Comic Book / Mighty Morphin (2020)

Spoilers for Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (2016), Go Go Power Rangers and Shattered Grid will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

It's morphin' time!

Mighty Morphin is a 2020 comic book series based on the Power Rangers franchise in general and the first installment of the same name in particular, and is published by Boom! Studios. It serves as a sequel to Boom Studios' Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) with Ryan Parrott (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (2016), Go Go Power Rangers) writing the comic book until the end of The Eltarian War in February 2022, with Mat Groom (Massive-Verse) taking over the duties a month later.

The new Mighty Morphin team is on a collision course with an even deadlier Lord Zedd, who has a new mission and a new motivation — one that will change everything you thought you knew about our heroes! But even if the Mighty Morphin team can find a way to survive Zedd and their mysterious new enemies, they may discover the greatest threat to their future is the shocking secret of Zordon’s past!

Launched as part of the "Unlimited Power" initiative alongside Power Rangers (2020). Both titles lasted for 22 issues before be relaunched as Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for its 100th issue.

Mighty Morphin (2020) contains examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptation Expansion: The Green Ranger powers, which Tommy lost in the second season of the television series. Here, not only are they still in use alongside the White Ranger powers, but they've been given to a seventh member of the team.
• Alien Invasion: By the end of issue #11, Zordon realizes that the Eltarians aren't just here to capture Zedd, but to take over the Earth.
• And the Adventure Continues: The final issue of the series ends with the Rangers discussing the inevitability that their time as Earth’s protectors will eventually end and other Rangers will follow in their place.
• Anti-Advice: Part of Grace's advice to Matt - when the bad guy is yelling at you to not do something, that's a cue to do the opposite.
• The Bad Guy Wins: By the end of issue #4, Zedd is able to capture Angel Grove with the new Green Ranger and the Zords stuck in the barrier he's enveloped the city in and the other Rangers unable to get back. At the end of issue #8, he reveals the whole plot was not to take over the city, but to break Angel Grove's faith in the Rangers, and nab Zelva.
• Bald Mystic: Candice has hair in human form, but is bald in her natural Eltarian form.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Accidentally comes up; Tommy and Kim testing the Metallic Armor in a virtual reality accidentally results in them facing a small army of future Ranger foes, including Trakeena, Ransik and Sledge.
• Big "NO!": Zelva lets one lose when Zartus suggests destroying Earth to spite her.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Zartus, Supreme Guardian of Eltar, who shows up to help the Rangers fight Zedd. He's actually behind the Empyrials, and would actually quite like to wipe out Earth entirely.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Issue #3 features Adam being brainwashed into seeing the other Rangers as monsters mid-battle.
• Call-Forward: The Command Center the Rangers steal to replace their destroyed one is stated to possess self-repair capabilities, setting up how the Command Centre will be rebuilt as the Power Chamber.
• Canon Character All Along: Zophram the Supreme Guardian of Eltar in the flashback sequences ends up becoming Lord Zedd.
• Crazy-Prepared: When Zordon's tube is shattered, Billy reveals that he created a back-up system to transfer Zordon's essence into in the event of such an attack after learning how Zordon was killed in Drakkon's original reality. Said system involves a humanoid power armor that would store Zordon's essence, allowing him to move around and interact with others, and as the end of issue #14 shows he's also prepared to fight against Zartus alongside his Rangers.
• Crisis Crossover: With the aid of another Emissary, Kimberly ends up joining forces with various future Pink Rangers to stop the virtual enemies.
• Defends Against Their Own Kind: After the war against Zartus, Zordon affirms to the Rangers that he considers Earth his home now, even advising them on how they might find and steal an Eltarian Command Centre to replace Earth's lost one.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • The flashback at the beginning of issue #3 has Zordon saying he'd like nothing more than to settle down and spend his life as a simple farmer, while Zartus would rather he stayed a Guardian. Of course, neither of their expectations will come true.
  • In issue #5, Kimberly has a talk with Matt about the new Green Ranger, not yet knowing that's who she's talking to.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Rocky jokes that he hopes aliens invade Earth so he won't have to finish his trig homework. Adam scolds him for it.
• Enemy Mine: Finster, Squatt, Baboo and Goldar decide to join forces with the Rangers in fighting against Zartus and his Eltarian forces.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Zartus uses the Empyreals to wipe clean any planet he feels is evil, seeing no distinction between this, and something Zordon once said about using the Zeo Crystal to destroy the forces of evil. Moments later, he rants about how he could just have the Empyreals burn Earth to nothingness as if this is a great act of mercy.
  Zordon: The difference is I wouldn't use the Zeo Crystal to massacre innocent worlds. And it's terrifying to me that you can't see that.
• Evil Is Petty: Why does Zedd let Zordon know who he was? To hurt him.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Or expecting something bigger. Zordon's slightly taken aback by how small the Zeo Crystal is.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: When one of the silent guardians of the Zeo Crystal lets Zophram past, they unveil their arm to show there's no skin on it. Guess what happens to Zophram a short while later.
• Flawed Prototype: The Metallic Armor. It works well, but it’s a gas guzzler, especially when Kimberly uses it for too long. It’s no surprise Zordon didn’t use it until the team got the Ninja Coins.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Candice, in one of Bulk and Skull's podcasts, nervously says people aren't always who they say they are. She turns out to be talking about herself.
  • In a flashback, Zophram notes that if Dark Spectre's forces ever capture him, he's going to lose his skin. A nasty hint as to Zophram's actual fate when he becomes Lord Zedd.
