Drag and Tokusatsu Villains: The Shared Language of Camp
There’s a surprisingly natural overlap between drag performance and tokusatsu villain design, especially when viewed through the lens of camp.
Drag characters and tokusatsu villains both operate in a heightened visual language that prioritizes spectacle over subtlety. Drag characters and tokusatsu villains often operate as larger-than-life personas: bold silhouettes, vibrant colors, ironic/punny names, and performative flair.
Camp is about a love of exaggeration, stylization over realism, and theatricality.
The same applies to many Tokusatsu villains from Japanese Super Sentai and its American adaptation Power Rangers.
Earlier Power Rangers seasons balanced camp with imported footage constraints.
If you compare Power Rangers Dino Charge to earlier series like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the difference becomes clear:
Take for example: Rita Repulsa vs Poisandra
Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers already fits surprisingly well into drag naming convention with names that are often playful, ironic, or pun-based and alliterative. (Rita Repulsa as in repulsive)
Rita Repulsa's design has towering, sculptural hair, heavy gold accents, flowing robes, and an exaggerated witch silhouette. Her personality is built on theatrical tantrums ("Oh I have such a headache!") and grand declarations ("Ah! After ten thousand years I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!"). Her camp comes from excess emotion and theatrical delivery.
With Power Rangers Dino Charge, the franchise leans harder into camp than many previous seasons. The villains don’t just resemble drag archetypes—they function like them.
Poisandra's design is candy-colored bright pink, heart-themed, and has exaggerated lashes. She's Sledge's marriage-obsessed bride-to-be, embodying the "bridezilla diva" archetype. She isn’t just a villain who happens to be feminine, she performs hyper-femininity as villainy.
Rita is theatrical, but rooted in witch archetypes and still framed as a witch.
Poisandra is theatrical and conceptually stylized around a singular camp theme. Poisandra is theatrical in a way that feels closer to a drag performance of villainy.
Characters like Poisandra are built around a single aesthetic concept and designs feel like runway concepts, much like a drag runway category.
Wrench serves as the tech genius with a whiny, dramatic flair (Tin Woodsman-inspired armor with spade motifs and a crying face theme).
Curio, Wrench's stitched-together doll-like creation (made as an early wedding gift for Poisandra), in a shark-hat hoodie with glowing eyes and striped scarf.
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, camp is present, but rooted in archetypes (witch, warlord, monster). Rita Ripulsa (witch), Goldar (the loyal warlord), and Baboo (the bumbling monster sidekick). The designs, while elaborate, are often rooted in sci-fi/high fantasy archetypes. (Knasty Knight, Minotaur, Genie, Cyclops, etc).
Older villains were often based on broad archetypes (witch, warlord, monster). Newer ones feel like runway concepts.
Cavity — confectionary/tooth decay theme
Puzzler — puzzle theme
Gold Digger — treasure theme
Half-Bake — autumn theme
In short: early Power Rangers gave us camp within archetypes. Dino Charge gave us archetypes as camp.
The villains in Power Rangers Dino Charge function less like a traditional evil empire of "Evil Space Aliens" and more like a drag troupe or stage cast. They have extended banter scenes, recurring relationship arcs (Sledge and Poisandra’s toxic romance), and distinct gimmick-driven personas.
In the end, both drag and tokusatsu villains remind us that leaning all the way into exaggeration, stylization, and theatricality is what builds the most memorable characters.
In an attempt to be more active on tumblr blogs and sending asks and stuff :3
Favorite silly moment(s) from the GGPR comics! :33
....Oh, there are so many, omg...
Starting off: Jason's introduction and the utter joke that THIS is supposed to be a 15 year old (with the little narrative bubbles trying to impress this upon us even further and failing pretty miserably).
Their first unbelievable fuck-up happening on their literal first day. Because, really, they had one job--and THIS ABSOLUTELY PROVES that, yes, they're teenagers, they can't handle the one job.
Kim looking like a gutter rat is so pleasing to me. It gives me so much joy.
Actually, you know what? Her general humiliation is kind of a favorite reel for me. Like, especially with people she generally doesn't respect throughout canon. My pleasure in this never dims.
Awkward teenage super hero incidents by failing at speaking in code is pretty good, too. Honestly I think Matt gets points pretty early on for this...just this:
I have a lot of favorites, not least of all the early Dan Mora work. The Putty Infiltration Arc pleases me infinitely on rereading it, but silliness is hard to pinpoint, so this is the best I can do, really.
Morphin Time A BOOM! Power Rangers Retrospective: Go Go Power Rangers #1-4 takes a much welcome character focused look at the rangers earliest days
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Welcome back Rangers. It's been a minute but It's Morphin Time Again! I gave this retrospective a proper title again, just in time for it's triumphant return! If you haven't been keeping up your in luck as this one is a fresh jumping on point.
