Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Necessary Evil Part 3 Review

This is Jason David Frank, and you're listening

to the Geek Cash Radio Network. Ladies and gentlemen,

and all you other people, this is TFG1Mike, and

if you're hearing the sound of my voice, ignore

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a while. Thanks and on with the show. TMNT and

Radiant Black. Yeah, we have all that and so

much more. It's all inside the pull bag here

on the Geekcast Radio Network. So without further

ado, it's time to talk about the comics we're

reading right now here inside the pull bag. Hello

and welcome to The Pull Bag! This is episode

474. I'm of course TFJ and Mike. Joining me in

Mighty Morphin March 2022 is Mr. Jesse Raz. Hello,

sir. Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye! You said a mouthful,

Alpha. So yeah, we are continuing on. This is

Necessary Evil Part 3. Yeah, or volume 13 of

MMPR. Yep, yep. The original MMPR Boom Studios

book, volume 13. And yeah. Yeah, you were a little

surprised by this one. Volume 13 collects issues

48, 49, and 50. Those are three big issues man

well 50 was double -sized wasn't it that's why

it only contains three because I think so I think

you're right yeah yeah 50 I think was double

size and then next time in a couple of weeks

when we get to volume 14 uh that's issues 51

to 55 so that's the norris usually Five between

four and six issues are usually collected per

trade on almost any comic you'll ever see Yeah,

unless it's something like this where you have

a double issue kind of thing. I guess and yeah

Ryan parrot on writing Danielle Dean Neluko on

Illustrations and the colors were done by Walter

Bahamati. I'm Sorry Walter if I'm mispronouncing

your last name I just can't. Well, but, you know,

one of the things I said when we did, I think

it was 11, the colors in this and this run, I

mean, the colors in the entire series have just

been phenomenal. But this, I mean, this book

just pops. It really pops. Yep. So, yeah, it

really, really does. And. Yeah, so we kick off

with what I assume is the overall, I think that's

the main issue cover. Well, I'll just say that's

the issue cover of 48 is Kimber is the Rangers

leader in the boat, which, by the way, I'm going

to make that. I got to figure out how to chop

it up so I can put it on my printer, but I'm

going to make that dang bow because that is.

two swords of darkness, like that is just so

badass. Yeah, yeah, like not practical for a

bow, but just badass. Yeah, I mean, yeah. So

that's awesome. Yeah. So that's a that's an awesome

cover right there, which was which is crazy because

she's on the cover and there's been no hint to

this point that we're getting any more of her

in main continuity. Yeah. And yet here she is

in this issue, but we don't start with her though.

No, we don't start with it again. Some of these

covers are a huge, huge tease. And they are also,

I personally think that if I'm off to look on

comic find later to see if this was the actual

like cover eight, like the first cover that was

sold in stores kind of thing. But I think this

was like, for those of us who still go to comic

book shops. Right. You walk in you look through

the boom studio section all of a sudden you see

this hand with these this thing in her like oh

so that's where this is going okay bye immediately

you know. And i think you before we jump into

the trade i think that's one of the strongest

points about the boom studios books at least

when it comes to mpr is there are so many like

attention getting. covers, you know, you have

some that feature like the whole team and they're

just, you know, they're sort of formulaic, like,

yeah, you know, it's Power Rangers. But I'm a

very big fan of sort of those more iconic sort

of things. So like her arm coming up with the

bow, that's it. You know, there's no, there's

no picture of the team. There's no like, I love

that stuff. That is kind of my that that is those

are some of my favorite covers. Just just across

the across the board doesn't matter the hero,

but when you can do something like that, that's

that. That's what I put on my wall. Yeah, absolutely.

So getting into issue 40 or chapter 48 here,

we started safe haven below a Trinity point and

it is garrison with Kaia. And yeah, they're discussing

how the battle goes. And then, of course, then

they run into Dane, the great Dane. But, you

know, they they've had him down here trying to

figure out a puzzle. That's why that's what they

freed him. And he comes to you come to find out

that there's a reason they're on this planet.

You know, the Morphin Master, which the emissary,

the blue emissary, you know, brought him here

for a reason. And it turns out the original inhabitants,

which we I think believe are the Morphin Masters,

just walked off the planet into this little Stargate

-esque portal. You know, and yeah, it's kind

of a little bit of a big bombshell. Now things,

what's been really nice about this arc is it's

been a slow build to a A threat that's a little

bit on shattered grid level as far as like the

universe, the morphine grid, but it didn't feel

like that until now. Yeah. Cause again, you have

this whole mystery. You have Dane, you know,

basically scoffing at them. I solved your little

riddle, right? You know, you know, yeah, it's,

you know, again, building the mystery of what's

going on with all of this stuff and. And everything

else and right now to we jump back into it we

were reminded that we have. The two teams of

rangers split up the omega rangers in the power

rangers but not evenly split you rocky adam and

iisha with zack and trini and you have jason

left behind with kimberly billy and tommy which

it makes for some really going for that makes

for some really interesting conversations it

was really smart on the writers to do it this

way because. You get which we got last chapter

with Aisha talking to Trini about our we just

replacements or replace holders Now we're getting

ready to see some we've got a little bit of the

fireworks between Jason and Kimberly But then

we're gonna get some with him and Jay him and

Tommy Which is really nice to see And under all

of that, you have Billy scheming behind everybody's

backs. Right. That's the thing. We kind of find

out that Billy has been sort of keeping in touch

with Grace Sterling, the first. Well, possibly

the first Red Ranger. Yes. So, you know. This

whole thing with Billy and Grace and everything

else and how they're keeping it a secret and

how Zordon doesn't know that he's working with

her. The first thing that pops into my head is

the other secret that was kept 30 years ago.

