosMMPRseries picks up right after Tommy and the Green Ranger are accepted into the team.

But its a morphin one.

Stephen Harbers got a power and a force that youve never seen before.

Hes got…atwitter account, awebsite, and acomic book projectthat will even up the score.

Its okay if you are.

We wont judge you.