Our Power Rangers Coverage Begins with a Look at BOOM’s ‘Drakkon: New Dawn’ #1

After the events of Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer, Kimberly is determined to purge the world of Lord Drakkon’s legacy, starting with Deadlock; the prison tower where Drakkon held all those who opposed him. But even the Ranger Slayer has no clue of the true power kept in Deadlock — and what unlocking the doors will set into motion.

Cori McCreery and Dan McMahon dive head-first into BOOM Studios’ Ranger-verse in a new regular feature with a look at Power Rangers: Drakkon: New Dawn #1 by writer Anthony Burch, artist Simone Ragazzoni, colorist Raul Angulo and letterer Ed Dukeshire.

Cori McCreery: Hey, Dan! Long time no talk, buddy! Last time we talked it was about X-Factor, but now we’re starting our very own column and nobody can stop us! 

Dan McMahon: Cori, excuse me for 30 seconds so I can talk to the reader. [Ed. note: Uh-oh.] Reader, do me a favor and find a way to turn the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” theme on LOUD. That’s the energy we are bringing to our coverage of all things Power Rangers. Sorry for that interruption, co-writer. I am so excited to be talking about the Rangers with you. Some would even refer to me as the Ivan Ooze of the Xavier Files staff. I am always slimy, no one knows where I came from and I am full of spunk.

Teenagers with Attitude

CM: I figured the best way to kick off our first Power Rangers column would be to examine what the Power Rangers mean to us and our own personal histories with the franchise. So what makes you love the Rangers? 

DM: I think I was watching at the peak of Ranger fever. There wasn’t a time in my childhood where I wasn’t living Power Rangers. I think I dropped off around Wild Force as I grew up. But before that? I was a hardcore Ranger. For a year of my life, I made my mom call me Tommy because I had Green Ranger sneakers. Of course my first crush was Kimberly, I have to be clear about this up front. I don’t think the love ever really went away. But where does your love start with the color-coordinated crew?

CM: I started watching midway in the first season. I think it was on after school, and I was just the right age to get hooked. Kim and Tommy were crushes of mine as a kid, but it was only much later in life that I realized I wanted to be with Tommy more than I wanted to be him, and wanted to be Kim more than I wanted to be with her. My local cable affiliate lost Fox right as Season 3 of Mighty Morphin was airing, so I missed that full season, and parts of Zeo. Then their Zords became cars, and I was just out. I’m only just now starting to go back and watch what I’ve missed, because the comics have sunk their hooks in me for all the seasons thanks to “Shattered Grid.” As you watched a lot more than I did, do you have a particular favorite season and Ranger? Mine’s very basic, sticking with MMPR season two and Kim. How about you?

DM: I think you always love your first the most. For me, nothing has lived up to Rita and Zedd. Both characters I adore because their designs were so striking for me at a young age. Their voice actors were incredible too, so they’ve stuck in my mind. Tommy Oliver is the Power Rangers Wolverine, even getting his own Old Man Logan. Plus I absolutely love Bulk and Skull, who are bullies in a town full of other teenagers who all just casually know all sorts of martial arts. Oddly enough, Zeo is a close second, but for just the oddest reason. … My dad had a PS1 Power Rangers Zeo pinball game that I still think about till this day, so it’s just this nice connection for me. But what we read? What we read turns the entire world of Mighty Morphin into a post-Ranger wasteland.

So Who Am I Now? (Kim’s Struggles with Replacing Drakkon)

CM: Indeed! Our real coverage of the Power Rangers universe is set to start with the relaunches of the two main titles later this year, but we thought we’d take a little time and cover the Drakkon: New Dawn series first. This is not a particularly easy jumping-on point for a new reader, so luckily I’ve read all 100-some issues leading to this moment over the last month. This is a world set after the events of “Shattered Grid,” and directly following last month’s Ranger Slayer one-shot. I have to say that when Ranger Slayer’s identity was revealed in Go Go Power Rangers I instantly fell in love. You’re going to take my favorite Ranger, make her a grizzled post-apocalyptic badass with a bisexual haircut and give her a redemption arc? Hell yeah, I’m here for that. This mini seems to be about that redemption, for the atrocities she committed while under Drakkon’s mind control. What do you think of her attempts at atonement so far? 