Zordon and Alpha in a hidden chamber. Like literally,

I see in my head right now, I see David Yost's

shocked Billy face. When he finds that hidden

chamber and I'm like, yeah, that's this. It kind

of goes back with and, you know, I don't want

to dwell on this because we've talked about it

the last two the last two issues. But yeah. But,

you know, Billy is such a nuanced character and

it started with Kyle Higgins and Billy's reluctance

to demorph. You know, he was kind of wearing

his clothes over his power in your suit because

he was afraid. So now now he's kind of following

in the steps of his mentor Zordon He's doing

things that he deem are necessary But also keeping

it close to the vest. Yep So he goes and asks

grace for help she says she might know somebody

in the area and then we cut to a Giant space

debris with the Power Rangers and this sort of

epic fight. Yes Yeah, this was a lot to take

in. Right. And you know what's really interesting

and I don't know if unless you're a big Power

Rangers show aficionado, you may not remember

this little bit of obscure continuity that they

pull out. Jetting. Yep. Do you remember that?

No. That's the thing. I'm like, oh, a new a new

thing. This was on the show. So I want to say

it was like used for maybe two or three episodes.

And I have no idea why the hell they they introduce

this. But it was basically like flying. They

can pretty much basically fly, which is cool,

except you can teleport. Yeah. Like see it and

i think that's why it was only in maybe one or

two episodes and never really did it again and

i i i will. I challenge you google it they look

so stupid because they're clearly like on a green

screen and it's just it just looks so cheesy.

And it's kind of like whenever they introduce

the shark cycles and all these things, it's like

you can teleport. Why do you all of a sudden

need a vehicle? But the shark cycles are a toy

that you're going to sell. I get that. Why are

you doing this? So I always thought that was

stupid in the show, but I think it's hilarious

that they found a way to use it. And then Trini

is kind of schooling them on it. Yeah, I think

it's cool here. I don't think it would have been

useful or cool in the show. It's cool here because,

again, you're out in space. You need to find

a way back. You need to find a way to help your

friends and help yourself. And, you know, that's

awesome. That's that's interesting. Oh, it would

trust me. I thought it was a very nice nod to

a very obscure piece of continuity that, you

know, very effectively is used in this comic.

And You know, I think again, I think we've we've

hit on this several times in the last couple

of episodes, but that kind of like attention

to detail like it as a fan, it makes you feel

very happy because it makes you feel like this

is being written by a fan. And so like they have

respect for the source material which it could

be very easy like hey i got a job i'm writing

on power rangers it's a crap show but you know

whatever it would be very easy for people to

do that both on the show and for the comic books

but. They have a certain, at least, respect,

if not fandom, for what is there. So little bits

like that, they make you feel good about reading

it, whether you remembered it from the show or

not. Yeah. And the one thing I'll say about the

overall writing of the entire series is that,

number one, I've said this before in other episodes,

I'm very happy that Kyle Higgins got to live

out his dream and write something that just like

us, you know, he grew up watching and paying

attention to whatever else. I'm also very happy

that they have stuck with Ryan Parrott through

all of that. Like most comic books, if, you know,

certain comic books, you know, a writer will

get to do this arc, this arc, and this arc, and

then it changes. And it, you know, so I'm glad

we don't have a revolving door of writers on

this series. Right yeah I think he definitely

has sort of captured some of the great things

that Kyle did and is sort of adding on it you

know and it's always it's always hard when you

get a new writer in because you know sometimes

you're like you know I'm gonna work within the

existing continuity that this writer developed

and then sometimes they just want to go off and

do their own thing so you know it is it is very

tricky and I imagine from a writer standpoint

like You want to do your own thing. Yeah, that's

why you took the job. So This definitely feels

like an extension of what was already built It

does but it also feels like he's doing his own

thing too because again you have The Omegas and

the mighty morphins so it's two Power Rangers

teams Kyle didn't write two Power Rangers teams

He wrote the main Power Rangers team and he wrote

the evilest Power Ranger of all time, right?

You know, and what I love here is that, you know,

you have, again, glimpses into personalities

that we would have never seen. You know, you

got Jason trying to get back into the thick of

things here and, you know, Tommy just good. I

was gonna say we got to get into this fight,

this epic fight between Jason and Tommy that

I feel like we have been building to. And if

it didn't happen, I would have immediately dismissed

this book because It's there. It needed to happen

and thank them. Thank goodness. They gave it

to us. Yeah. Cause Tommy, even though he's the

new leader, even though Jason was the classic

main original leader and I, I just love the,

the, the exchange, the beginning exchange that

Tommy gives him. Yeah. I came in here and did

the same thing after Dayton knocked me around.

Problem is pocket dimension. Mad guys are. as

good as the real thing yeah and they uh you know

they they do their and again i i hear austin

st john and jd and jason david frank in my head

you know i think i'll risk it omega firepower

exactly and again even with thankfully the the

word balloons in the next panel are They're each

coming out of their mouths and it doesn't take

away from the actual art another Print I want

right, you know, it's just so damn good It really

is and again, that's the other strength of this

book is they do a really good job with the action

scenes Mm -hmm, which is not easy to do in a

comic book sometimes No, I mean you look at this

kick that Tommy is delivering to Jason and you

see Tommy's foot It's showing it in motion but

it's showing it like it ripped out like his actual

foot by the heel and by the ankle is ripped off

his leg but it's showing you the motion of the

kick without needing to see an actual 3D image

or a 3D actor making the actual move and you

can see how. Oh wait wait wait wait wait wait.