  • While travelling to retrieve a new Command Centre, Billy mentions that what he enjoys most about being a Ranger is the opportunity to see new worlds and learn about new science, referencing how he will accept a "demotion" from active Ranger to technical support during the move to the Zeo powers.
• Greater-Scope Villain:
  • Dark Spectre in the flashbacks, the biggest threat to the universe and the sworn enemy of the Guardians of Eltar. It eventually turns out his non-presence is because up until the modern day he couldn't actually set foot in the universe at all.
  • Zartus corrupted the Zeo Crystal which disfigured Zophram and manipulated him on the path of becoming Lord Zedd, making him indirectly responsible for his acts in this comic’s verse.
• Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Zartus is annoyed and exasperated by just how many problems seem to come from Earth. Which is why he wants to destroy it.
• Ironic Echo: Goldar, thinking he's about to win (again) taunts Kimberly by asking if she thought that's how it would end. When Karen turns on him, she throws it back at him.
• Jerkass Ball: Gets passed around a lot. The characters seem to be incapable of going an issue without someone snapping at each other over something. The Rangers at least have the justification of being teenagers (with attitude).
• Kryptonite Factor: Since the new Green Ranger powers are partially fuelled by chaos energy, this makes him more vulnerable to the chaos Putties and their attacks.
• Lampshade Hanging: Even free of the restriction of stock footage and convenient filming locations, the Rangers still tend to end up fighting in quarries, as Rocky notes in issue #12.
  Rocky: Just once, couldn't it be a water park?
• Let's Split Up, Gang!: When the Rangers have to find a new Command Centre, Rocky volunteers to stay behind on Earth to defend the remains of the old Centre with Promethea, as he has too many commitments to leave his family right now.
• The Mole: Despite their apparent alliance with Zedd, Promethea soon assists the Rangers against him when they start actively fighting back.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Zelva learns that every world she deemed unworthy of joining the Zeltarian alliance was wiped out by the Empyreals. She becomes determined to make amends because of this.
  • When Billy manages to reach Zordon within his fragmented memories in issue #14, the latter laments over the fact that his blind loyalty to Eltar and stubborn insistence to keep certain things secret from Rangers have caused everything that went wrong, and resulted in Zartus invading Earth. Billy manages to talk some sense into him and convince him to come back.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kimberly trying to push the untested Metallic Armor causes a pocket dimension to break and pull in Trakeena, Ransik, Dai Shi, Sledge and Void Queen.
• Only the Pure of Heart: Way back in Mighty Morphin', it was explained that only those who are pure of heart can touch the Zeo Crystal. We finally get to see what happens when someone who's not touches it: they get flayed alive.
• Sadistic Choice: After Zedd takes control of Angel Grove with the aid of Grace and Matt against Zartus, he informs the Rangers that he will leave Earth alone if the Rangers give him Zordon. The Rangers, unsurprisingly, refuse to take him up on the offer.
• Secret Identity: The identity of the new Green Ranger is unknown to both readers and the Rangers at the start of the series.
• Simultaneous Arcs: The present day storyline, showing the Rangers dealing with Zedd, the new Green Ranger and visitors from Eltar, along with a flashback showing Zordon's days as an Eltarian Guardian and the origin of Lord Zedd. Also, with the events in Power Rangers.
• Sixth Ranger: The second Green Ranger, fittingly enough, serves as such at the start of the series.
• Slouch of Villainy: Zedd in issue #12 is just chilling on his throne, waiting for Zordon to call him.
• Something Only They Would Say: Zordon initially refuses to believe Zedd is (or was) Zophram, until Zedd starts reciting the advice he gave his former friend millenia back.
• Start of Darkness: Issue #10 is about how Zedd became Lord Zedd. He touched the Zeo Crystal when he shouldn't have. It took his skin off and drove him insane, believing Zordon set him up for this, he swore vengeance on Zordon and Eltar alike.
• Stating the Simple Solution: When the Rangers are discussing the potential identity of the new Green Ranger, Adam points out that Lord Drakkon is the most obvious suspect despite the rest of the team arguing otherwise. It isn't Drakkon.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Zordon and Zedd ultimately team up to defeat Zartus and allow each other to return to their home bases afterwards, even as they make it clear that this temporary truce doesn't change anything regarding their long-term conflict.
• Theme Naming: All Eltarians have names that begin with "z".
• Took a Level in Badass: When an advance division of the Machine Empire attacks Earth while only Matt and Rocky are available, at one point an injured Matt transfers the Dragon Shield and Dragon Dagger to Rocky.
• Wham Shot:
  • Issue #1 ends on The Reveal that Skull’s girlfriend is actually another member of Zordon’s race, with a device that allows her to appear as a normal human girl.
  • Issue #4 ends on The Reveal that the mysterious second Green Ranger is actually Matt, Kimberly's old boyfriend - and he's just unmasked himself to the entirety of Angel Grove.
  • Issue #11 reveals that Supreme Guardian Zartus is behind the revival of the Empyreals and that he's aiming to invade Earth to take it over once Lord Zedd is taken care of.
  • Issue #14 ends on The Reveal that Billy created a human-sized suit of armor for Zordon to use, enabling him to not only move around freely but also join the Rangers and Zedd's minions in battle against Zartus.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Issue #3 features two on the subject of the Green Ranger.
    • Aisha confronts Billy after overhearing a conversation between Billy and the Green Ranger, which led to her realising that he’s aware of the Green Ranger’s identity and helped Promethea secure the Green Power Coin from the Command Center.
    • Zordon and Alpha discover that the Green Ranger is working with Promethea; Zordon confronts Grace about her stealing the Power Coin and playing with powers she doesn’t understand.
  • Zordon to Billy, on learning he's the one who repowered the Dragonzord coin.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Rocky expresses doubt about his abilities as a Ranger compared to Jason or Tommy, Matt assures him that he shouldn't judge himself compared to them, as he's a strong "rock" who can take everything their enemies have to throw at him.

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