Previously we've seen the rangers as they bickered with each other, learned too much green energy is dangerous, had to go green to keep fighting, and explored a dystopia ruled over by a worse tommy and a giant pumpkin man. It started pretty rough with lots of in fighting but the long game payed off and over the first arc The BOOM! Power Rangers series geninely won me over. I look forward to getting back to it later this year.
For now we're looking at the other side of the power coin. In 2017, almost ten years ago.. really.... huh...
So ten years ago: Power Rangers was a MAJOR cash cow for BOOM! and they understandably started expanding asap. With the main series being heavily arc based and leaving no real room for spinoffs in the main continuity, they pivoted with the second series boom did being Power Rangers Pink, a mini following Kim after she left the team and even explaining the infamous dear john letter she sent Tommy.
While that seemed to do okay, BOOM! didn't keep this trend going. They wanted more of that sweet sweet mighty morphin dollar, but going forward too often would either create an entirely seperate second continuity in a way that would just get confusing, or get in the way of any future stories they could tell. If they wanted to say cover the season 3 timeline at some point more stories like Pink would make that impossible.
So they had a smart thought: Since MMPR begins a ways into the continuity.. why not pull it back a bit further. Do a prequel!
So Go Go Power Rangers was launched by fresh writer Ryan Parrot, who up to that point had done one batman comic and some tv, and Dan Mora, who in the present is a MASSIVE name at DC, doing the art for World's Finest and Superman. I forgot he did the art here but his gorgeous combination of colors and art that really pops, feeling classic and timeless while still being unique, is unmistakable and he hit the ground running. Parrot would go on to write Rogue Sun over at the Massive Universe, a universe i'd love to take a peak at some time which was created by Kyle Higgins who wrote MMPR.
Go Go is everything I wanted from the other book and from a teen superhero book in general: It ballances an intresting plot that like MMPR cleverly uses the pieces it has to create something new and tell a story the franchise hasn't, but unlike MMPR it's way more character focused: We do get plenty of super hero action, but the focus isn't entirely on them as rangers like most of MMPR: It's on them as people. How does suddenly being gifted powers by a glowing tube head who won't let you tell anyone for reasons he won't explain affect their lives? Go Go Goes back and forth between who they were before, sometimes years sometimes just a few months, to show who these kids are and how their struggling, having to juggle a packed school life. Unlike the show where they ballanced school, volunteering at the juice bar, various girls and guys of the week, charity events and giant monsters with no effort, Go Go shows the actual strain this puts on them and their personal lives, even plopping in an extra friend who wasn't drafted to be a ranger.
The rangers aren't isolated like most teen heroes, their friends live in the same town and their a team from the start, but it's still an uphill battle and while Zordon is there, he really isn't giving them advice and they don't know him well enough yet to ask. They trust him enough to put on the suits, they can see Rita is transparently evil, but their smart enough to recognize being on the right side of history dosen't make you good and frankly with all the police brutality shit we've had come to light over the last few years, Go Go feels ahead of it's time for having the characters, while not actively rebel, not blindly accept that Zordon is the absolute good and follow him without question. They still follow him, but with an eye open under that visor. He has to earn that trust as their mentor, earn that place.
It came at a time when the big two mostly bailed out of writing teen team superhero stories, and what attempts they like the outlaw era champions, aborted new warriors reboot, damien wayne's "Edgy" teen titans or titans academy's waste of a good premise didn't wo. It's a problem their only now starting to solve in ongoing books with both Uncanny X-Men giving just as much if not more spotlight to a new team of trainees and a new Teen Titans book launching that has.. actual teenagers in it along side an older titans team that is shaking up the lineup a lot including the grand return of my boy Kid Devil, but it's still galling it took a decade to try and adress this properly.
Go Go by contrast is a blue print for exactly how to do a teen superhero book well, going the invincible route of mixing the toku superhero action you'd expect with the real consequences of it. How stressful it is ballancing things, skipped obligations, trying to find a good cover.. none of it is brand new, these are all staples of the genre, but how Go Go tackles it feels real, the reasons their shit gets wrecked peter parker styles is unique for each ranger. While it's all the sudden lack of extra time, all of them have diffrent struggles as people and as rangers to overcome and all have to find some way to do it. It was boom's second best comic and only second for as long as Giant Days was still going. Weird to be covering two series publishing around the same time but life takes you places. Check out my retrospective for that if your curious, some of my best stuff.
So enough talk, IT'S MORPHIN TIME as we dive into the first arc of one of the best comics of the 2010s.