Is he doing the Chun -Li bicycle kick because

I seriously noticed that Oh my god a little bit

a little bit You know, so getting you know getting

past that, you know It is interesting because

they do sort of start a little bit on the surface

They're kind of sparring and then you notice

they quit pulling their punches. Yeah, you know,

they're real emotions come out, you know Jason's

like you think I wanted any of this you think

this is my idea someone comes to you and says

hey, man We need you to save the universe, but

small catch you got a lot of everybody you cared

about it about to do it what would you have done

and I love that Tommy's silent there because

he knows damn. Well, he would have done the same

thing Exactly Which again that was that was a

bit between the two that we needed to have Yeah.

And, um, you know, it's really nice. Uh, you

know, and then after that, you know, Jason, it's

like, I gotta go, I gotta go back. Uh, I gotta

go back to the, the safe haven planet. And, uh,

so he, you know, sets off and the other Rangers,

you know, trying to talk them into letting them

come. And, uh, it is nice that, uh, we do get

one thing in that little exchange that, um, you

know, Jason kind of acknowledges. what some things

that Zordon originally said. And it's kind of

like when, you know, you look at your parent

and you're like, I get it. You know, I get I

get I get what you went through. Like I get the

struggle now. So that's really cool. And then,

of course, we come back into the space battle.

Yep. Trini, I don't think and this is this is,

again, going back to the tragedy of losing her.

But I don't think she gets enough credit either

in this book or just in general for her leadership

skills. Like she is a badass leader here and

totally coordinates this whole plan, which almost

works until we see the Grave Digger Zord. The

Grave Zord, Grave Zord. Grave Digger Zord would

be a monster truck. It would be a monster truck

that no one would want to go up against. So I

didn't go back, but I totally forgot that this

thing was still around and that she was still

around. I know she is, but I totally spaced this.

Oh, that that Ranger Slayer Kimberly is here.

Yeah, I totally spaced that because, you know,

I'm thinking back to back to Shattered Grid and

stuff. But like, yeah, I was like, oh, God, I

forgot she was lurking around. And it was so

cool that she's the one that's just floating

around deep space for grace. Yeah. Yeah. And.

It's nice to see that again we we're having again

so on earth you have Billy Kimberly Tommy and

Jason and whatever else in space you have Aisha

Adam Rocky you have Zack you have Trini and then

you have Kimberly Rangerslayer Kimberly and it's

like Yeah, these two teams could really work

together well with each other. You don't have

to keep it Jason, Trini, Zach, Billy, Kimberly,

Tommy. You can use it as multiple other things.

It's very interesting. It's a much more interesting

dynamic that way. Yeah, absolutely. Also, if

there's one thing I'm disappointed about from

the comics, and I know why it doesn't exist,

but I'm disappointed, That some of these badass

epic zord creations that we get from the comics

don't exist at all in toy form Like even like

models and stuff like the grave sword is Awesome,

it's so cool from the pink miniseries the the

like Typhonis or whatever that the gold are creates

out of pieces of old swords That is awesome.

Like, I want those toys. Yes. Yeah. And I think

it's, I don't know if it's just because it's

in the comic, if it's because it doesn't show

up on the show or it doesn't, obviously it can't

because unless they're gonna... Well, I don't

know who has the rights. Like I know Hasbro owns

Power Rangers, but I don't know how that extends

to to the comic series. Like, I don't know what

they're. And the thing is, is if you're Hasbro,

yes, you're a toy company. But does it make sense

to make this one thing for you as well? I'm not

a big fan with a lot of the decisions Hasbro

sort of made in reference to toys, but. That's

a separate podcast. But anyway, so Rangers show

that Rangers Slayer shows up as the in the Graves

Zord and murders this child. Like there's no

ifs, ands or buts about it. Puts him out of his

misery, says thank you, takes a kid, takes a

tiger blast to the face. Yeah. Which, again,

is the difference between Kimberly and Rangers

Slayer. Yeah. But again, you know, she's coming

in to save the day. And she doesn't just kill

him. Right. I mean, she does. She comes in. And,

you know, what do you say you take a big step

back from my friends there, huh? Yeah, I'm warning

you. Stand down right now or I'm going to do

something we're both going to regret. And you

also have to look at this kid and how he has

been treated and how he has been used and abused

and everything else. And he is just waiting for

not to be here anymore because of everything

that he's been through. How is this kid going

to be able to live his life with this power that

he has? And that's why he says, finally, thank

you, because it's somebody who, you know, sees

a threat. She warns him. She knows she's going

to regret her action. Yeah. But, you know, he

is thanking her to the point of. Thank you for

helping me to the, you know, to not be a controlled,

abused person anymore kind of thing is how I

see this. It isn't like she came in, you know,

went behind everybody's back, got Tommy by the

throat and slit his throat, or she didn't come

in and pick Zach up and, you know, Take take

him over her knee and crack his back in half

kind of thing right? It's not bad like well,

and it does show you because Zach and Trini They

mention it they're like you didn't have to and

they feel bad because he was one of their charges

But Rocky Adam and Aisha really showing their

Their greenness because they were like whoa whoa

whoa whoa whoa? You know they're like yeah, so

it just shows you where everybody's kind of at

you know Kimberley scene A bunch of alternate

universes and realities and yeah that kind of

explain what they're doing and it's interesting.

