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Welcome to an all new edition of Parlay Points, the comic book blog to the ODPH podcast via the Nerd Initiative!
For this entry, we have arrived at the midway point of one of the biggest crossovers in all of pop culture fandom! MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2 by Ryan Parrott, Dan Mora, Raul Angulo and Ed Dukeshire for Boom Studios & IDW Publishing has been an exceptional sequel to the 2019 initial story. With a surprise enemy emerging from close in their ranks, the combined forces of Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles are pushed to their limits. How does the halfway point shape things up? Let’s take a deeper dive and see how things unfold, shall we?
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
When the combined front of the Teenage Mutant Ninnja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers defeated Rita Repulsa and Shreddar, all parties knew that trouble would come back around sooner than later. Six months after that encounter, Casey Jones (TMNT ally) went missing after looking for Shreddar. Shortly there, Baxter Stockman (TMNT villain) was freed from jail with an assist from Ranger X, the new identity of Casey Jones! With the good guys reeling from Jones’ change, the forces of evil launch an attack on the Power Rangers Command center. With Zordon in immediate danger, a surprise figure enters the battle to defend him: Shreddar?!
This issue wastes no time hitting the ground running with Shreddar jumping in the fight. It buys enough time for Alpha to get Zordon to safety but Jason (Red Ranger) and Tommy (Green Ranger) stay with Shreddar/ All the while Stockman and Ranger X hit the rangers in a big way. They trigger a fault in their morphin powers! Now left powerless due to the Morphin Grid being hacked, the heroes have to run and leave the command center in the possession of Rita Repulsa and Krang!
Once the heroes reconvene, Shreddar appears and makes his intentions known. He hasn’t become a hero. He is fueled by revenge for being ousted by Krang after the last defeat. It’s solid motivation as it appears Rita is on the verge of conquering, using Angel Grove as their playground. Can the heroes come back? An idea is thrown to the group, but it’s worth a shot to see if it can tip the fight back in their favor. Readers won’t believe what they see as the good guys mount their attack! If anyone thinks that’s big just wait until another player in this game makes a shocking move setting a small team of heroes into a familiar place but with a dangerous figure joining them in the final moment.
BREAKDOWN: Excellent work by Parrott ramping up the surprises throughout this issue. Just when things look bleak, the heroes come up with a crazy idea for dealing with the Morphin Grid being hacked and it works SO well! Readers will enjoy this sequence immensely. Throwing Shreddar into the mix as a “frenemy” also provides a unique dynamic for the heroes. Knowing how dangerous he is, the lingering tension haunts these scenes and presents more challenges as the story progresses. Pacing is never an issue here and with all the characters involved in big battles, no one felt overshadowed or lost. It’s a skill that Parrott pulls off perfectly each time it is presented in any story he does. The big surprise reveal late in this chapter is a great addition to this story. Readers will be thrown for another loop but it’s a fascinating play that connects easily to the situation at hand. Excellent final banter from the heroes to close out the latest installement moving things towards the final act.
The best artist in comics today continues to level this story up. Dan Mora makes the smallest action moments feel HUGE. The battle for the command center has key moments but it’s exclamation point is actually Rita’s demonic smile at the havoc she created. The moment everyone will be talking about though is how the heroes deal with not having the powers from the Morphin Grid. No spoilers but Mora gives it a enormous debut and the following action will blow readers away. It’s counter-balanced when a character makes a big reveal late in the book. The emotional reactions give those scenes more gravity as it sends the story into a new direction.
FINAL POINT: The combined fandoms of MMPR and TMNT will be on the edge of their seats for the action and drama unfolding in the latest chapter of the epic sequel crossover. Parrott, Mora and the team keep raising the bar with amazing writing and phenomenal art. There is much to be excited about within these pages, so make a point to pick this series up at the local comic shop!
Hit me up on ODPH social media and let me know what you thought of MMPR/TMNT 2#3! Thanks to the team at the Nerd Initiative for allowing the post & thank YOU for reading!