Normally I don't cover the covers for these retrospectives. Their good but would take up a lot of image space I may end up needing. I usually go under, but I still try to play it careful. I don't even really think about the variants.
For Go Go though, being someone who followed boom's solicits back then, I couldn' thelp but spotlight one of the coolest things it does: homage variant covers. Funny little takes on classic 80's and 90's films rangerfied. As someone whose mom used blockbuster's netflix take off for disc rentals just to show me classic 80's teen cinema when I was a classic teen, I coudln't resisiit. Some films i'll have seen, some I haven't but all of these put in so much effort. I mean this one creates a whole damn blurb based on the one from the poster for Pretty at Pink. As for the film.. it has not aged well at all. It DOES have a great poster and it's a great kickoff. Never thought about Kimberly and Jason and understandably the comic dosen't as the main series makes it clear that'd be a dead end. He does get a neat romance arc here though. More on that in a morphenominal moment.
We get a fantastic opening as the rangers talk over what just happened.. and for those of us who haven't rewatched the series since they were a children, this is a great recap of the ending of Day of the Dumpster, as while most of us know the broad strokes: Rita gets woken up from a trash can on the moon which has a breathable atmosphere because shut up and decides AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS IT'S TIME TO CONQUER EARTH. Zordon has Alpha summon 5 emotional and irrational youths, oh no not teenagers!, and gives them powers and giant robots to get in there and fight.
The part this helps with is that Goldar was the first they took down , and even without that it helps get any new readers up to speed. It's accesible to people who haven't seen the show and just vaguely now the basics as much as fans.
It also has a cool reveal at the end as to WHERE their talking abotu things like did the battle count as a victory since goldar retreated (Trini is unsure, but both Kimberly and Zack count it as one . Trini has also named them all)
I'd forgotten this and it blew me away and Dan Mora draws the mega sword at Sunset so beautifully.. the colors.. it's posing. It's so damn cool. And it perfectly sums up the book: this is still power rangers.. but it's about the people behind the helmets. Billy worries about the army, understandably so as while Zack says "But we saved their asses" i've read enough comics, and so has billy, to know the miltary in fiction tends to shoot first actually say thank you never. Jason is stoic though and hasn't been talking as he knows this is just the start and things will never be the same. Etc etc. Basically he's the one whose fully taken this in and realized just how hard this is going to be.
So we go back three months for one of Go Go's strengths: Flashbacks. Go Go relies heavily on them and using them this much can be tricky, but it works for the how: Go Go uses the tried and true narrative shortcut of having flashbacks to our characters pasts to help flesh out who they are now, to give us need to know information. Nothing in the flashbacks feels superflous it all helps inform the main plot and build the characters, helping them feel distinct. MMPR the comic did eventually, and with Tommy right away, but it took some time. Here that's the main priority. It's a book that's character first and my faviorite thing in comics: I don't mind a tightly plotted big ole plan, but prefer focus on who your following, who are they, what do they do, what funny stuff can they get up to that sorta thing.
Go Go uses the flashbacks to get into something the show never touched and the comic didn't really have time for: Who were these kids BEFORE they got the powers. What were they dealing with and how does it impact them now they have to deal with that on top of giant monster fights?
In Jason's case Parrot takes a swing with his character I geninely love: Jason is working out early in the morning at the Juice Bar and spooking Ernie a bit as it's before 6. A little before class workout.
Ernie didn't really feature in the other comic but served as the kids shoulder to lean on at times in the show, running the Juice Bar they all hung out and volunteered at, the series will also reveal why the rest started doing that, and geniunelly being a nice dude. I like the comic leaning into him as a mentor for jason: Linkara positied Earnie COUDL'VE been this in his history of power rangers videos but really wasn't, and it provides a more human contrast. I also like that they knew each other first.
Ernie is confused as from him Jason has everything: he's strong, he's kind.. why is he pushing himself THIS hard. Jason's explination is that swing: When he was in camp as a kid, one of the shiier kids spent weeks building an arrow.. an arrow jason snapped in half. Jason was a bully, and pushes and displinces himself so hard to both make sure he never slips back and to make sure he can protect people from people like he used to be. It's just one scene but it adds a lot: Jason, the babyiest of babyfaces, having been a shit as a kid really huamnizes him and explains why he's like this. He's scared of becoming who he used to be, but he at least channels it into geninely helping people. As a teacher and a protector.
We meet Zack soon after, establshing him as Jason's bestie and everyone's friend. Never would've pegged Zack for this series Krillin but here we are. He talks to everybody from the teachers, to a band kid to two girls wondering when he'll ask one to prom "Equality girl. First one to ask wins". I half expect him to fist bump miles teller after someone just greusomely got murdered he's so cool.