She said if it helps I know something that can

absorb morphine energy at the source though it's

in another universe so there's no way to get

it and then did you pick up on what that might

be. No I didn't but I'm the next thing I'm like

wait Z is like you have access to come with me

now right so what was it. Uh, well, it's something

that we saw on another arc. Um, Lord remember

Saba is it what I'm not going to spoil it for

you. So, um, but anyway, so Z takes them back

to, it says we need to go back to safe haven

because we got to get to the, the master arch,

which we just found out about a rate forged by

the original Morphin master. So now all of a

sudden what they need is exactly what Kaia and

her team of anointed need. And we're setting

up for a grudge match. Oh, yeah. While we set

that up, we get we get this cool little aside

between Zach and Adam, because we got Aisha and

Trini. And it's nice that we get, you know, and

we got Jason and Rocky. We got a little bit of

that, you know, with them them sparring at one

point. But it's or did we? Where we get that

what the Jason and rocky talking about i'm not

sure i don't remember if we haven't got it yet

we will. It's basically rangers comparing notes

yeah it is and it's experiences yeah and it's

cool cuz we never got that we never got that

on the show for obvious reasons we were gonna

get it so it is nice to get a little bit of you

know fan service here. for for what we didn't

get. And. But then now we're back on safe haven

and we're getting shit's getting real. Yeah,

she's, you know, amassing an army of people.

An angry army of people. Yes. And we get into

chapter 49 main cover, Jamal Campbell again.

It's the rangers against the invading army but

the anointed yeah you know this is kind of going

back to what we're talking about about covers

this is beautiful i like this i think the colors

are great on this but just the layout and stuff

it's not. It's not my favorite. Type of cover

like it's good. I think it's aesthetically pleasing

I think it catches your eye, but it's just not

my personal favorite style if I was in a con

bookshop when this issue when issue 49 came out

and I was looking around at various things this

would have caught my eye Yeah, but it would be

in a way where wait. What is that? Yeah, and

wait Tommy's butt is on the cover like and like

you see Cheek like that his like if you look

closely. Yeah, there's his crack. They I mean,

it's subtle crack, but it's there. You know,

there's this forever. Evil story of Nightwing

slash Dick Grayson in DC. Everybody wants a chance

to draw a good Nightwing, but and apparently

everybody wants a good chance to draw a topic,

but we got a chance. So yeah. But we kick off

the we kick off this series with the Tiger Zord

in space. Yeah. Not something I expected, but

hey, it works. Well, I mean, it does kind of

make sense if it's airtight and it's got propulsion,

you know, maybe it's not the worst idea ever.

You know, it's definitely something that That

no one thought about No Cuz normally you would

think of oh wait Maybe there shouldn't be a tiger

sword in space. Maybe it should be the ninja

mega falcon sword or something or other But we're

not there yet at all anymore Sadly, you know,

what's interesting too is we never got to see

this be because of the way they spliced two seasons

of Sentai together. But we never got to see what

the cockpit of the Mega Tiger Zord looked like.

You know, we always saw Tommy in there, but when

the other Rangers were in there. Right. And we

get to see that here briefly with the morph out.

Yeah. Which is which is what which is what the

actual Megazord cockpit looks like in Die Ranger.

Right. So that's really kind of cool. And again,

if you if you did watch any of the Sentai, it's

a subtle little nod there. Yep. So anyway, we've

got we've got our earthbound Rangers. We've got

the three Mighty Morphin and Jason back on safe

haven. Yep. Walking into a trap. Of course. Wouldn't

they be? You know, they've got. They've got some

of the locals. They're trying to keep them safe.

They're trying to get them out of there. And

boom, here comes Kaia after being betrayed. And,

you know, let's not fight. Let's, you know, you

know, and just some like I thought I was really

going to like this character. But now that she's

kind of turned, it's like. Well, you know, it's

funny like so and we can talk about her more

at the end as we get closer to the wrap -up of

this art I When she turned evil it irritated

me it didn't I wasn't super sympathetic and I

think that's because it just how Little time

we got with her Like I don't think she's been

around long enough for you to really feel her

betrayal the way the Power Rangers, the Omega

Rangers kind of do. And it just it if there's

one tiny thing that I have to nitpick about this

so far, it's her sort of fall from grace. You

know, a dragon is a big thing. But yeah, but

it was just very quick, I guess. And. I don't

know if there's, cause she's on this whole they

lied to us thing or they did this thing or let's

not be this, let's do this. Why do we, you know,

I was on the wrong side kind of thing. And I

don't know. I mean, I didn't think she was so

gullible in the beginning as a new Ranger I mean

she has green but she wasn't gullible about it

I mean obviously hello she snuck up on a Morphin

master and killed the dude yeah you know but

at the same time I was not expecting a heel turn

from her at all yeah so I'm wondering if she's

gonna get a face turn because we're gonna do

it a little later here but Dragon sort of seemingly

gets a face turn now. I don't know. Well Yes,

and maybe no maybe not. Yeah You know, but to

kind of illustrate the fact that she Is not a

bad person. She gives him a chance to surrender

their morphers knowing full well that they won't

and basically, you know threatens to kill Tommy

before he becomes dragon and she's kind of becoming

the thing that she hates But doesn't see it which

again that that's goes back to that slippery

slope of trying to be more proactive and not

reactive That the line that the Power Rangers

kind of walk Finally our two teams are back the

panel you talk about panels that you just would

love Kaya, Tommy's not surrendering to you. In

fact, none of us are. You know why? Because it's

morphin time. Yeah, just wow. Yeah, that is most

definitely a panel. And yeah, and then them together.

