Let's Talk About POWER RANGERS #14
The tides are turning for the Power Rangers in the latest chapter of the Eltarian War. The Rangers have made some unlikely allies and are all set to defend their home in Power Rangers #14. The comic is written by Ryan Parrott with art by Francesco Mortarino, colors by Raúl Angulo, and letters by Ed Dukeshire. You can grab your comic now from your local comic shop, comiXology (affiliate link), Google Play, iBooks, and Kindle.
The new Blue Omega Ranger, along with the rest of the Omega Rangers, retreat to Safehaven to plan their next steps. With information gathered from Zordon and the Blue Emissary, our motley crew of heroes and villains set their sights on defeating the minions of their former ally and conducting a rescue mission. But in a galaxy full of enemies, who... or what... awaits their rescue?
Picking up after the preview, we have a jailbreak. Finster and Kimberly use some putties to knock out the guards by Zelya’s cell and get her out. The mission on the ship is to free Zelya and destroy the Celesital Shard. It turns out that this is great as Zelya knows exactly where the shard is. Cut over to the other team on the ship, Jason, Trini, and Zordon. These three are fighting a number of guards and then come upon Zartus who sicks his soldiers on the trio branding Zordon as a traitor. Zordon talks about this be a great moment and he’s always looked forward to fighting alongside the Rangers although he was hoping it would be under different circumstances. This helps remind us that in the world of the comics, Zordon was a warrior and a really high ranking one before life in the tube. Zordon eventually sends the others to help everyone else which leaves him facing off against several soldiers solo.
A quick thing to note is that Zordon has been undergoing some changes about his thought process and world view the last few days (it’s only bee days I think) and he acknowledges that while the plan currently in action was mostly one of his creation, there are other ways to do things. He also reaffirms his trust, pride, and more in the Rangers. This is huge in the moment as he’s telling this to Trini, but mostly to Jason. These are two Rangers who went rogue on him. This is an incredible show of change for Zordon who had marked them as enemies and was thinking of taking away Billy’s powers for going against his thoughts and wishes. Now, I want to say that this doesn’t mean that those who disagreed with Zordon were necessarily in the right or that Zordon has always been in the wrong, but it’s a show of reconciliation.
Back on Earth, Tommy and Matt are both knocked out leaving Zack and Aisha to try their best against the Sentry Force Four and things are not going well. Two of the members even approach Grace (who is holding the revised Dragon Dagger) and the two unconscious Rangers. The thing they don’t get is that Grace has a spine and sees a lot of potential in these teenagers as she clearly lays out that she will defend them. It’s at this moment that reinforcements in the shape of the other Rangers (minus Jason Trini, and Yale) as well as Baboo, Goldar, Squatt, and Zelya. Zelya was able to help fill in some gaps of knowledge regarding some of the weaknesses of the SFF allowing the Rangers and former bad guys to work together to handily bring down two of them. Goldar brings another down by clipping her wings, and then Rocky and Zelya have Zeta pinned. Zelya pleas with Zeta to join them and stop Zartus and this is right when the man shows up with the three Empyreals. He explains that he’s decided to obliterate the planet instead of simply renewing it like other worlds. Unfortunately, he’s going to have a tough fight as the Omega Rangers (minus Zack), Matt, and Tommy are in their Zords coming for the Empyreals. This is going to be a fight to remember.
We close out with Zordon on the Moon at the remains of the Moon Palace. He does away with some Putties that are still around and is having Alpha help him try to find the Zeo Crystal. His plan is to hurry and grab it and then go right to the Rangers. This once again makes me think that maybe we’re skipping the Ninja powers in the comics and going from Thunder to Zeo. However, Zedd then appears and while a challenge has not formally been made, you know that he’s issuing one to Zordon in the last panel as he just looks like he’s ready for this. This is a moment he’s been waiting for a long time and is sure to be a real treat for fans.
I believe we’ve only got two more issues in Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers each for the Eltarian War and there’s quite a bit to wrap up. We have the fight with the Empyreals and Zords, Zordon vs. Zedd, and all of the closure for the arc. Skull needs to know what happened to Candice. Something has to happen with Grace and Promethea. What will happen to the Omega Rangers after all of this? Some items don’t necessarily have to be addressed by the end of the Eltarian War, but some definitely do.