We then meet Billy and Trini with this book keeping them as besties, with Billy advisting Trini to just talk to her crush. she nopes out of that, I would've too at her age. Bulk and Skull interfere and here we see them being dickish ala the early show: throwing water ballons at billy just because. Billy relates this to all 4 of his friends.. and instead of Kimberly we have the series OC Matt, the big man on campus, football guy always in letterman jacket and the heart of the team. Why he wasn't chosen I really DON'T know, but I do think the series explains it. WHere kim is we'll also get to.
We get a Rita interlude as she has captured the astronauts who freed her and wants to know more. All their giving her is name rank and serial number, as you'd expect.
For now our rangers are busy talking over the aftermath of things, a neat look at just how the city's handling it: Constructoin's still on going since in this timeline they didn't hit up the abandoned warehoues district, some kids aren't back in school and even their teacher MisS Applebee is giving blood just to feel useful. It's smartly contextualizing this like the aftermath of a terror attack or something: no one knows what to do. And getting around might be hard as the military and press both want to know who the rangers are and Trini and Billy's moms are both starting to hellicopter. Trini worse but they need a cover.
As for Kim she's with her boyfriend Matt. Yup. Their evne cute talking over how it's been 90 days, Matt counted how sweet. We also get the last of our likes and quotes for the characters which are kinda cute but nothing to really dig into.
She's called away for Ranger buisness and it turns out Zordon knows about the captured astronauts and is warning the rangers... as for what his plan to deal with this is
Yeah he figures the beam up there is too long and puts the ranger in danger despite being both captured civilians and possibly having knowledge Rita can use beyond what she can watch from the skies.
Jason has the better plan of .. an actual plan. Go up there and rescue them. it's risky as hell, Zordon is geninely worried about them trying this but most of the gang is all in. Mostly. Trini is worried about the heights and danger and Billy is worried about slowing them down, another nice nod to other ongoing. Zack assures him, Trini annoys her mom, Kim has to break off her date, and away we go go!.
The rescue mission goes well at first: An absolute army of putties shows up btu Jason reveals his plan: Hold them off solo while every one else rescues the prisoners Zack and Bily tag team golddar
And Billy's sneak attack succesfully wins them the fight and they carry the astronauts' off. We get a cool twist.. for us.. for the rangers it's not good. Turns out the palace can shit to Rita's whims, and thus they can't find the exit tills he wans them too while Jason gets bodied by rita with one hit. It's a nice show of why they don't just.. go up and punch her: She's powerful enough to take them, she has near unlimited putties and she controls Bandor'as Palace. It explains why later they only go up when it's really that desperate and why Jason opts to use the dragonzord for their return trip in MMPR.
The group are confronted with Rita as issue 1 ends
I applaud Parrot for making Rita geninely terrifying and compelling, something credit where it's due Kyle Higgins also pulled off.. I also like this little reveal of how she knows who they are.. they accidently told her. They don't have commuincators yet just a space phone Jason got. Extra props for making Rita's toadies look terrifying. I didn't think you could make Baboo look like an anime villian but all my respect for pulling it off.
Issue 2 and I adore the homage. The Buffy Movie is cheesy but a bit of fun and one to revisit even if i'm not a fan of it's creator anymore. I mean Paul Rubbins as a vampire, a young luke perry, sign me the fuck up. I don't know why I was so mid on it as a teen, maybe I had too high expectations from the TV Show.
Anyways we begin with yet another flashback. This time we get Kimberly and Matt's date and after stealing a fucking car tonight, their young and alive after all they go get conrdogs. Both are nervous thinking this is their last date because of petty things they think the other is turned off by. Anxiety be a bitch. It's cute, it shows their both just as nervous. The fairway makes me nostalgic for my grandpa's carnival.. I still miss it and him. I barely rode any rides, but I have a lot of fond memories of the few I did: his verison of the teacup rides, a rocket that moved with a video inside, and er that's about it. But man I got some good food and a polliwhirl I miss. Buddy was life sized.
Kim has a less nostalgic time as her corndog was made what bad and she gets what sicks and throws what up. Matt takes her to his place to ralph and makes it clear he's up for a second date: This went horribly but it was no one's fault and it can't get worse right?
Natural smash cut to the rangers fighting the putties. THeir outnumbered and Rita starts blathering about them surrendering and how Zordon cares more about winning than them. She's lying of course... but the ambiguity is nice. We know he probably won't, but the rangers don't. It's likely how she could make her pitch to zack months later.