That's like right up there with the anniversary

shows where they all do the big morph. Yep. Also,

I love that Billy didn't know that it was Ranger

Slayer that was Grace's friend. Yeah. That's

kind of a little like like tucked in there. Wait,

what? Who? Yeah. And again, we're going to get

deep into Ranger Slayer stuff a little bit later

this year. But I. This series has given us so

many. cool variations on characters we already

know. And as I've already said in the last three

episodes, or however many episodes we've done

to this point, is that that's what makes the

comic so good, is that there are so many different

aspects, emotions, characteristics, all of that,

that it's not just like this morphine sequence

here. Yeah, this isn't your cookie cutter. I

mean, it, it, it has its, you know, formula of,

you know, them talking and then, oh, by the way,

it's more from time and then they morph. But

I'm sorry, some of those big anniversary morphs,

because they go through each into like, sometimes

they'll, they'll, they'll do it by team, but

the episodes where they do it individually and

they have to yell out every like, Yeah, which

is as much as I love the Thunderzords I'm sorry

mastodon lion Thunderzord power is too damn low

You know, I mean it's filler like yeah Yeah,

I know but I'm glad in this that they can just

do one sequence panel It's good and one were

almost one word things for each of the thing

Yeah You know, so Kaia hands them over to Garrison

and Dane. Yeah, they've all morphed. Jason calls

in the other Omega Zords. Garrison's in Kaia's

Omega Zord, which I'm not really a fan of the

way they look like. I guess it makes sense. You're

sort of abstract elemental powers that are just

sort of sort of exist, but they're not my favorite.

I'm not clamoring for these toys. No. And it

kind of it kind of sucks that they don't I don't

know if there's a fifth one missing But like

I kind of was hoping for a Megazord, right? Yeah,

you know But anyway, so Jason and the Omega Rangers

go to take on Garrison and the you know the other

Omega Zord and he leaves the the Rangers to take

on Dane and I love Jason calling the shots. He's

like think you can handle Dane and he's like

go will We'll do our best Totally gun -shy about

everything and you know, they're trying to form

the power blaster and of course, you know as

they're Broadcasting to the world what they're

doing Dane is really smart and shuts up Rocky

right as he's yelling power sword. Yep. Ah, not

again Meanwhile while this is going on Ranger

Slayer and Z have gone down to the temple and

the gate and have decided to try to use this.

You know, and it's got an automated defense system,

which is kind of cool. Mm hmm. Yeah, it's got

a on a mat. Yeah, that's yeah. Wow. Yikes. You

know, which she's kind of commandeered. But so

he start he starts up this he dials up the Stargate.

which, sorry, it's what it looks like. It's what

it looks like, folks, yeah. And she goes off,

doesn't say where she's going. I knew before

I saw it where she was going, but you don't,

so I'll keep that to myself. And then we get

this fight, this three on one fight. And with

the Zords, which is kind of cool. Yep. They say

something here. I think it's when they were calling

the Zords. Where do those come from? We don't

know. We're just glad they come. I think there

was a couple of issues earlier. Yeah, it was

great because there will be different planets

and boom, there they are. Yep. And that's good

because not everything needs to come out of a

volcano or from under the earth or whatever.

Yeah. Well, and so now we get something that's

very Interesting because you know now it looks

like three -on -one the Omega zords not a big

deal and then all the sudden Kaia calls in the

anointed and they start overloading loading the

zords with all the morphine power that these

guys possess and You know They're like we can't

fight that basically kind of turning them into

suicide bombers almost. I mean, they're not exactly

throwing themselves at explosions, but she's

using them as cannon fodder. Yeah, it's basically

that. Yeah. Which is really sort of a twisted

dark kind of turn. Again, there are a lot of

twisted dark. Again, this is why I am so thrilled

with How Ryan Parrott is writing this and, and

just everything to do with this series, because

there were things here and there are things in

volume 14 that I was not expecting. And I'll

admit this now halfway through volume 14, I got

lost because I just did. We'll talk about that

in a couple of weeks, folks. But, uh, but yeah,

I mean, What a way to get to 50 folks. Yeah,

and so that you know this issue or this chapter

ends with We don't know if Trini's Alive or not.

Yep, which we assume she is but then again in

greater continuity She could they could very

well have a Ranger parish here And it wouldn't

mess with anything because you know by the end

of issue 50 zeds free again Yep, at which we

knew kind of had to happen Yeah, we knew that

was something that probably needed to happen

and But we don't we don't know about training

so, you know, so we kind of start this issue

with a little uncertainty they end it You know

the Omega Zords are Getting their butts handed

to them and yeah Yeah, which brings us to issue

50 issue 50. Oh boy You know, so we start off

with with the Rangers fight. We get right back

into it. Yeah. So we have this this opening narration.

The essence of a linear life lies in its unpredictability.

What is waiting around the next corner? Will

I ever find true love? When is my last day? Last

day. Oh, boy. What will tomorrow bring happiness

or sadness, pleasure or pain? The beauty in not

knowing is what drives us all. And then we get

to because there might not be another tomorrow.

And that's where the big open page of the fight

between the Mighty Morphin team and Dane happens.

Wow. Yep, there. I love the line. Tommy, we're

running out of ways for this guy to beat us.

But then they look up and they see the Omega

Rangers are getting their butts handed to them.

You know, and it's very interesting because they're

telling Tommy, like, hey, man, you need to go

help. And he's like, nope, I'm leaving him. He's

getting kind of started. He's like, no, I'm leaving

him. I'm not abandoning you guys. You are my

team. You know, I don't know who these guys are

anymore. And the team is like, give us the chance

to prove it. You do, you do what you need to

do. Yeah. And so he sends them off or they send

him off to, uh, to go get, you know, some tiger's

word power. Yeah. And again, a panel that would

look like some of these panels, depending on

how, and I'm looking at them in the comiXology

.com guided view. So I get really cool, you know,

like storyboard, like I'm. What am I on? Well,

obviously this is page 56 of the overall trade.

