I'd appreciate any handling tips, though. I've heard clips on the legs for the arms in Megaship mode (where I mostly plan to keep it) are known to break. Anything else of note?
Incidentally, I feel like one of the arms might be slightly off in its rotation under the ship, but it's on a ratchet joint, so I'm not sure how -- or if -- I can straighten it out.
I'd appreciate any handling tips, though. I've heard clips on the legs for the arms in Megaship mode (where I mostly plan to keep it) are known to break. Anything else of note?
I keep trying to get back into the Power Rangers comics, and every time I do, I'm firmly reminded of why I haven't. (For those curious, I have trades 1-9, and for reasons I can't figure out, 14, as well as Soul of the Dragon, for obvious reasons.)
Wasn't there supposed to be some big "Transformers: The IDW Collection"-ish compilations that put everything in order? Did I imagine that?
I think you're thinking of the "Deluxe Edition" books. Which not only have MORE issues, but usually a exclusive short story as well. (The short stories are nice, but not really necessary reading.) Those are expensive. But, they're probably kind of nice for catching up, if you can get all of them.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Year One Deluxe Edition is an oversized, hardcover collection of issues from the Boom! Studios comic book series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It also contains the exclusive story From Here to Despair, which features a story between Jason Lee Scott and Ninjor. It...
And I'm guessing you got Volume 14, because....(spoilers, since you haven't read that volume yet)
Drakkon returns in that volume.
And, yeah, there's a LOT of Power Rangers comics now. We're over 120 issues in. It can be a bit of a commitment. And it can get confusing, since MMPR WAS one book, then Go Go Power Rangers was added and ended, and then MMPR split into TWO books with "Mighty Morphin" and "Power Rangers", and then RECOMBINED into one MMPR book again. They haven't made it the easiest to keep track with all these VERY similar names. To be fair, I don't think you have to read ALL of it.
If you just want to jump ahead to the current stuff, I think a good starting point is issue #101. Or the "Recharged" series of trades. That's when a new writer took over the book, and where they started planting seeds for the "Darkest Hour" event we're currently in. Starting there will mean you miss a few things, but it should catch you up enough that you're not totally lost on everything.
And, yeah, there's a LOT of Power Rangers comics now. We're over 120 issues in. It can be a bit of a commitment. And it can get confusing, since MMPR WAS one book, then Go Go Power Rangers was added and ended, and then MMPR split into TWO books with "Mighty Morphin" and "Power Rangers", and then RECOMBINED into one MMPR book again. They haven't made it the easiest to keep track with all these VERY similar names. To be fair, I don't think you have to read ALL of it.
I think you're thinking of the "Deluxe Edition" books. Which not only have MORE issues, but usually a exclusive short story as well. (The short stories are nice, but not really necessary reading.) Those are expensive. But, they're probably kind of nice for catching up, if you can get all of them.
Okay, do you mean "issues" as in "problems," or "issues" as in "individual serialized publications gathered therein"?
If the latter, are they on ComiXology-- er, Kindle? I was getting physical when it started, but now with... *gestures above* ...I figured digital is probably going to be WAY easier for me to handle, for various reasons (sales, space, having it right at my fingertips on my phone if I need it... the usual stuff).
Oh no, I just meant the Deluxe Editions include about 12 issues per collection (with extras) instead of the usual 4 or so for the regular trades. I'm not aware of them having any printing problems or anything. The biggest problem with the physical versions of the Deluxe Editions is that they're probably heavy and cumbersome to actually read, but that's true of ALL omnibuses.
As for the Deluxe Editions being available on Kindle....a quick search shows that some volumes ARE on Kindle (and a few are even free with a Comixology Unlimited subscription) and some aren't available at all. I would assume Boom just hasn't put them on Kindle yet to help drum up sales for the physical versions, but I honestly don't know. For some reason "Year One" and "Year Two" don't have Kindle versions. But, books that come AFTER that like "Shattered Grid" and the first "Necessary Evil" volumes ARE available on Kindle? It honestly seems like kind of a mess now that I look closer. Weird. I'm not sure what's going on with that.
There's so much there, and I'm not even sure when it splits off, or if they tell you.
Oh no, I just meant the Deluxe Editions include about 12 issues per collection (with extras) instead of the usual 4 or so for the regular trades. I'm not aware of them having any printing problems or anything. The biggest problem with the physical versions of the Deluxe Editions is that they're probably heavy and cumbersome to actually read, but that's true of ALL omnibuses.