Back at the command center the rangers TRY to breach the subject of you know telling someone and Zordon's response is "Yeah tha'ts nice. THESE WERE RULES BEFORE MANKIND EXISTED! FORFEIT YOUR POWER IF YOU DARE!"
This scene bugged the crap out of me on this reread. The comic WILL handle this better.. but it seems weirdly callous of Zordon to just go SHUT UP BITCH IT'S IN THE RULES, especially since later in the arc Zack questoning his decisions instead gets what you'd expect out of him: an honest answer that helps explain his reasoning and shows his deep empathy. It's weird because, if I remember right when this topics broached again next arc, he DOES give a more detailed answer as to why the rules there. It feels weirdly out of character and while I was fine with it at first, it helps sew that distrust... if your just going to have him be more empathetic at the end of issue 4, why. We know Zordon's not evil, his counterpart in the main book, while not given as much screentime, is just as wise and empathetic as always. I like the Rangers not liking the job or not trusting him, but Zordon shouldn't be an asshole to make that work. It works on it's own. Granted I may just be touchy because, even having a vallid excuse, Miraculous has milked this secret identity angst and absolute rules for all it's worth. With Power Rangers it just makes sense and the only problem is ZOrdon being an ass in how he explains it to his child soilders.
This leaves Kimberly wondering.. not about whose evil, it's clearly Rita, but if she's not ENITRELY wrong, if they have to give up EVERYTHING just to do this. At the same time Zack confronts Jason about his plan, clocking that Jason always intended this and making it clear he dosen't object to the tactic, it worked long enough to get the prisoners free, he just wants Jason to que him in so he can back him up. He's not alone in this.
We see more consequences of the Ranger Life the next day though; Trini gets chewed out by her mom who worries she's pregnant, but Trini assures her she's not.. if still on thin ice. Matt is mad at Kim for bailing and while he tries to be a good dude and not get mad he is, and Bulk and Skull crash class late and are dicks about it. Do doo do do, doo do doo doot do doo you get it. Skull reading ms applebee's book to check for aliens is damn funny. Jason tells them to sit the fuck down in the most jason way possible and Trini likes it.. likes it a lot.
Yeah Jason is the guy she's been crushing on... and she decides to get some one on one time by suggsting skipping 6th period , SIXTTHHH PERRRIOOOD, to go do some ranger training.
Meanwhile on the moon, Rita' sminons are all rattling off their own ideas: Goldar blames himself, Finster wants to create an army, Baboo wants to run away, all good stuff but Rita's response is shut the fuck up, mommy's talking. She points out how earth should've been conquered sooner: it has no galactic representive, no prescense and seemingly no magical defenses. How she missed , the mystical robot animal dimension, hiddne ninja school or pizza place ran by a mystic karate master are beyond me, but she at least grasps theirs only one ranger team in her way and decides to play a diffrent game and has Finster craft her a new monster.. specail order.
So it's time for the shiptastic sparring session: Trini has more than crush related reasons for this: They got their powers days ago, have no idea what the limits are and Zordon didn't bother to give them actual training in the days he's had since. So Trini decides to test this the easiest way possible: Beat each other up.
This goes well with a lot of nicely drawn combat and we get an explination for why Zordon didn't bother with a manual: The suits do it automatically, giving the useres a sort of inherent fighting instinct: Trini only has one karate class as a kid to go off and Billy has no cordination out of uniform, but in it their both masters. We also see the suits give the rangers extra speed and strength as Trini and Jason test them. She also suggests they could fly. The proper term is jetting but it is a nice little nod to that.
Jason and Trini both really like this.. Jason because it's a brilliant and needed idea, and Trini because abs and this is the first time she's actually gotten to TALK to jason and had the confidence to do so.
As they take the long way home, we pop in on Zack and Billy. Zack is visting the command center and Billy has been busy all day making the commuincators: he hasn't figured out how to power them yet, he isn't as at home with the morphing grid tech just yet, a ncie call forward to the main series. Rereading this having read the main series up to this point, it is impressive how well they mesh: ther'es some slight diffrences, Billy isn't as depressed here, but it's not so far off that it dosen't feel like the same universe and you see small little things that keep consitent with the other series: Zack is closest to Jason, Trini to Billy. It's nice
As BIlly talks ot Ms Applebee who says the only thing he has to focus on is his grades which even putting aside the whole "he's secretly the blue ranger thing"... maam there was a giant monster attack the other day. For all you know he missed it due to PTSD. I get the "your not special" talk with it but come the fuck on.
We then cut to months ago when Matt introduced Kimberly as his girlfriend.. and it went tits up. Zack and Trini call her salad girl, are dicks about it and have apparently eben dicks for months after Kim was a dick in a restraunt while Jason and Billy have no idea what's going on and Kim understandably storms off.