Okay. So you see this and you see it as, you

know, this breakdown of vertical panels. And

then at the bottom there, they kind of, you know,

the bottom two, they kind of look like photographs.

They kind of look like the old style photographs

that you would put in a frame. And I'm like,

Ooh, between Adam, Aisha, and Rocky, and then

Tommy morphing out as, you know, as obviously

he's in his white ranger uniform. Okay, if that's

what you want, good luck, Rangers. Again, print

it out, put it on my wall. It's just so good.

Well, and they get, and they get this idea, you

know, it allows the three of them to work together

because the three of them are friends they know

each other about as well as the other Rangers

know each other and So, you know, they get the

idea to swap up weapons change their tactics

a bit Rocky just decides to jet into him. Yep

you know, but they start Throwing out the playbook

and just you know start doing anything and everything

I love how they invent because all of the The

the moves that they have have like code names

and so they invent something called beta 7 and

The other two Rangers are like, huh? Guess we

got to learn that one. Yep And then by the time

we get close to the end of the battle even though

Well, we move on over to Z and all that's going

on but Basically forward in this battle with

Dane. I remember, I think it's Aisha that asks

him now either you're going to surrender or you're

going to find out what betas eight through 10

are. You know, we, we cut back to the Omega Rangers

battle. Um, you know, there's some dialogue and

all of a sudden Tommy walks in and the tiger's

order. Nobody gets to beat up my friends, but

me. Exactly. Was hoping I'd get a crack at you

ponytail And then and then we get some do we

get some badass tigerzord fighting yes, we do

and it is amazing Well, but what's interesting

it is amazing, but you know You do see that the

tigerzord is a lot slower and is a little clunkier

than these Omega zords Oh, well, yeah, I mean,

because again, even though Tiger Zord is is white

light and the power of goodness and all of that.

I mean, Tiger Zord is 30. Well, not in this continuity,

but I'm just saying in real life, it's 30 years

old at this point. Tiger Zord's been around the

battlefield a few times. And then we get this

moment which could have come out of the show

because it's just like when they found those

those one -off blasters and met titanus and they

decided they learned how to work together tommy

the omega zords were designed to adapt to naturally

adapt with any zord let's show them some red

tiger power yeah now again that's a toy i'd want

that's yeah exactly that's a toy you would want

And they they work together, which is what you

know, which is always the thing with Jason and

Tommy, I feel like they always have to learn

to work together. Yeah. And when they do, it

works very well. Yep. Like, I mean, you know,

they're supposed not everyone has to be an enemy

of everybody else all the time. Like you can

make up, you can come to, you know, whatever,

you know, passing moment you can kind of thing.

And they just do all kinds of red tiger moves

and slice and dice him until the, uh, the hoard

of angry, uh, people starts, you know, swarming

them again. Yeah. You want to talk about colors?

Yeah. The panel where, you know, as, as the,

the, the people are coming in, the systems are

failing on the red tiger's or. and the people

are coming in, there's that giant, like, warp

-looking panel where it's all purple and yellow

and everybody's like, ah, they're all screaming,

that's awesome art right there. Yeah. And just

when all is seem lost, we get this one panel

of a ranger absorbing all that morphine energy

from all the peasants. Do you know where Ranger

Slayer went? Yeah, I do now. Yeah, she went to

she went to the universe with the Solar Ranger

and while I did not like Beyond the Grid, I do

appreciate how they didn't completely disavow

that and brought her in. Yeah. Yeah, that was

that was very awesome and very cool. Again, I,

you know, like we've said in the other episodes

and when we did the, uh, the shattered grid and

beyond the grid stuff, it just felt like you

left us with shattered grid. And then we went

on this adventure with frankly, peep half the

people in beyond the grid. I were new characters

to me and I didn't dislike them, but I wanted

to know more about the. Picking up the pieces

of shattered. So again, like yeah, like we've

said, you know go from shattered to this it'll

make more sense and eat people can and should

read beyond the grid, but It just went on too

long. I think I think it went on too long. It

should have been maybe six issues And you know

again, you know, we we hashed it out there are

some picks that I liked as far as and then some

I just did not and It was a good idea, but it

like I said, I think the bottom line is it just

went on too long. But it's nice to see that our

time wasn't wasted. Some of those remnants came

back to to basically wrap this up. So once the

anointed are down, basically Dane turns tail

and and ditches her. So now it's just Kaia. Yeah,

it's just Kaia and. Trini, I hate that you still

come up here. But hey, at least I know where

to find you. And, you know, Trini's not as soft

spoken as, as we all thought she was. Nope. Cause

guy is like, We're friends and that's what friends

do for one another. Does that sound about right?

Nope, I'm done with all that. Oh, well, she's

had it. She's had her butt kicked several times

a day by a friend. So yeah, she's done with that.

Meanwhile, while that starts to happen, Zed's

jar just falls. Yep. Miraculously. Oh, no, it's

Dane. Dane basically saying we're even. Don't

call me ever again. And so now we've got, you

know, we've got the final battle. We've got Trini

and Kaia going at it. And, you know, it's pretty,

it's pretty emotional. Yeah, it is very emotional.

And we get to where what was said earlier, the

gate open, the planets aligned. The earth rose

and then the water fell. Yep. Or at least it

will. And just like that, that's it. That's it.

Yeah. And, you know, all the people that that

are free from the morphine energy, they they'll

get a chance to stay or go home and. Garrison

and Kaia, well, they get their own little space

dumpster. Yep. So they're like, hey, you can

stay here or you can go home. We'll figure it

out. And so then they say goodbye to the Solar

Rangers. Yep. And and they get cut off. You got

to see our new Solar Ranger and something. Yeah.

Which I feel like that's going to come back.