DM: Honestly, when I first got to Drakkon’s world in my run, I thought it would be a one-off because the scars were deep. So many Rangers are dead, the grid is destroyed and the world is nearly annihilated. Seeing Kimberly now at the helm, if she likes it or not, is such a cool development. She’s now trying to mend the two sides, the former legions of Drakkon’s Ranger army and the coinless who have been fighting against tyranny for so long. She’s left with this schism where everyone is still at each other’s throats for no reason other than it’s what they know. We see this up close and personal when two people are brought to her for a trial for their crimes. Do you think she handled this well? How do you think she’s handling this new leadership role after being under Drakkon’s thumb for so long?

CM: I think she’s doing the best she can in the situation. Like you said, this world’s been borked for so long and there’s been so much carnage under Drakkon’s boot that it’s not going to be easy to repair it. Kim’s got the unadmirable position of having to try to regain the trust of friends she tried to kill while brainwashed, but also having to maintain the trust of the people who had been loyal to her predecessor. Part of that is establishing herself as an entirely different kind of ruler than he was. She’s showing mercies he absolutely wouldn’t have, and is willing to sacrifice some of the loyalty of people like Scorpina to do so. Part of that is accomplished as she goes to free the prisoners of his super prison, including a surprising find deep in the depths of his dungeon. 

Drakkon’s Secret (The Mysterious Ranger, and That Cliffhanger)

DM: OK, so we have to talk about the Iron Power Ranger in the room. Kimberly finds whoever this is locked away in Drakkon’s prison. They’ve been forced to watch all of Drakkon’s triumphs as they’re hidden away from the world. It’s actually a very sadistic thing that Drakkon has done, like a lot more long-term evil than most of his other stuff. But I want you to hold on for this one because I have a theory. What if it is Bulk? You’re saying, “Oh cool, Dan has gone full-blown conspiracy theory,” but I have stuff to back it up! In the FCBD issue of Power Rangers, we see Bulk in this world for what I think is the first time. It’s the first time we’re seeing the origin story of the Ranger Slayer. Bulk’s grown really close to Kimberly, and they have a few really touching scenes together. Once Drakkon has poisoned her mind, she returns to take her former friends down. Bulk tries to stand up to her, but he gets away in the explosion that ensues as Drakkon’s forces move in. It’s a wild theory, but who do you think it could be?

CM: Truly it’s a better theory than what I’ve managed at all. I honestly have no idea who it might be, and your Bulk theory actually is making me consider it more and more. It has to be someone we know, obviously, or it would lose the impact. I was thinking maybe it was one of the other Rangers presumed dead from this world, that we hadn’t seen. A Jason or a Rocky, but then Rocky’s not good enough to be that important, let’s be real. The more I think about it, the more I think you’re onto something here. The only things stopping me from wholly embracing that are the fact that this man was better at martial arts than we’ve ever seen from Bulkmeier, and also whatever the connection he has to the last page reveal might be.

DM: From the looks of that last page, we’re going to be getting some more Power Rangers In Space connections. When I saw that the character looked like this universe’s Ecliptor, I instantly thought that maybe the mystery Ranger could be Andros the Red Space Ranger. It seems like Drakkon had more allies than we knew. Were you expecting that at all?

CM: I wasn’t, and while I’ve heard nothing but good things about In Space, I’ve not gotten there yet on my watch-through, so I have zero context for clues about that era. It’s definitely one of the two eras I’m most excited to expand my knowledge on, along with Time Force, which we’ll get with comic content later this year! Certainly, we’ve got lots of good Rangers content to look forward to in the near future.

DM: Honestly, I love how far off from monster-of-the-week these comics have gotten. We’ve had radical science fiction space operas, this dark and gloomy world that took a twist from the classic Green Ranger Saga, and so much more. The franchise has so many different stories to explore, so I am excited to explore them with you. Hopefully we won’t have to use our Megazords any time soon…

Back to Action!

• Adam and Scorpina’s interactions are very horny. 
• The header for this series is Cori and Dan’s OC Rangers: Purple Mighty Morphin (DILOPHOSAURUS!) and Purple Wild Force (CUNNING OCTOPUS!)
• Scorpina can step on me too, Adam, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. 
• Scorpina is hot, but my heart is saved for Ol’ Rita Repulsa herself.