Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual #1

As this book has several stories, all of which are written and drawn by several different teams, rather than going through story and then the art, I will go through the issue on a story by story basis. Beginning with A Week in the Life..., this story follows through a week in the life of Jason, cutting between him at school, as the Red Ranger, teaching the youth of Angel Grove karate, and his home life. It does a good job of showcasing just how ridiculous the life of these teenagers is, between teaching classes, going to school, being Rangers, doing charity work, having a social life and spending time with family. It's a cute jab at the craziness of the whole thing, and the artwork is generally good, with the exception of a couple of close ups on faces.

Next we have Unlockly Heroes, our mandatory Bulk and Skull story of the issue. When the Rangers are captured by a new monster who can make them disappear, Zordon decides that the only hope is to rely on a pair of teenagers with even more attitude, providing Bulk and Skull with the “spare change” power coins of the Baconadon, a giant pig, and the Featherdactyl, a giant bird. When all is said and done, Bulk and Skull save the day using their unique skills and fighting style, and have their minds wiped so they don't remember any of it. The artwork is more cartoony and exaggerated, similar to the Bulk and Skull segments of the regular issues, and overall the story is sufficiently comedic and entertaining.

Continuing on, we have A Spot of Trouble, which primarily features Trini and Kimberly. The girls are setting up for a fundraiser to protect the environment when they are suddenly attacked by a monster who is turning everyone into animals. A fight ensues and, after talking it through, the monster agrees to allow humans a chance to fix the environment, the treatment of animals and the environment being his primary reason for the attack. The artwork in this story is very good and looks heavily inspired by manga. The one complaint that I have is the design of the monster, who looks like he was taken directly off of someones deviantart page. Overall, however, it's an interesting story showcasing Rangers who don't usually have a large focus put on them.

Up next we have Only the Strong, a look at Goldar's past and how he came to be in Rita's forces. With Zordon having fled to Earth and his home planet undefended, Goldar and his brother Silverback wonder why they have not been sent to conquer Eltar. They are summoned before Lord Zedd, who gives them an important mission, follow Zordon to Earth and assist Rita in destroying him. Seeing Zedd unwilling to attack Eltar and instead fearing Zordon, Silverback accuses Zedd of weakness and is killed, Goldar being sent to Earth alone instead. The artwork is good, with the cast consisting entirely of monsters, and the story itself is an interesting look at the history of a villain we don't know much about.

Unfortunately, this brings us to It's Putty Time, a story about a putty falling in love with Kimberly. That's basically it. A putty falls in love with Kimberly, she beats it up, and that's the story. The writing and art is clearly supposed to be stylized to be extraordinarily cartoony, but it just grated on me and I thoroughly disliked this one. Considering the quality of some of the other stories in this issue, it was poorly drawn and poorly written.

Finally, that takes us to What Makes a Ranger, a story more surrounding the Rangers than actually being about them. The story revolves around the Rangers fighting a monster in their Megazord while Zordon explains to Alpha what truly makes a Ranger. When the battle is over, we see the Rangers, now in civilian form, assisting the towns people to clean up the mess from the monster attack and help anyone caught in the rubble, Zordon exclaiming that even without their powers, the Rangers would be heroes. The artwork here isn't amazing, but the story itself is a great cap to the issue, showcasing why the Rangers really shine.

Overall, this issue was a bit of a mixed bag. While I thoroughly enjoyed some of the stories, I really didn't care for others, which is unfortunately common in anthologies like this. Ultimately, however, I think this was a good issue, and the good outweighs the bad. While not necessary to the overall plot of the current series, this issue is still worth checking out if, like me, you're just eager for more Power Rangers.