To understand why they see her as salad girl, i'm going to jump ahead a little to the start of issue 4 as we get the incident in question: Kimberly was at a nice restraunt with her parents.. who are undergoing a messy slow burn car crash divorce and at the time were still together and couldn't stop bickering. She took it out on Zack the waiter... and accidnetly got him fired because his boss is a dick. So both sides are understandable: Zack DID get fired and to him she was just a snooty rich girl.. but it has been months and he never asked why or accepted an actual apology, one Kim's clearly tried to give.
I do like this twist though: We know they'll be friends, see present day, but it's nice to have a little conflict and see the group came together slowly over time: Trini just joined, Kimberly was last in line and Matt was apparently there a while.
Back to the issue at hand and Finster finds his new assignment dull, but does it because well.. he knows better. Rita disagrees and is right as her new putty.. is an infiltrator one that appears human. This is such a brilliant idea: a putty that hides in plain sight and can spring into action without the rangers realizing it tilli t's too late. It also fits her mo of going after the rangers where they live: While Lord Zedd would be far more cutting with it, Rita did have a tendency to turn the things they love, including a pig they love into monsters. Sending a putty down to inflitrate is a nice modernization of that. Why just send giant monsters when she can vary tactics.
We continue with issue 3 and another banger Natcha Bustos cover. I haven't seen footloose despite loving Kenny Loggins and parodies of that whole dance sequence in the warehouse with kevin bacon.. or in the case of High School Musical 2, the hilariously half assed imitation.
He who is tired of Zack Effron doing weird shit with his hands and golf on an abandoned golf course with an awkward tan is tired of life.
So we open with our most distant flashback yet: Billy and Skull as kids playing together, with Billy often having Skull come over to avoid his douchey brother. It's really sweet.. and makes the present, where Skull, of Bulk and, is taking part of Bulk's bullying bullshit.
The rangers talk monteization when Matt comes up and wonders what the hell he missed.. which is awkard.. as him all wanting them to be there for angel day, a concentrated cleanup Trini set up to help pick up the rubble. The rangers did talk about doing that as rangers on thir own earlier, they simply haven't ahd the time and iwth the military all over it wasn't the smartest idea. The right thing to do, but one that would be very hard to.
Rita's putty heads around but dosen't really have enough intellgence to actually.. succeed in looking for the rangers. It dosen't help she dosen't have last names and throws a table when not getting answers. Still Rita's tactic is sound as she relates a childhood story: Her brother had a dragon. She wanted one but was not old enough so she kept torturing the thing to make it eventually bite her brother and have ot be put down. She points out why not just kill it: Kill it and you get anothe rpet, make them fear the pet and you scar them for life. Goldar dosen't ge tit but we sure as hell do.
The rangers have other problems though: Trini ends up on topo f jason and barley hids she's flustered. Luckily jason is oblviious as fucks and suggests what if we let everyone else join which she says is just.. super yeah of course.. totally not a bummer. The bigger issue is Trini forgot her mom's birthday! So did her dad so she's pretty screwed.. and we see the two ARE geninely close: They were before angle grove but while Trini's found friends.. her mom hasn't. It's a great recontexutlization: her mom hovers.. because she's really that close to Trini and just worries given the giant monster attacks.
The giant monster attacks also mean trouble for the Juice Bar. Ernie's going to have to shut down despite being a needed place for the kids. For the kids. But he's lost staff for understandable reasons: most have bolted after Arrival Day, another nice show of the conseqeunces. Also like the name arrival day really snappy.
So it's time fo rangel day as everybody cleans up everywhere. Bulk is.. still a dick, and it leads to a fight with Jason and it being broken up by Mr caplan, who somehow is an even bigger dick, being mad at bulk.. but also at jason for getting into a fight both to defend another student and... for "not being the law son". Yeah because teachers are great at handling student on student violence and totallya lways do the right thing you mustached dick.
Things go pear shaped quickly though as putties rain down and while Trini , Zack and Billy are able to get away, Kimberly's stuck with matt who well meaningly won't leave her side and Jason is stuck with the mustache man , bulk no skull, and can't leave because mustache is like "No don't go running off you stupid teen"... okay he's not all bad. An obstacle in the way but not ALL bad. I like that the obstacle isn't some convient obstruction it's just.. people geninely trying to protect them. Gee it's almost like keeping thier identities a secret is fucking pointless, especailly since Rita knows. Are .. are we sure all of Zordon's brain got trapped in there with him in le tube? That he didn't miss a piece?