As for the Deluxe Editions being available on Kindle....a quick search shows that some volumes ARE on Kindle (and a few are even free with a Comixology Unlimited subscription) and some aren't available at all. I would assume Boom just hasn't put them on Kindle yet to help drum up sales for the physical versions, but I honestly don't know. For some reason "Year One" and "Year Two" don't have Kindle versions. But, books that come AFTER that like "Shattered Grid" and the first "Necessary Evil" volumes ARE available on Kindle? It honestly seems like kind of a mess now that I look closer. Weird. I'm not sure what's going on with that.
Yeah, each Deluxe Edition contains at least 12 issues. The tricky bit comes in when they start including issues from "Go Go" and the various specials and one shots. Later Deluxe Editions include fewer MMPR issues so that they can also fit some Go Go issues in there as well.
Since you said you have the first 9 trades, you can actually skip the first 3 Deluxe Edition books (Year One, Year Two, and Shattered Grid). You should have all the MMPR issues from those books already.
I might recommend trying to track down the regular trade for Volume 10, since Volume 9 has half of the "Beyond the Grid" story. And it's probably cheaper than getting the "Beyond the Grid Deluxe Edition" when you already have half the contents of that Deluxe Edition, already.
After that, you can get Deluxe Editions of what you don't have (Necessary Evil Part 1-2, and then Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers Book 1-3. With Go Go Power Rangers Book 1 and 2 being optional reads). Or, like you said, it might be easier to get the trades. And it MIGHT be the cheaper way to go?
This was included in one of the Reddit links I posted, but this Google Doc has reading orders and issue numbers included for all the trades available in different tabs on the bottom of the screen:
About Introduction Hi! A while back I made a reading and purchasing guide for the BOOM! Power Rangers comic book series on reddit that people seemed to like - so here I am updating my guide and making it easier to navigate and update. The most common question is whether you should read the Migh...
docs.google.com
Time for a slight tangent: "Go Go" is actually more important the more I think about it. It introduces 3 characters that are important later on in the story (Matt Cook, Ranger Slayer, and Alpha-1.) The first 20 issues (or the first 6 trades) are basically a "Year One" type story taking place BEFORE Tommy joins the team and BEFORE the "main" MMPR comic. And then from issue 21 onward to it's end at issue 32 (or trades 7-9) covers the introduction of the Omega Rangers who are...DEFINITELY important to the rest of the comic. So, for the best reading experience, you might want to think about picking those trades/books up too. I hate to overwhelm you with MORE books, but just a heads up. I do think the "main" MMPR book should take priority though. Maybe skip chunks of Go Go for now, and go back to it later, if you feel like it?
And I haven't even MENTIONED some of the fun side-books I like. Like Drakkon New Dawn, and the Power Rangers Unlimited specials, and Power Rangers Universe (which gives us a origin for the Phantom Ranger from Turbo), and Ranger Academy. And most of them end up getting referenced in the main comic, too, so some of those side books are...technically optional but recommended reading? But, um...try to focus on catching up on the main book first? Then we can talk about some of weirder spin-off stuff.
I'm trying not to scare you away with too much stuff all at once, but there IS a lot of books.
Time for a slight tangent: "Go Go" is actually more important the more I think about it. It introduces 3 characters that are important later on in the story (Matt Cook, Ranger Slayer, and Alpha-1.) The first 20 issues (or the first 6 trades) are basically a "Year One" type story taking place BEFORE Tommy joins the team and BEFORE the "main" MMPR comic. And then from issue 21 onward to it's end at issue 32 (or trades 7-9) covers the introduction of the Omega Rangers who are...DEFINITELY important to the rest of the comic. So, for the best reading experience, you might want to think about picking those trades/books up too. I hate to overwhelm you with MORE books, but just a heads up. I do think the "main" MMPR book should take priority though. Maybe skip chunks of Go Go for now, and go back to it later, if you feel like it?
And I haven't even MENTIONED some of the fun side-books I like. Like Drakkon New Dawn, and the Power Rangers Unlimited specials, and Power Rangers Universe (which gives us a origin for the Phantom Ranger from Turbo), and Ranger Academy. And most of them end up getting referenced in the main comic, too, so some of those side books are...technically optional but recommended reading? But, um...try to focus on catching up on the main book first? Then we can talk about some of weirder spin-off stuff.
