Go Go Power Rangers Team Talks Shattered Grid, Ranger Slayer, And More

Shattered Grid has invaded Go Go Power Rangers, and we get all the details on the Ranger Slayer's big debut.

Spoilers incoming for Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #9, so if you haven't read it yet you can check out more of our Shattered Grid coverage here.

ComicBook.com had the chance to sit down with Go Go Power Rangers writer Ryan Parrott, BOOM! Studios editor Dafna Pleban, and Director of Power Rangers Content for Saban Brands Melissa Flores, where we discussed the latest issue and the overall response to the Ranger Slayer's debut and her amazing design.

"That one's kind of amazing. I ... this is sort of my first go into the world of creating a character and then having people cosplay and draw it," Parrott said. "I started seeing on Twitter people sketching the character. It was so cool. So I mean it's kind of amazing just to have people react to it so quickly and I couldn't agree more about Dan's art ... Dan is ninety percent of this book. I honestly say that."

Dan Mora's delivered some gorgeous covers and interiors to the series and designed that incredible costume for the Ranger Slayer.

"He's taken every panel and everything that I write and he makes it ten times better," Parrott said. "Everything from the Ranger Slayer to the Gravezord I couldn't be happier with him and I think he just ... it's rare I think that you can find an artist that can do the big action pieces and can do the scale of an action sequence and yet he can also draw the emotion off the page. I actually removed a lot of dialogue from the script sometimes because he drew a page and I'm like you don't need a line there, so he's just phenomenal and I couldn't be ... it's been the best year of my life as a collaborator to work with him."

"Yeah I mean we love him at Saban too," Flores said. "He's absolutely fantastic. I was actually a fan of his before he was even on the book. I was in love with the BOOM! series Klaus So when Dafna told us she pitched him she's like this is who I want for the book. I'm like yes immediately let's do it and he has not disappointed he is absolutely fantastic. The way he draws the panels and the perspectives and even just that reveal of the Ranger Slayer itself is just awe inspiring. We are so lucky to have him and he double duties with the covers too."

Mora is a big-time Power Rangers fan, and you definitely see that enthusiasm on the page.

"Dan is a true blue fan of Power Rangers," Pleban said. "I remember hanging out with him at San Diego last year he drew our epic, sort of gigantic, connecting cover and he told me that he had used Power Ranger action figures as anatomy reference so he was really excited to be able to actually draw the Rangers and not just, you know as a background. For Dan, it's really much a passion project as well. I mean I think you see that on the page."

One of Dan's early sequences in the issue shows an edgier Kimberly saving Bulk and company from some Mastadon Sentries. While things segue into the present later on, this part of the issue is actually a glimpse into the Ranger Slayer's origin.

"One of the tricks that we do in Go Go Power Rangers is I like to use the first two or three pages of each issue to sort of jump around in time and show things from different times, you know just to give a little bit of character," Parrott said. "Little details and stuff. Stuff that ties in thematically. Stuff that reveals, you know just things that you're going to see in the future and so this year we're going to see a little bit of how Kimberly became the Ranger Slayer. So that is, in the opening that is ... that is Kimberly in the Drakkon universe."

This also ties into the previous Power Rangers 2017 Annual in a subtle way.

"Oh we kind of told a secret origin in the Drakkon universe story but in the annual for 2017 I think it was story that Kyle Higgins and Goni did kind of shows where the Drakkon universe really takes off proper with the Rangers not finding Tommy in time after the sort of darkness is broken and Rita finding him first," Pleban said. "So what Ryan does really well with these kind of future elements, future flashbacks he calls them, is showing that the Kimberly of the Drakkon universe shares a lot of similarities with the Kimberly of our universe. It just went a different way."

The mini origins have become a Go Go trademark, and it gives the chance for long beloved side characters to get some additional development.

"One of the things that Ryan does incredibly well in the Go Go series is he kind of does little origin cold opens for our villains," Flores said. "He's done Baboo and Squatt and we kind of played with that a little bit in our annuals with Goldar and Finster but what he has done with these little tragic ... they're so tragic but they're so compelling with these joke characters from the series that give them so much depth. So it doesn't feel out of place when you see this happening also were seeing this origin of the Ranger Slayer and how that pays off."

Giving that extra definition to these characters has been immensely rewarding for someone who loves the franchise.

"That ties into the long history of sort of tragic villains that sort of ... that go into the Power Rangers universe," Parrott said. "So I just sort if tapped into the DNA on what they already established over the last twenty-five years, so it's been nice to be able to put a brick into that wall."

While many aspects of the Ranger Slayer's history will be covered in the pages of Go Go, not every hallmark moment will be hit. That means we might not see her actually get the Bow of Darkness or see the rise of the Gravezord. Still, that shouldn't be looked at as a bad thing.

"You know, regardless of whether or not it's explained in this book, which I'm not saying yes or no, there are ... it's never just the end of where we can take these stories and where we can find those answers," Flores said. "Just like we did with Shattered Grid and the HyperForce crossover where we try to tease a lot of things it's ... there's always an opportunity for more depth to these tiny little, beautiful details that Ryan gives us in these books."

"Yeah that's actually a great point," Parrott said. "I mean to think about if I just laid everything out and show you everything I think it would sort of defeat some of the purpose. Because I'm thinking about if the original Power Rangers series had laid out everything forward I wouldn't be able to do Go Go Power Rangers. So in some ways bouncing around and leaving sort of ... leaving things open to come around later, to expand upon later actually is I think, actually beneficial to the series. It helps you that we're ... that's actually where the Ranger Slayer came from in a weird way."

Parrott benefited from that rather open-ended storytelling, and that blank spot on the canvas in regards to Kimberly is where the Ranger Slayer grew from.

"You know when Kyle was doing the first run on Mighty Morphin, he left Kimberly sort of off the table and didn't tell you where that character was. What's just great about that was when we started to find a place for Go Go to fit into the Shattered Grid series it was so great to have that character available because it works so well to sort of bring a personal villain into the series. So I actually think that in a weird way by not showing you everything, actually leaving parts open that you can ... so later it helps you expand upon the characters in the universe."

You can check out the rest of our Shattered Grid coverage here, and Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #9 is in comic stores now.