I’ll get this out of the way up front: I’m not a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fan. Some of the comics BOOM! Studios has put out have been very good, but as for the TV show it was never my thing. So it was a big surprise when I found myself in tears at the end of Power Rangers Infinity #1.
Written by Sam Humphries with art by the team of Brandt&Stein, Power Rangers Infinity #1 focuses not on any of the established Rangers teams… But a fan named Lola who really wants to work on the Power Rangers comics for BOOM! Studios. Meanwhile, a D-list villain named Poisandra is traveling the multiverse to find a Power Rangers team so lame she can beat them.
Naturally, this leads to some extremely goofy multiverse versions of the Power Rangers, including the mish-mash team that forms to help out Lola. There’s plenty of fun to be had here at the designs from Brandt&Stein — as written by Humphries — that play cleverly into the inherent silliness of some of the Power Rangers iterations.
While the issue doesn’t take all of that too seriously, what it does take seriously is Lola’s fandom for the franchise… What it means to her, how it changed her life. And there, Humphries hits on something universal, the idea of why these media properties mean so much to readers, viewers, whatever. Even with the goofiness, we dig into something essential about — in this case — togetherness and the power of enduring friendship, and how that can triumph over all evil. It’s important, because it’s important to the fans. It allows them to be part of something bigger than themselves, reading or watching alone in their rooms.
That’s what Humphries poignantly hits on by the end, and it’s why anyone, Power Rangers fan or not, will find something to take from this comic book. You may not start carting around Power Coins and shouting “it’s Morphin Time!” But you will deeply care about Lola. And if you’re a fan of anything, there’s something for you in Power Rangers Infinity #1.
Power Rangers Infinity #1 Rating:
Power Rangers Infinity #1 Official Synopsis:
In the wake of an event that has shook the Power Rangers universe to its very foundations, the stage is set for a brand new adventure when a diehard Rangers fangirl named Lola somehow finds herself mixed up in a wacky mess spanning multiple universes!
Get ready for total mayhem as the new Infinity Force team faces off against the bombastic and fantabulous villain Poisandra, a D-lister with a dangerous level of insecurity, with all of reality at stake!
Will Poisandra’s world-wrecking rampage lay waste to the fragile multiverse, or can this totally ludicrous team come together in time to stop her?
DC superstar Sam Humphries (Harley Quinn) and acclaimed art team Brandt&Stein (CROWDED) create a truly unique and outrageous Power Rangers tale that brings a morphinominal spin to multiverse stories such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