Yeah, I don't know that we've seen it yet, but

I feel like that's just sort of leaving the door

open to maybe a little revisit of that, which

wouldn't be the first thing I jump on, but you

know. Well, again, if it's something that, like

you said, if it's an arc that is, let's say a

three part arc, yeah, fine. Or if it's something

like what we will get to, we are going to get

to these this year at some point. uh psychopath

and uh the time force uh right just sort of whatever

contain stories yeah yeah yeah so if it's a self

-contained thing sure fine great and once we

get just like we got so much additional things

with jason trini and zack along with aisha adam

and rocky As long as we get more, like you said,

if we go on a specific adventure with the Solar

Rangers that is not tied into other things that

like, it was really hard for me to see the Solar

Rangers in with our main people that we've known

for the last 30 years of our lives. You know,

it wasn't bad. It wasn't a bad thing. It was

just difficult for me to get used to those characters

because at that time, I didn't want to see those

damn characters. I wanted to know more about

the people I've known for the last X number of

years. And again, I was not a fan of the artwork

in that book. I thought it was very hard to follow.

It was the story was confusing. But anyway, we've

already hashed that out. But so so they say goodbye.

Then Ranger Slayer goes through the Stargate

and we will find out where she goes, because

it's all speaking of a spinoff miniseries. She

gets her own. She gets her one shot. Well, she

gets I think it's a three shot. It's good. Yeah,

it's good. I've read it. I like it. I want more

from that universe, but we'll talk about that

at some point. So, you know, so and then we're

we're kind of meeting on the beach and they're,

you know, they're actually they're actually talking

on the cell phone and not live. Yep You know

that we get to see them actually being friends

again, yeah And then we get this little cuz you

think all is fine. Well and good No, it's it

there. It's another thing. They're gonna. It's

just running off to fight the monster of the

week Oh, look set is back and he's got the snake

that turns into his Yep, his staff. So there

you go. You got your wish. I mean, it's not your

zeo crystal wish, but you know, hey, they tied

it in. Yeah. But then there's something that

is coming crashing to earth. I wonder what it

could be. Or who? It's Lord Drakkon. Yep. Dun,

dun, dun! And that's how we end Necessary Evil.

Yep. And yeah, I'm digging this. I think this

is great. I think they told a story amongst these,

you know, three parts of this overall arc that

is really well done. They essentially told two

different stories because you have Yeah. Well,

I'd be technically more than that, but I mean,

between the two ranger teams, two very different

ranger team stories. And then obviously you have

what's going on with Kaia. You have what's going

on with Dane and Zed and all of that. It's just

one big piece of awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I think

they did a really good job of balancing two teams

and they had two separate storylines and then

finding a way to merge the two. and still give

both teams enough development. I mean, everybody

really kind of had a moment to shine. Everybody,

you know, it was a good ensemble arc. You know,

there, you know, some were featured a little

bit more than others here and there, but everybody

kind of had their moment. So they did a really

good, which that's not easy because you're looking

at nine characters. Yeah. And then you got Zordon,

you got Alpha, you got Kaya. So that's not an

easy thing to do. So they did really well with

that. I thought overall, I thought that was a

good for the arc. We talked about this already.

The artwork I thought was great. I thought the

action sequences were awesome. Yeah. No, I think,

I think this arc was really well done. Yeah.

Volume 13 also has a cover gallery, which is

awesome because I love when they do cover galleries

and trades. The main, which is kind of... It's

kind of interesting to me that, so we get the

rest of the cards, the issue 50 ranger cards.

So green ranger, you know, yellow, was it a blue

Omega ranger, yellow Omega ranger, that thing.

So we get, we get those and then we get a red

ranger, Omega ranger kind of, you know, this

is done by Oh good lord, I'll mispronounce that

name so much. But anyway, this was the issue

50 variant cover. And they have a variant of

that of it being in stone, which I think is cool.

And then we have multiple dragon covers. And

I'm just like, wait, we barely see he shows up

at the end. And, you know, we got one by Diego

Galindo. Actually, all of these, I think, are

done by Diego. No, two of them are. We got two

by Diego. One is of Draken looking like he's

popping out of a portal. Another one is of the...

Is that the Ultra Dragonzord? Uh, yeah. Yeah,

that's the Ultra Dragon Zord because it has,

yeah, Dragon Zord and Megazord with it together.

So we get that. And then we get one of which,

wow, like Dragon Zord in the classic. And then

we just get a traditional Tommy, you know, with

the dragon dagger thing. And then we get a preview

of Power Rangers Dragon New Dawn, which starts

with Ranger Slayer. So I did some research on

this. Ranger Slayer technically did not get her

own mini series. She got her own, like, oversized

issue one shot. She got Ranger Slayer number

one, and that is a part of Power Rangers Dragon

New Dawn volume one. But that whole thing is

about her. Oh yeah, no, no, no, absolutely. Yes,

you are correct. I'm just saying that instead

of paying $5 .99 on Comixology .com, you can

spend just under $14 and you get Power Rangers

Slayer number one and Power Rangers Dragon New

Dawn one to three. So would you rather spend

just under 15 bucks for four comics or six bucks

for one? Kind of thing so because the cover of

dragon new dawn one Mm -hmm. It is her onsets

thrown. Mm -hmm. Yep. Yeah, so it's interesting

how I Don't know that that's so we're not talking

about that right now. I know but like yeah, that's

the way the way they Named that is a little bit

of a misnomer Yeah. Yeah. Because it's not, it's

about his aftermath more so than it is about

him. Yeah. And so, you know, that, that is, it's

a little deceiving, but. Yeah. So yeah. So you

get, so you get that. That's the thing though.

