BOOM! Studios has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive first look inside of Go Go Power Rangers #1, out next month from the publisher.
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The series is the second ongoing, monthly Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic from BOOM!, and serves as a companion to the current title.
Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers, from writer Ryan Parrott and artist Dan Mora, is set after the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and centers around Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Trini, and Billy as they navigate high school, just days after receiving their superhero abilities. The story delves into their lives of saving the world while juggling history tests, dating and after-school jobs.
“When I first saw the pilot, I was only a kid — so I took for granted that all high schoolers could simply fight and pilot giant robots without any instructions,” Parrott told ComicBook.com. “But, yes, at some point as you get older, you think — well, how did that actually happen? And that’s been sort of been the heart of this series — reverse engineering the seminal moments in the first season and trying to ground them in reality.”
There’s a little bit of juggling that has to be done, of course, because the series ties in with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and that title has been ongoing for a while so it’s not as though Parrott has been in on the ground floor with planning from day one. That said, the mission statement isn’t to have a twice-monthly Power Rangers book, but to have two different titles examining different aspects of the characters.
“Since they take place in the same reality, you have to maintain a certain level of consistency, but I’ve tried to make Go Go lighter in tone and focus each story on the smaller relationships,” Parrott said. “Why are these kids friends? What do they mean to one another? How do they balance all of the responsibilities? Those are the types of questions that play a big role in crafting the series.”
Some of those questions Parrott can answer by going back in time and remembering who the characters were and what they meant to him. In some cases, though…?
…Well, let’s just say that he’s as excited as readers about those awesome high school-themed variant covers.
“Are you kidding? The locker ones themselves changed how I wrote the book,” Parrott said. “I actually have a folder on my desktop that, whenever I get stuck — I open it, look at what’s in their lockers and go — oh yeah, that’s who these characters are. They’re all pretty amazing.”
One thing you won’t see — and existing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers readers likely knew this already, but it will be sad news to some — is ’90s nostalgia.
“I’m sorry to say — we’re not going full ’90s,” Parrott said when asked about the book’s setting. “So there are no Third Eye Blind hoodies or pogs in this book. To stay consistent with Mighty Morphin, we modernized Go Go to take place today. So — same great characters, all new time period. It honestly hasn’t changed how I approach the story that much.”
Admit it, though, it would have been fun to have a pog variant cover.
You can check out the official solicitation text below, and the preview pages in the attached image gallery.
Go Go Power Rangers #1
Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Dan Mora
$3.99, available July 27, 2017
The untold, personal story of what happens to Jason, Kim, Trini, Zack, and Billy following in the days after they first became Power Rangers. Fighting evil is hard, but surviving high school may be even harder-welcome to real life in Angel Grove.
The issue’s final order cutoff is Monday, June 12, so if you want to secure a copy, make sure to contact your retailer soon.
