The new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic series from BOOM! Studios launched this week with a lead-in #0 issue and with it came the groundwork for a new storyline that will explore the time just after Tommy the Green Ranger joined the team after breaking free from Rita Repulsa’s control. While updated to reflect modern times, the comic fits into the continuity of the show, but it adds in an intriguing twist.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0!


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The comic book opens with the grim image of the Green Ranger and Rita standing over the defeated bodies of the Power Rangers. It’s revealed that this is just a day dream (nightmare?) Tommy is having as Jason drives them to school. The big shocker comes when we see that Rita is still inside Tommy’s head.



The Green Ranger’s power comes from Rita, which was explored in the TV series and culminated in “The Green Candle,” but Tommy always had his own agency and was a loyal, unpossessed member of the team. This story shows that maybe he didn’t make as clean a break from Rita as we initially thought.

He seems to be in control of his body, but she’s still haunting his mind and influencing his actions. The other Rangers notice his stiff behavior but think nothing of it. That is, until one of Rita’s monsters attacks the city and the Rangers summon their Zords to battle it. During a key point in the fight, Rita appears to cause Tommy to choke up, making his Dragonzord lose control and damage a bridge with cars on it -- a new disaster that Kimberly’s quick actions are able to avert.



Later during a meeting at the Command Center, Tommy says his Zord was malfunctioning, but Jason gets riled up and says it was Tommy’s inability to obey commands that caused the problem. All part of Rita’s plan, no doubt.

The fact that Tommy is still compromised by Rita adds an insidious, tense new layer, and it’s one that will be explored in the “Green Ranger: Year One” story arc that begins in March’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 by Kyle Higgins and Hendry Prasetya.