Yeah, the image is basically a "bare minimum" guide of sorts? It's not including EVERYTHING. But, it is including enough to get you up to date on MOST of everything you need to know.
To be fair, some of it IS kind of hard to place. Like the "Drakkon New Dawn" mini takes place AFTER Shattered Grid, but it's in a different universe, but characters from that mini end up joining up with our main cast MUCH later. So, it's kind of hard to say when the best time to read it actually is. I guess placing it between Necessary Evil and The New Green Ranger works as well as anything. And I would recommend it, since it is a personal favorite of mine.
And then there's the Power Rangers Unlimited one-shots, which usually give some much-needed backstory on some of the characters who show up (mostly from other seasons). There are currently six of these one-shots with a seventh on the way (and probably a eighth since they tend to do these in groups of twos for the trade collections). Two are collected in the main books themselves (as noted in the image above). But, there's two trades that collect the other 4 comics (Edge of Darkness and Call to Darkness). And I'll throw in the collection for Power Rangers Universe 6-issue miniseries in here, too. Unlimited and Universe actually lead into the current event "Darkest Hour". I would say that they're optional, but they are good. (Although, if you only get one of these, get the "Unlimited Call to Darkness" trade, that's got more to do with the Drakkon-verse). They do seed some ideas that come up later. So, maybe read those after the "Recharged" era but before the "Darkest Hour" collections. Read Unlimited first, then Universe.
And they've actually done a few books in different eras, but DON'T actually interact with the "main" Boom comic. Like the Pink miniseries (Which I guess is it's own universe now? Maybe?) Or the Original Graphic Novels (Soul of the Dragon, The Psycho Path, Sins of the Future). Or the MANY Annuals, which oddly usually don't end up mattering, but are kind of fun (Collected in "The Lost Chronicles Volume 1 and 2...but not to be confused with "The Lost Chronicles DELUXE EDITION, which is actually a collection of the Original Graphic Novels.) And the various crossovers (Justice League, TMNT, Godzilla).
And then there's Ranger Academy. This is new, so who knows how important it'll end up being. But it's basically a school for future Power Rangers in space. It's taking it's time to really flesh out it's setting, which is nice. It's not important to the main book for now, but I do think it'll end up being a bit of a fan-favorite, eventually. You can actually read this without reading ANY of the other Boom stuff, if you want. It doesn't really spoil anything that happens in the main book, at least so far.
I think that covers everything worth talking about? Hopefully, you can make some sense out of my rambles. I'm trying to walk a line between giving you enough information to keep you interested and trying to leave out enough so that there are still some surprises here and there, if you ever get around to ALL of this. These comics are pretty good. I think it's all worth it, because there are some memorable moments.
Well...actually the Deluxe Editions are mostly complete. They're actually probably the best way to read this series without constantly switching between different trades. The thing about the Deluxe Editions is that they're a fair bit behind everything else. They're not totally up to date with the current run. So, it's hard to say exactly what's going to be released in the future. They haven't released EVERYTHING in Deluxe Editions yet, but they easily could in the future. So, if you want to get caught up right to the newest issues, eventually you're either going to have to switch over to the regular trades OR just wait for more Deluxe Editions to come out.
Go Go issues ARE included in the Deluxe Editions of Shattered Grid and Necessary Evil. But "Go Go"ALSO got it's own series of Deluxe Editions collecting JUST "Go Go" in two oversized volumes. But, that means that there is overlap between the Deluxe Editions for both series. If you get ALL the Deluxe Editions, that means you'll be doubling up on some issues of Go Go. I have no idea why they did things that way, but that's what Boom decided to do.
The thing about Go Go (#1-20) is that it takes place BEFORE the main series chronologically, but it actually started releasing around the same time as MMPR #17, and crosses over with MMPR a few times. So, Go Go gets treated kind of weirdly.
All the other stuff is more straight forward than that. Go Go is really the biggest sticking point. And Go Go DOES have it's own Deluxe Editions. And if you don't plan on getting the Deluxe Editions for the trades you already have, you can easily just pick up those two Go Go Deluxe Editions and be fine, except for the overlap with the Necessary Evil Deluxe Editions.
