Warning: spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 ahead!The Power Rangers’ Thunderzord has finally combined with the Green Ranger’s Dragonzord in the 100th issue of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The comic has completely reimagined Power Rangers lore and is giving readers things they never thought they’d see, like the Dragon Thunderzord – a Zord combination that was never technically supposed to be possible.
Saban, the now defunct studio that developed the Power Rangers franchise, worked in tandem with Toei Studios, who made the Super Sentai series that Power Rangers is adapted from. The upside to this was that everything from footage to costumes to merchandise from Super Sentai could be recycled for United States audiences. The downside was that the Power Rangers‘ creative team would always be restricted to some degree by the choices made for Super Sentai. Now, however, the creative team for BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are free to reimagine the franchise without any of the same constraints.
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 – written by Ryan Parrott with various artists including Moisés Hidalgo and Marco Renna – the Rangers find themselves under the threat of the Death Ranger’s Ultra Gold Omegazord. After it manages to take down the Thunder Megazord and Green Dragonzord, the Rangers combine to create the Dragon Thunderzord, a feat never attempted before. The Zord resembles the Thunder Megazord but with the trademark green accents of the Dragonzord as well as its iconic tail and chest piece, and a brand-new flaming “Dragon Saber.” The Rangers themselves are so blown away by the results that Adam, the Black Ranger, wonders aloud why they’ve never tried it before. Any ’90s kid who grew up with that era of the show just witnessed the impossible. That’s because, while the Dragonzord and Thunderzords seem like a natural fit, they were actually from two wholly separate Super Sentai series.
While the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was adapted from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, the second season also incorporated elements from Gosei Sentai Dairanger – mainly the Thunderzords and the White Ranger and White Tigerzord. Saban also used the same toy molds as Toei through the toy company Bandai, meaning the Dragonzord and Thunder Megazord were never designed to fit together. The first Green Ranger’s transformation into the White Ranger was necessary just to make the toys compatible. The Dragon Thunderzord is the one Zord combination that seemed obvious but was always just out of reach… until now.
BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic is the ultimate wish fulfillment for fans of the classic series. Plot details like the White and Green Rangers existing at the same time and the original Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers becoming the Omega Rangers are the sort of thing fans would have eaten up in the 90s but weren’t on the cards until now. The introduction of the Dragon Thunderzord is the perfect distillation of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic’s ‘for the fans, by the fans’ style of storytelling.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100 is available now from BOOM! Studios