Review: POWER RANGERS PRIME Vol. 1 is the Reboot Fans Want

I grew up in an era of American tokusatsu shows. I’m talking Power Rangers, VR Troopers, Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, Big Bad Beetleborgs, to name a few. BOOM! Studios has recently been mixing two of these with their comic series Power Rangers Prime.

The series is written by Melissa Flores with art by Michael Yg and I’m loving it. This article feels a little awkward in terms of timing because I’ve read the already released Power Rangers Prime #1-6, #7 comes out on June 4, and Vol. 1 which includes #1-4 releases on June 3.

I think my approach will be to mostly cover the first four issues, but I might allude to things that happen in #5-6. I will also say that anything revealed in the first issue will not fall under the spoiler tag, but later issues will.

The Power Rangers universe is reborn… It’s time for Prime!

In this thrilling relaunch of the Power Rangers comic book universe, five young adults are chosen to inherit incredible powers, suddenly finding themselves in a universe-spanning conflict with an authoritarian empire, alien monsters, and a very… familiar villain.

This is a completely original take on Power Rangers and I am all for it. Many of the characters we follow are original characters like Mark and Jun, but then there are familiar faces like Lauren Shiba and Bulkmeier. So far, I really like how most of the main characters appear to be original, but there are handfuls of beloved characters sprinkled in here and there as a treat for longtime fans.

It’s very important to remember that this is a completely different universe than what we’re used to in a Power Rangers series. Yes, it takes place on Earth, but it’s an Earth with tons of aliens around and Eltarians came to Earth 70 years prior to help against another alien invasion and they have since colonized Earth. The VR Troopers are the superheroes that help stop big problems because Power Rangers are not approved by Eltar which is what establishes a big part of the conflict in this series.

As you can probably tell from that last paragraph, Power Rangers Prime very much looks at political struggles like classism (colonizer vs refugee) and racism (Eltarian vs non-Eltarian) as well as police states and how different groups experiencing it view the world around them. There’s also the classic good vs evil, friendship, relationships, etc. As you can tell, the Power Rangers are going to be more of a resistance force instead of the heroes of grandeur that we are used to.

I’m in love with this story from Flores and the art from Yg. Everything is so well cared for so far and I highly recommend that any Power Rangers fan pick this one up. The redesigns of some characters and suits are also very cool. I mean, just look at the Red Ranger from the cover of Power Rangers Prime #1! I’m definitely going to do my best to keep up with Power Rangers Prime.

Now that we can discuss some spoilers, let’s have fun. Flores and Yg have done a wonderful job of showing us the struggles of the world in Power Rangers Prime. The Eltarians are a police state and if you conform then you have nothing to fear and everything seems fair. If you’re a refugee or different (say a Power Ranger), then you see the cracks in the illusion.

In addition, I really like the dynamics happening with different characters. Bulk isn’t some rebel, but with the appearance of Rita and her more or less strong-arming him into her “idiot”, you can see that he’s slowly starting to maybe question the Eltarians.

We have Jun, an Eltarian who is curious and caught between his family/people and helping Lauren. Then you have Mark who is this refugee from Aquitar who is the “weak” kid who sees the negative side of Eltarian rule and wants to push back. Orion is basically the best friend to Mark, very loyal and helpful. Let’s not forget about Valentina who has the biggest inner struggle for us to explore.

She has no problems, her boyfriend is the leader of the VR Troopers, yet she still reached for the Power Coin and became a Power Ranger. I think that moment was her realizing that she doesn’t want to ignore the problems with the world anymore even if she’s not fully willing to admit that to herself yet. Of course, I do need to touch on Lauren.

She gives us her tragic backstory and her mission, but without her powers she can’t do much. This leads to her having to make a deal with the spacewitch Rita Repulsa (love her redesign) in order to help free Earth. I’m very interested to see how this dynamic plays out.

I want to point out my favorite little cameo in the comics. RJ from Jungle Fury appears to be some kind of guru at a meditation center in the Command Center titled Command Your Center. I love it. It feels so perfect for him.

Another aspect that I appreciate about Power Rangers Prime is that the colors are more or less the same as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the costumes are very reminiscent of that era (although way cooler), but the spirits or whatever you want to call them are different for the most part. Yes, Red is a T-Rex, but Black appears to be a snake possibly referencing Hyperforce, Blue a unicorn which may be a call to MMPR season 2, and Yellow and Pink are a little less obvious other than some kind of bird and maybe a raptor.

I really like everything that is set up in these first four issues and honestly, one of my favorite things is in Power Rangers Prime #6 regarding Mark, but I won’t spoil it. I think the character relationships and identities are in a really good spot with plenty of space to grow and change and we’re only 6 issues in! If you enjoy Power Rangers, I would highly recommend reading Power Rangers Prime. This story feels like a more mature story that fans are really interested in consuming from a reboot or reimagining.