Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 Preview

Haven’t decided if I’m picking this up or not, but being a huge PR fanboy, I thought I’d go ahead and share the preview for BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0.

• What’s to Love: The Power Rangers franchise is a true multi-generational, worldwide franchises. With its flashy costumes, mecha Zords, and-at its core-a story of superpowered teens who fight against evil alien forces, the Power Rangers are a pop-culture phenomenon that has continued to resonate with fans for over 20 years. As a new film gets ready for release in 2017, we, as huge Power Rangers fans ourselves, are excited to produce a modern Power Rangers comic featuring the characters of the original Mighty Morphin series.
• What It Is: It’s Morphin Time! The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers make their BOOM! Studios comic debut in this kick-off #0 issue that sets the stage for the rest of the series. After escaping Rita Repulsa’s mind control, Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger, joins up with the rest of the Power Rangers to combat her never-ending evil plans. Any semblance of a normal life is gone for Tommy now, but with his newfound family there lies hope for a brighter path. Includes the short story from the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/comic-previews/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-0-boom-studios-2016

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Morphers From Power Rangers/Super Sentai

So a while back, I listed my 5 Favourite Henshin Devices From Kamen Rider. But what about my favourite Morphers from Power Rangers/Super Sentai? Well, let’s count ’em off now. And as always, since I know some people aren’t familiar with the Sentai footage, I’ll primarily use names, terms, and historical events on the PR side of things, while also giving Super Sentai names and history afterwards. Also, keep in mind that I’m going to try to keep this list limited to one Morpher per team (so not the Dino Morpher AND the Brachio Morpher at the same time). Speaking of which, let’s start with…

#1 – The Brachio Morpher from Power Rangers Dino Thunder (Dino Commander from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger)

Tommy‘s Morpher in Dino Thunder (Asuka’s in Abaranger). People have brought up the similarity of this Morpher to Tommy’s previous Morpher, the Turbo Morpher, in that it’s a wrist-mounted device that uses a key. This is actually a coincidence, as the construction of the Morpher for Abaranger didn’t have Tommy in mind (since for obvious reasons, they hadn’t planned on bringing him back for Dino Thunder yet), but it does lead to a few fan theories. Anyway, the Morpher also lets him call the Brachio Zord, as well as some of the auxiliary Zords for that season, and since it houses the Black Dino Gem inside, it also allows Tommy to become invisible.

#2 – Legendary Morpher from Power Rangers Super Megaforce (Transformation Cellphone Mobilates from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger)

This Morpher has yet to officially appear in Power Rangers yet, but it is the Morpher for the Gokaigers, and when it débuts in PR, it will allow the Megaforce Rangers to become the Super Megaforce. In addition, by using the various Ranger Keys with it, the Super Megaforce Rangers can become a copy of whichever Ranger the key was modelled after, with all their powers and weapons at their disposal. Naturally, being cell phones, they can be used as communication devices, and are used to summon their Zords.

#3 – The Omega Morpher from Power Rangers SPD (BraceThrottle from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger)

Sam’s Morpher in SPD (Tetsu’s in Dekaranger). As cool as the standard Morphers are from that season, the Omega Morpher takes everything it can do (communicator, Judgement Mode, Containment Mode, etc.) and adds more. Revving the throttle on the Morpher allows Omega Ranger to use various modes, including Electro, Muscle, Lightbeam, Blast, and Hyper Modes, granting him different advantages against different opponents.

#4 – The Power Morpher from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Dino Buckler from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger)

The Morphers of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger). It was a toss-up between this and the Zeonizers, and frankly, it was a matter of “which one would fewer people kill me for”. lol Anyway, the Power Morpher is a metallic belt buckle that houses a Power Coin. The coins can also be transformed into Power Crystals, which were used to take full control of the Dino Zords during piloting, or fire beams of light from the Megazord.

#5 – The Transformation Gun Gaburivolver from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger

Like the Legendary Morpher, it has yet to appear in Power Rangers. By inserting different Beast Batteries into the Gaburivolver, the Kyoryugers can Morph, call upon their weapons, summon their Zords, and a few other things. Also, not only do they work as the team’s blaster side-arm, but they combine with the Gabricalibur (a sword side-arm) to become the Gaburu Cannon, a powered-up gun, which has been shown to assume a Bayonet Mode for mêlée attacks. So, yes, this is a Morpher, that is also a gun, that can also can become a sword. Something tells me that as soon as it hits stores, Lewis Lovhaug will drop everything he’s doing and go on a hunt for it. XD

Anyway, that’s all for now. Lemme know in the comments if there’s anything else PR/Sentai related you’d like to see me do a Favourite 5 of. Ja né!