Again, I would have to go back to read Shattered

Grid, but from what I remember of Shattered Grid,

Lord Drakken. It was Lord Draken versus the coinless.

And then there was everybody else on that world,

but we didn't really ever, like the main focus

of it was Lord Draken and what he was doing with

shattering the grid and whatever else. So the

copy for the trade says, the ranger slayer alternate

version of Kimberly Hart returns to her home

dimension to pick up the pieces left behind in

the wake of Lord Draken's reign, becoming the

thing she hates the most. the new ruler of her

world sitting on Drakon's throne. But an even

deadlier threat sets its sights on Earth, and

Kim won't be able to defeat it on her own. it's

ranger slayer one and then dragon new dawn one

two and three those four things and this this

does kind of bug me sometimes when comics do

that that is a thing and i know why they're all

separate because you get you to spend a little

bit more and i understand that but like that's

the arc those four issues yeah that you know

that aren't like i just wish it was you know

it I wish they were four issues and not exactly,

but I wish they were four issues and not three

issues. And then ranger slayer, because like

if I'm going to the comic book store and I'm

looking for, I don't, I don't, unless I look

it up on the internet, I don't know that that

is also that. And so it gets a little confusing,

but most of, and I, I know a lot of people don't

go to websites to look at posts and things like

that. I mean, most people are listening to podcasts

on their their phones or the whatever, whatever

people listen to podcasts on nowadays. But that's

why in almost all of the pullback posts, if I

put in there a comixology link or whatever, I'll

say, Hey, this is this read it here. But it's,

you know, Ranger Slayer number one plus the dragon.

So that way, people know that you get everything

right here in this link. And that's, you know,

I, and that's what I will When I go to jump into

a new series or something, I immediately go and

look for the reading order. Yep. Because more

often than not, especially like, because at this

time we had, we had MMPR and then we had go -go

Power Rangers still going on. Yeah. And so I

can either pick up the trade with the whole arc.

Or I can try to go to the if I'm reading it on

an individual basis, I need to know what what

is what. And a lot of times, too, I've noticed

this and Power Rangers does this a little bit.

Well, they'll give you. The arc from Mighty Morphin

Power Rangers, and then you get the art from

Goat and then you have to wait for whatever the

third thing is to get the whole arc across the

whole thing. It drives me crazy. They do it with

Green Lantern like it just. Like I have a compendium

of Blackest Night. I know we're not talking about

that. And it is it is because there were three

books that was going over. There was like Blackest

Night. There was Green Lantern. There was Green

Lantern Corps. And I was like, I just want to

read this whole damn thing as it's going on.

I know that this is kind of an aside. It doesn't

necessarily play into this, but just give me

the full freaking thing. Oh, it's so confusing.

And I hate when comics do that. But let's get

back on track. Yeah i mean luckily i can wow

it's actually cheap i can. What was the blackest

night only eight issues really that was that

was the event the actual event comic. Green lantern

core so there's that also it dwindled out into

some other stuff as well i mean it was. Again,

I know we're talking about that was one of like

DC's best like overreaching arcs that gets zero

credit with anybody like you talk about, you

know, Flashpoint was good. It got a DC animated

movie. Blackest Night gets nothing and it's crap.

It's a it's a crime. But anyway, yeah, it's just

crazy, crazy stuff. All right, folks, I assume

we're both giving this fives. Oh, yeah. I'm going

to give this one a five. I will say it did make

me a little nervous that Drakken was back at

the end because I feel like it might have been

too soon, but. Issue 30 to issue 50 or technically,

if you want to count Shattered Grid number one,

right, but. Technically issue 30 in the main

ongoing was the last time we. Actively dealt

with him to him showing up here at the 20 issues.

I don't know what happened in those 20 issues

that. You're right. But the thing that I was

afraid of, and I'm not saying I agree now, but

my thing was afraid of it was like, OK, so Dracon

was the big bad guy. We had him. It was great.

And then we struggled. And now we had this one.

Great. What else we got? Well, we can bring Dracon

back. And it's like, so I was a little afraid

of that. But. Stay tuned. It's not quite which

it is what you think but also like it's not they

do a really good job of I'll say slow playing

it a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So Alright

folks coming up next. We've got the TMNT 3 comic

Terry that we're gonna be doing and then Jesse

and I will be back with volume 14 And then Joe

and I will be back again because we're turtles

guys and I know you're a turtles guy as well

but time zones and time availability and whatever

else Joe and I are going to do many more from

Power Rangers TMNT. I was wondering when you

guys were going to do that and I have not picked

that up yet. Alright well you know go get it.

read it, and then listen to the show whenever

the show comes out. For sure, for sure. I picked

up Power Rangers and the JLA crossover, but I

haven't picked up the Ninja Turtles. But I will

say they just released the Lightning Collection

for that, which again, you'll do that for the

Turtles crossover, but whatever. But they look

awesome. They really look good. Yeah. Yeah. Good

stuff coming up. Yeah, absolutely. Where can

the people find you online, sir? Find me on Twitter

at Jesse J. E. S. S. E. R. S. R. A. S. Same handle

on Instagram. If you want to follow me on there,

I'm also on TikTok. I'm also on Facebook, and

I also exist in the real world sometimes. Yeah,

you just can't find him on 4th Street anymore,

folks. Well, depending on what corn, no, nevermind,

anyway. No, no, no, no. There is only one. When

people say 4th Street in that area, we know there's

only one. Anyway. I am at TF2 and Mike on Twitter.

You can follow at The Pull Bag on Twitter as

well. Make your great escape to comics and may

the power protect you. We will catch you next

time here inside The Pull Bag. You've just heard

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