We end on Matt trying ot defend kimberly who tries to get him to back off so she can leave but being a genuinely good kid he won't. This gets him horribly injured by the monster finster wanted to send in the first place, a cool kangaroo like thing with some tentacles for reasons
Excellent burn too. Matt is a tiny bit flat, they try to prop him up a bit much, but moments like this make it clear he would've been a hell of a ranger.
back to the monster who I like. It's not an all time faviorite, but I admire making some sort of killeroo with monster tentacles, warriors armor and an earing. It's a bit MUCH.. but I still vastly prefer it over the generic monsters from MMPR's first arc. It's darker without loosing the series creativity. I'll take overdesign over under any day.
So we come to the finale of the first arc and our finale homage cover. And on back to the futur eI find it a decent film, just not entirley for me. It left such an impact on the time travel genre most time travel stories after it imitate it in some way. Some moments are unimpechable though: everything from the delorean test from "your gonna see some shit" to "I wanted to give it a little style", huey lewis' cameo, every huey lewis song on the soundtrack the climax. It's a geninely fantastic film. I"m just not big on time travel.
So after the salad girl flashback we're back to present day as the others cover Kim who refuses to leave Matt despite the rangers badly needing her. She eventually gives in.. and hands him over to the putty infiltrator whose doing everything she can to look as supscious as possible. She's just lucky Kimberly is depserate and not loving having to leave matt to go help.
As for Jason he's still stuck, and while these scnearios are common for a super hero I like it here as three of the others DID get away. It puts a personal spin on it: Jason already has a complex about having to be the best, never slip again, never let someone get hurt.. and can only hide as he can do NONE of those things. You can see the pain on his face as Ernie says not to worry "the rangers are out there' Knowing he should be and blaming himself.. despite the fact this isn't his fault. It's not even Kaplans fault: Sure he' skeeping Jason trapped in here, but he's trying to protect him. Granted why the grown man in a sweater vest things he can defend the karate expert teenager is a whole other debate, but it's well meant: He knows he can't take a monster, jasond efintely could even umorphed and would prove so later ni green with evil, but he's gonna die before any of these kids get hurt. It's a nice bit of nuance to a character whose entire role in the series was just getting on bulk and skull's case for being dumbasses.
Rita eventually decides to MAKE HER MONSTER GROWWW... given this rita is less hammy and more calculating we sadly don't hear that but it's a fine tradeoff: the rita here is a strategist like I said.. and she's sacrficing a pawn in Flogg, the weird monster thing. Also that name tells me a lot more about Finsters fetishes than I ever wanted to know. I mean nothing wrong with a good flogging, I relate, But no one wants to imagine finster liking that. If you didn't before and just now made the connection like I did, welcome to my nightmare.
They can't fight at first because too many buildings. The abandoned warehouse district still hasn't recovered, but follow it to the power grid as it intends to knock it out... and lure them into a trap, absorbing the electricty. Damn finster really went all out, put all his kinks into one death machine. Kim is able to free Trini and Zack's zords, but their outmatched. Thankfully Zack has a plan.. a bad one but the only one: Have billy knock out the power partially. This works and gives Jason the distraction he needs to escape. Time for megazord, slashy slashy, the day is saved. And Billy realizes this is a pattern: one monster is an isolated attack, two is a campaign.
The teenagers with attitude are rightfuly worried more people are going to leave in droves... but instead at the juice bar they find teens celebrating. Jason explains why: The rangers.. are giving them hope. It's a testimate to the real power of superheroes to inspire. Billy saw that earlier as Skull is a genuine fan.. though Billy says "We see everything" to make it clear he knows he's a bully in a way that dosen't out his secret. People may not flee simply because now it's proven the rangers WILL be there every time and can be there sooner than they were before now the power protects them.
We also get the predictable solution to Ernie's problem, though I do like explaining why the teens volunteer there since here they don't have the power of a thousand red bulls to do 80 tasks at once: Jason volunteered the rest of the gang. It's a win win: the center stays open and they have an airtight alibi.
Trini also gets a happy ending: She went to korea somehow, presumibly with her zord , Zordon apparently runs on firefighter rules that as long as you call in you can use them for whatever, and got a rock that says family, as Trini's mom had a rock garden with her mother they worked on after school and Trini wants to contiue it. IT's geninely sweet and shows there are at least perks to being a non tatooted teenage alien fighter from angel grove.
We then get Zack whose.. a tad pissy , wondering why HE'S not the leader since he's been doing all the work as one lately. That more acidic side we see in MMPR being an issue is bubbling up here.. but it's handled far better. Here even if he's being a bit whiny and could've talked to jason about it, and Jason being trapped wasn't jason's fault, he is right Jason did veer off to go fight rita the other day.