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Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Weapons from Power Rangers/Super Sentai

Y’know, right after the Zords, the thing that I would want most in terms of being a Power Ranger is a kickass weapon. And let’s be honest, they’ve had some pretty awesome ones. But which ones would I consider my personal favourites? Well, that’s what I’m here to count off. And once again, because I know some people aren’t familiar with the Sentai footage, I’ll primarily use names, terms, and historical events on the PR side of things, while also giving Super Sentai names and history afterward. Also, allow me to list criteria/limitations for this list right off the bat.

1. I’m going to limit this to one weapon per team, just so I don’t double up. As such, you won’t be seeing both the Power Sword and Power Ax on the list.
2. One weapon per Ranger, so only ONE of Tommy’s weapons. Not, for example, Saba AND the Brachio Staff.
3. They have to be single weapons. In other words, no Power Blasters. That said, single weapons that turn into a team’s blaster on its own, or Power Blasters/Cannons/etc. that aren’t a combination of weapons are all alright.

#1 – Fire Smasher from Power Rangers Samurai (Rekka Daizantou from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)

So you know how some of the most awesome weapons in fiction are swords that turn into guns? Lightning’s gunblade, Ruby Rose’s Crescent Rose sniper scythe, Kamen Rider Wizard‘s Wizarswordgun, and so on. Well, PR/SS have had a number of these, one of the most recent being the Fire Smasher. It’s basically a Zanbatō that can turn into a cannon. In either mode, it is a powerful, albeit challenging to wield, weapon. It’s actually proven to be one of the more popular weapons, as aside from being used by the Red Samurai Ranger (ShinkenRed), it was also used by Kamen Rider Decade when he and ShinkenRed swapped weapons to battle a monstrous version of Kamen Rider DiEnd, and a giant version is wielded by Shinken GokaiOh.

#2 – Laser Lamp from Power Rangers Mystic Force (MagiLamp Buster from Mahou Sentai Magiranger)

Okay, as silly as the Solaris Knight’s (MagiShine) weapon is, it’s actually highly effective when put to use. By spinning the dial on the side, it charges up shots that, when fired, are guided light bursts that hit the target no matter where they are, even if they’ve gone underground. Also, by fully charging it, he can fire the genie inside, Jinji (Smoky), for a massive finishing attack. During team-ups, MagiShine has also loaded DekaBreak (SPD Omega Ranger) and Zubaan (the Sentinel Knight from Operation Overdrive) inside, allowing them to use their finishers alongside Smoky.

#3 – Saba from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Byakkoshinken from Gosei Sentai Dairanger)

This was one where if I didn’t include it, someone was gonna kill me. lol Anyway, Saba is an enchanted sword that was wielded by Tommy Oliver as the White Ranger (Kibaranger), as well as acting as a sort of partner to him. Beyond his natural abilities as a short sword, he’s also capable of speech, firing energy blasts, levitation, and assists in controlling the White Tigerzord, allowing it to mimic Tommy’s moves while it was in Warrior Mode. Also, in Dairanger, Byakkoshinken (or Byakko for short) voiced-over Kibaranger as a means of hiding his identity as a child.

#4 – The Quantum Defender from Power Rangers Time Force (DV Defender from Mirai Sentai Timeranger)

While Time Force had a TON of badass weapons, this choice again came down to which one would people kill me the most for leaving out. This is the personal weapon of the Quantum Ranger (TimeFire), though he has lent it to others where necessary. It’s also another example of a badass gun that turns into a sword and vice versa. While it may not be the biggest or baddest looking weapon when compared to the stuff that’s come out since, this little bastard still packs a hell of a punch. So whenever you’re gloating over how much ass you’re kicking, and you suddenly hear a sound like someone tapping a gun on the back of their hand, don’t bother turning around, just RUN. lol

#5 – The Falcon Summoner from Power Rangers Wild Force (Falcon Summoner from Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger)

Noticing a lot of red here…Meh, anyway, the Falcon Summoner is a simultaneous blaster, bow, and summoning tool for the Wild Force’s Falconzord (GaoFalcon). It also marked an interesting transitional period that most might not be aware of, but it is the first bow weapon on Power Rangers wielded primarily by a male Ranger, in this case the Red Wild Force Ranger (GaoRed). Granted, in Super Sentai, bows and arrows had been used by men since the very beginning, but not so much in Power Rangers. In fact, they were usually used by Pink Rangers. I don’t get that. Look at Robin Hood, or Hawkeye from the Avengers. They make the bow a manly weapon when it needs to be. And really, what’s more manly than a bow and arrow that summons a giant falcon out of a volcano? I ask you.

Anyway, those are my 5 Favourite Weapons from Power Rangers/Super Sentai. Got a favourite that wasn’t on the list? Feel free to bring it up in the comments below, and I shall see you guys the next time I put one of these together. Ja né!