The Deluxe Editions are pretty good at including everything that's canon to the main comic. So, that means they ARE including the Unlimited one-shots. But, they are NOT including things like the Pink miniseries and the crossovers.
So far, they haven't collected the PR Universe miniseries or the Drakkon New Dawn miniseries into Deluxe Editions...but they MIGHT end up doing that in the future? It's possible they just haven't done it YET, since the Deluxe Editions are so far behind the "current" stuff. I think it's likely that once the Deluxe Editions make it to the "Recharged" era, these two will get included into one of these Deluxe Editions. But, I don't think anything has been announced yet.
Time for another tangent: I'm kind of hemming and hawing about "Go Go" because...it's not that impressive? It's mostly monster of the week stuff with teen angst. Mostly centered around Matt. And I'm specifically talking about issues #1-20, because the focus changes completely after issue 21.
And Matt, in those early Go Go issues....kind of comes across like a "Poochie"? Whenever Matt is not on the page, the other Rangers are talking about Matt, and...the stakes are a lot lower than the majority of the rest of the Power Rangers comics? Matt thankfully gets a lot more interesting later on, but not in Go Go. But, the IDEA of Matt IS a good one. It just gets stretched out a little long for my liking, in those Go Go issues.
But, it's not bad. It's done well enough. And again, there are some characters who first appear here who pop again later. Some are very important to the main story going forward. I would definitely recommend picking up the Shattered Grid/Ranger Slayer volume of Go Go. But, Go Go was probably the most "basic" Power Rangers comic Boom put out? It's the closest to the actual original show. For good and for ill. So, while it's not a BAD read, I don't know if it's really NECESSARY to read it all, either?
I'd definitely recommend Volume 3 (Shattered Grid tie-in) and Volume 5-9 of the regular Go Go trades. That will get you what you NEED. And the Mighty Morphin Deluxe Editions actually include Volumes 3 and 7-9, so all you really NEED to pick up separately for Go Go is Volumes 5 and 6 (in my opinion). But...that's the majority of the comic, you know? So, you might be better off just reading ALL of it, to get a "smoother" reading experience? So, I'm torn. I do think it comes across a little bit dull in spots, but it probably reads better in trades than it did month to month. Of all the Power Rangers ongoings, it's "technically" my least favorite. But, again, that doesn't mean it's bad. Some people might very well like the lower stakes and greater focus on the day to day personal problems of the Rangers.
I'm just personally a little split on Go Go. But, that very well might be a "me" problem?
Okay, I'm overcomplicating this. Let me try to break this down, with as little overlap as possible. Since you have the first 9 trades and volume 14, I recommend that you pick up:
Go Go Power Rangers Deluxe Edition Book 1
Go Go Power Rangers Volume 5 and 6 (regular trades)
Mighty Morphin Powers Rangers Volume 10 (regular Trade)
Necessary Evil Deluxe Edition Book 1-2 (if you don't mind having doubles of the issues in MMPR Volume 14)
OR Necessary Evil Deluxe Edition Book 1, and Go Go Power Rangers Volume 9, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volume 13.
Mighty Morphin/ Power Rangers Deluxe Edition Book 1-2
(Be careful not to mix it up with the "regular" Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Deluxe Editions, one has "vertical" logos, and the other has "horizontal" logos)
For example:
MMPR Year One:
Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers Book One, this is the one you want:
I can EASILY see people confusing the two.
Which brings us to the end of where the Deluxe Editions currently are. You might want to wait for the third Mighty Morphin/Power Rangers Deluxe Edition since that WOULD bring you up to the end of that era. But if you want to keep getting caught up, you'll need:
Mighty Morphin Volume 5-6
Power Rangers Volume 5-6
And then:
Power Rangers Drakkon New Dawn
Power Rangers Universe
Power Rangers Unlimited Call to Darkness
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Recharged Volumes 1-4
That will bring you up to issue 114. So, you can either track down the individual issues for 115 onward, or you can just wait for the next trade.
And then you have the optional non-canon stuff like:
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Pink
Power Rangers The Psycho Path
Power Rangers Sins of the Future
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1-2
There, I think that's a lot clearer than what I was trying to do. That should give you a buying list of what you need to get caught up.
I don't think I've ever seen the term "uncut" used in regards to just being split into multiple parts (or rather, stitched together in this case) before.