So Zordon decides to do some actual mentoring. He does violate Jason's trust... but belive Zack's earned the full story: He relates how Jason was once a bully.. and that's why he's leader. His determination to be good and be better also means he'll watch the other rangers, try to keep them from the same darkness and rage that got him.
He also points out why Alpha choose them specifically: A close knit group who seem vunerable apart.. but together their unstoppable. No one member is more valuable. Jason is leader because he's very needed emotoinal support and will do his best to notice when the others are struggling, to lift them up when their down. Yet they all have the qualities of a leader because you neve rknow when you'll need one.. or loose one. And he has lost one, something we'll get to in the other series. It also nicely synergizes with that one explaning why a close knit group: because Zordon has learned from the past he needs to look into his team's emotoinal needs and compatablity. It's what makes the rangers diffrent than a lot of teen teams, yet similar: They all knew each other before, and thus are already close , would die for one another. They have the loyalty of a combat unit baked in. Yet like them, their a family of sorts. I mean.. dating's still allowed, their not siblings adopted or otherwise, but you get it; they lean on each other anyway they can. It's why Tommy threw it off slightly as he was the new guy in a team that was this close and adds some needed subtext to MMPR"s first arc; Their likely so thrown off because they were a close unit even before being a team now given a wild card. Zordon choose these kids because their there for each other, yet have the nobility needed. It's such a good explanation and meshes well with the dark other reasons, the more pragmatic stuff Zordon sadly has to think about being at war.
Speaking of Dark stuff, Matt wakes up in the hospital seemingly in a coma.. but he's fine... or rather PUTTY MATT is fine... the real ones trapped in Rita's funtime death mansion. Uh oh. More on this possibly later this year.
For Now Go Go is good as I remember. It takes a more relaxed pace, but the focus on the rangers as characters makes it work: We see them as people and not the clean cut cardboard cutouts of the show, what this does to their lives. It takes a pretty stock superhero team and injects a more modern teen superhero sensiblity into it. Yet the team knowing each other, having each other to lean on, adds a nice vibe to it. We don't get that as often these days, the buffy style shows have long gone extinct. I'ts ncie to have a team who are just there for each other, that the friendships aren't in question, it's just a matter of if they can survive this difficult job of theirs. Add in one of the best modern comic book artists and you have a true clasic. If your intrested in the ranger comics, i'd recommend starting here or in trade with book one of the library editions which covers the complete original run as the second half of the book is an interquel between Shattered Grid and Necessary Evil, aka Parrot's post shattered grid run wehre he takes on the main books and ties both series together.
MMPR is still good and worth it, but it's a bit more to invest into. That first arc is still rough. Go Go still hits better from the jump. Which book is better overall.. we'll have to see, that's a long way out. But I really loved going going back to this one. We have robots, thens upermen, then more robots for the next three months but we'll hopefully be back with more rangers in July. Till then may the power protect you and thanks for reading.
Animus (3124 words) by Ajgrey9647
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers, Power Rangers (Boom! Comics)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Characters: Lord Drakkon (Power Rangers), World of the Coinless Jason Lee Scott, Tommy Oliver, Jason Lee Scott, Finster (Power Rangers), Grace Sterling, Terona Washington, Kimberly Hart, World of the Coinless Kimberly Hart, World of the Coinless Eugene Skullovitch, World of the Coinless Farkas Bulkmeier, Matthew Cook (Power Rangers), Billy Cranston, Trini (Power Rangers), World of the Coinless Trini (Power Rangers), Zack Taylor (Power Rangers), World of the Coinless Zack Taylor (Power Rangers), Dr. Jane Waters, beautiful red - Character
Additional Tags: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Psychological Trauma, Torture, Psychological Torture, Dissociative Identity Disorder, canine alter, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, psychiatric hospital, grid rehabilitation center, Mental Institutions, Mental Anguish, Mental Instability, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Coercion, Mental Disintegration, Inpatient, Abduction, forced hospitalization, incapacitated, Healing, Alters
Summary:
A recreation of my Beautiful Red Universe…
Grace Sterling was more moved than she let on once learning the fate of the Coinless Jason Scott. She decides to take action…in more ways than one.
But IS there a way back for a mentally fractured Red? For any of them?
And what is this strange mindscape they must navigate?
Today marks 5 years since we lost talented voice actor Robert Axelrod.
Robert will be best and fondly remembered as the voices of Finster and Lord Zed in Power Rangers. He also provided the voice for several of the monsters.
He also provided the voices of Wizardmon and Armadillomon in Digimon.
Robert loved meeting his fans and was extremely popular at conventions where he would recite lines in the voice of Lord Zedd as well as his other characters.