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My 10 Personal Favourite Power Rangers

This may surprise no one, but I am a complete and utter geek/dork. And as with most geeks/dorks/etc that grew up in my generation, I am a huge Power Rangers fan. Now I’m not quite as ranty or analytical about the series or about the production of it as others, but seeing as how this IS Jyger’s Rant, I’ll most likely be getting to that in the near future. For now, I thought I’d put my nostalgia glasses on and look at 10 of my favourite Power Rangers from the entire series (in no particular order). Now of course, this is entirely opinion based, so don’t freak out if you disagree with me anywhere. Also, I’m gonna try to avoid referencing each Ranger’s Sentai counterpart, hard as it may be for me as I’m actually a fan of both Power Rangers AND Super Sentai, and before you ask, no, on a whole I do NOT have a preference. So with that said, let’s start off with…

"It's Morphin' Time!"

Trini Kwan, the Yellow Mighty Morphin’ Ranger

Ah Trini, my one true love…Err, that is until I met my girlfriend…Okay, so I had a HUGE fanboy crush on this girl as a kid, but can you honestly blame me? She was beautiful, she knew kung fu, and she had a passion to protect the environment. She often-times was seen assisting Billy with his devices and would also provide English-to-Technobabble translations between himself and the rest of the team. Oh, and apparently her favourite superhero was Wonder Woman. How awesome is that? Sadly, her time on the show only lasted a little over a year. Even sadder, Thuy Trang, the woman who played Trini on the show, tragically passed away in a car accident 10 years ago. She remains dearly missed.

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Rescue Ranger

For some reason, a few fans tend to think of Carter as being kinda bland and uninteresting. And to quote Lewis Black, “I wonder where exactly one can find a drug that would make one so delusional.” Carter was frigging bad-ass! First episode, there was a monster attack, and he tried to run it down with a humvee. When the Zords were brought down by monsters, he just charged them with hand blasters. When a monster cloned itself and was attacking one of Carter’s friends and fellow Rangers, he got out a couple of oversized blasters and held the monster at point-blank range, threatening to blow him away if he didn’t call off the clone. You mess with Carter Grayson, and you’ll either live to regret it, or you won’t live through it at all.

"RPM, Get In Gear!"

Dillon, the Black RPM Ranger

A lot of Power Rangers seasons fall into a pattern where the Red Ranger hogged most of the spotlight. RPM was NOT one of those seasons, wherein all 7 members of the team were very well-developed characters that shared the spotlight…though if any one member got more than the others, that would’ve been Dillon. Much like Carter, this guy is a bad-ass. A lot of times he prefers to work alone, often fighting enemies on his own away from the others when fights broke out. Also, as someone whose past was taken away from him and made part cybernetic by the main villain, he had the biggest score to settle, making his story a very personal one, made even more-so by the discovery that he had a sister that was missing somewhere in the world. Ultimately, he does embrace the team as his friends, but he still prefers to do things his way and is always bad-ass while doing so.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

Tommy Oliver, the Green Mighty Morphin’ Ranger, White Mighty Morphin’ Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger, Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Thunder Ranger

C’mon, are you really shocked this guy’s on my list? Tommy DEFINES what it means to be a Power Ranger. He’s strong of mind, body, and spirit. He is willing to put his life on the line if necessary to protect the world from some of the worst villains known in PR continuity. He’s had to live through the trauma of being placed under a spell that made him possibly the biggest threat to the Power Rangers in their early days, and after being freed from it had to make it through a long process of trying to hold onto his powers as the forces of evil tried everything to take them away or exhaust them to depletion. But even in losing them, he kept up the fight, earning new powers and the role of leader of the team. As the longest serving Ranger in Power Rangers history, he’s led multiple teams, and served as the mentor to a newer team of Rangers while in his adulthood, eventually joining the team himself as their Black Ranger. A running joke among many is that he won’t be satisfied until he’s worn every colour known to man as a Power Ranger. But let’s be honest, at the end of the day, Tommy is no laughing matter.

"Time For Time Force!"

Jen Scotts, the Pink Time Force Ranger

The first and only Pink Ranger to lead a team, Jen is the leader of the Time Force Rangers. Smart, driven, athletic, passionate, and let’s face it, beautiful. I think she actually tops Kimberly as the best Pink Ranger of all time. For a while, she seemed like a woman possessed in her goal of capturing Ransik and bringing him back to the future, but when he genuinely felt repentant for his crimes, she forgave him. She had something of a love triangle with Wes and Alex, but ultimately concluded that she loved Wes, even though they could never be together due to coming from different time periods. Oh, and when she came back for Reinforcements From The Future, she came decked out in leather and heavy artillery. Now THAT is the sign of an awesome Ranger.

"I am Deker. Nothing more, nothing less."

Cole Eva-…Wait, that’s not right…

"Wild Access!"

Cole Evans, the Red Wild Force Ranger

Okay, I know I’m gonna get some tilted heads for this pick, but I like this guy. The Blazing Lion, Cole was chosen by the Lion Zord to be the leader of the Wild Force. Yeah, his actor could ham it up really bad in scenes, but he was also involved in some really brutal fight scenes, my favourite being his one-on-one battle with Master Org. He could speak to animals because he could connect to the heart of other living creatures, thus being able to understand the Wild Zords as well. His most notable accomplishments include helping to save the world from the Org threat and also destroying Serpentera…though the means by which he did so still piss me off, but I can’t really fault the character for that.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

Adam Park, the Black Mighty Morphin’ Ranger, Green Zeo Ranger,
and Green Turbo Ranger

Before you call favouritism towards MMPR, I would just like to note that two of them that I picked were on multiple teams. With that said, Adam started out kinda bland and generic. There wasn’t anything wrong with him, he just didn’t do much to stand out at all. I think it wasn’t until Zeo that he started to stand out, but at that point, his character grew far more. He became Tommy’s main sparring partner, as well as his second-in-command. He became more proactive too, as seen in an incident where Tommy couldn’t pilot the Red Battlezord, a Zord that utilizes a psychic link with the pilot, and asked to have it reconfigured so he could pilot it instead. He would leave the show halfway through Turbo, but managed to return twice in Power Rangers In Space and Power Ranger Operation Overdrive, both times using his original powers passed down to him by Zack, the original Black Ranger. Asd such, he is the second longest serving Ranger in history.

"SPD Emergency!"

Bridge Carson, the SPD B-Squad Green Ranger, SPD B-Squad Blue Ranger, and SPD B-Squad Red Ranger

Meet the only guy to shown on screen as three different Ranger colours for the same darned team. Bridge started off as the Green Ranger of Space Patrol Delta’s B-Squad, serving as such from the beginning of the season right up until the finale, wherein Jack Landors, the Red Ranger, retired from SPD and Sky Tate, the Blue Ranger, was promoted to Red, leaving his old position to Bridge. Sometime afterwards, Sky was promoted again, leading to Bridge becoming B-Squad’s Red Ranger by default. Some would call Bridge the most unlikely Red Ranger ever due to his quirky off-the-wall behaviour, but I think he’s pretty cool. He has the power of psychometry, though apparently he needs to wear gloves to keep such power in check or he’d read everyone’s auras uncontrollably. He also has the ability to achieve an epiphany by doing a handstand. Both are actually powers belong to two members of Dekaranger, SPD’s Japanese counterpart, but I’m trying not to talk about Sentai so let’s move on. Overall, Bridge is pretty cool. I do wanna punch him though, because now I can’t say the word “buttery” without wiggling my fingers. Thanks Bridge, really.

"White Ranger, Dino Power!"

Trent Fernandez-Mercer, the White Dino Thunder Ranger

…Okay, I said I would keep Sentai references to a minimum, but I cannot keep this one down. Trent is frigging awesome, but he is also a VERY underwhelming counterpart to Mikoto Nakadai, AbareKiller. Seriously, if you have not watched Abaranger, let me just say that it is worth watching, if for no other reason than AbareKiller.

…Okay, mini rant over. Trent is the adoptive son of the man who would turn out to be the main antagonist of the show, and would later become the White Ranger for Dino Thunder, though he was actually a major antagonist to them for a while due to possession from his dino gem. When he was freed from his possession, he joined the team, though not before having his powers cloned into an evil White Ranger. For a long time, he had to grapple with loyalties to both his team and his father’s Jekyll/Hyde condition, as well as being in a constant grapple with his clone over the White Ranger powers. However, Trent’s will eventually saw him through both. Oh yeah, and did I also mention his powers let him move at light-speed for a few seconds at a time?!

And the last of my 10 favourite Power Rangers is…

"It's Morphin' Time!"

Linkara, the White Zeo Pimp Ranger

Alright, chillax, I’m just kidding. I just couldn’t possibly resist that one. Seriously though, I WANT that hat.

"Let's Rocket!"

Andros, the Red Space Ranger

How could I possibly not include the Ranger that saved the universe from the United Alliance of Evil? When the Turbo Rangers were without power and needed someone to lead them through space against the forces threatening the entire universe, Andros was just the man they needed. He taught them all about space and their new powers, and in return, they taught him about Earth and how to be a part of a team, something he’d forgotten since his friend Zhane had been critically wounded in action. In the final battle, he found their great leader Zordon, only for Zordon to insist that Andros shatter his energy tube, thus destroying him but leaving a wave of energy that destroyed or purified every single member of the Alliance, thus saving the universe. And with the war finally over, Andros, who had learned so much about being part of a team of friends, elected to go back with them to Earth, claiming his real home was with them.

So those are my 10 Favourite Power Rangers. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, feel free to leave your comments below, and hopefully I can remember to talk more on Power Rangers in the future. Thanks for reading, and may the power protect you all.