Posted in: Boom, Comics | Tagged: Adam Cesare, boom studios, Dark Specter, Federico Sabbatini, Meghan Camarena, Melissa Flores, MMPR, Moises Hidalgo, power rangers

Dark Specter Is The Thanos Behind Power Rangers' Darkest Hour Event

Darkest Hour promises to be the biggest event in the Rangerverse and kicks off with Power Rangers Unlimited: Coinless #1 this week.

Hard to believe that Power Rangers has been continuously on the air for 30 years this year, and even harder to believe that Boom Studios has made the franchise a top-selling title in comic shops for over seven years. Seriously, I remember walking through the hotel meeting rooms at San Diego Comic-Con with Eric Stephenson, Publisher of Image Comics and laughing at it. Now Image Comics is publishing GI Joe and Transformers – and also Radiant Black and The Massive-Verse, which is basically Power Rangers with the serial numbers rubbed off.

It also helps that it became a mainstay in the bookstores and libraries and was funded by two massive direct-to-consumer campaigns on Kickstarter, all of which has turned Power Rangers into one of the most consistent and longest-running team superhero series in modern comics. I know, seriously.

Fitting for the 30th anniversary, Boom recently announced the big in-series Power Rangers event this year will be Darkest Hour, which sounds like a Green Lantern event, but is officially kicking off in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #111 in August. The publisher is promising that this in-series event will be their biggest yet – even more impactful than the original Shattered Grid event. And while the majority of the event, as past Rangerverse events have, will take place in the flagship title… there are tie-in issues that Ranger fans will want to be on the lookout for.

So why does Darkest Hour promise to be the biggest event in the Rangerverse yet? And how do the two upcoming Power Rangers Unlimited specials – this week's Power Rangers Unlimited: Coinless #1 and next month's Power Rangers Unlimited: Hyperforce #1 – tie into it?

Two words: Dark Spectre. Sorry, spelt the American way, Dark Specter.

First mentioned in an episode of Power Rangers Zeo in 1996, Dark Specter didn't appear in the TV series until the first episode of Power Rangers In Space in 1998. Already established as the "Grand Monarch Of Evil" back then, Dark Specter's power and legend have grown exponentially since then. Beginning as early as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #4 written by Massive-Verse architect Kyle Higgins, and continued through Ryan Parrott's definitive run and into the current run by Melissa Flores, Dark Specter has been established as the true power behind all of the villains that have threatened the Rangers with an ultimate goal of destroying the Morphin Grid forever. Over the course of 100+ issues and related limited series and specials, Dark Specter has manipulated Rita Repulsa (now Mistress Vile), Lord Zedd, Lord Drakkon, and countless others for his endgame.

In short, Dark Specter is to the Rangerverse what Thanos was to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or what Emperor Palpatine was to the Skywalker Saga of Star Wars. Boom Studios (along with Higgins, Parrott, Flores, and numerous other writers) has managed to not only build this uber narrative over seven years of intertwined comic book stories, but also neatly connected the dots across numerous seemingly unconnected Power Ranger TV series. If you've been reading the Power Ranger comics, this may be one of those rare instances where an event will live up to the hype.

And not just for regular monthly customers who pick up the single-issue comics at their comic shops, but also the tens of thousands of fans who have been keeping up with the series in collections and thousands who purchased complete hardcover sets through the Kickstarters. How many of them will show up in comic shops beginning in August to read Darkest Hour in real-time?

And more pressing, as I understand it, lead-in issues are hitting store shelves beginning this Wednesday with Power Rangers Unlimited: Coinless #1. Not only does this standalone special feature the return of two of the most popular characters that first debuted in the Boom comic series – Lord Drakkon and Ranger Slayer – but it reveals that Dark Specter has corrupted the Morphin Grid in Drakkon's Coinless universe in addition to the primary Rangerverse forcing Drakkon to assemble a Suicide Squad-style team dubbed the Drakkon Rangers. First appearances tend to have long-lasting effects in Boom's Ranger comics and from what I'm hearing by the end of the special it's clear the Drakkon Rangers will play a larger role in Darkest Hour.

I also expect that will be the case next month when Power Rangers Unlimited: Hyperforce #1 hits comic book store shelves. Not only is the Hyperforce team one of the most popular Ranger teams starring in their first-ever dedicated comic, but Dark Specter played a major role in the finale of the TTRPG web-series so it stands to reason this special will also play a role in Darkest Hour.

Power Rangers Unlimited: Coinless #1 is in stores this Wednesday, June 28th while Power Rangers Unlimited: Hyperforce #1 is out on Wednesday, July 19th. While the official prelude to Darkest Hour releases with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #110 on July 26th.

POWER RANGERS UNLIMITED COINLESS #1 CVR A MORA
BOOM! STUDIOS
APR230354
(W) Adam Cesare (A) Moises Hidalgo (CA) Dan Mora
As if the medium-spanning, fan-favorite villain Drakkon wasn't enough of a threat, Mistress Vile has special plans, ones that will bring the Rangers' greatest foe into our world!
But this scheming isn't without consequences for Drakkon, and he'll have to take a page from the book of Zordon if he wants the world of The Coinless to survive.
But who would be unhinged enough to join his team? As if they have a choice…
In anticipation of the monumental 30th anniversary of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise, acclaimed Dead Mall and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance writer Adam Cesare teams up with Mighty Morphin artist Moisés Hidalgo to present the last Rangers anyone would want to be… that fans didn't know they needed!
In Shops: Jun 28, 2023
SRP: $7.99

POWER RANGERS UNLIMITED HYPERFORCE #1 CVR A VALERIO
BOOM! STUDIOS
MAY230338
(W) Melissa Flores, Meghan Camarena (A) Federico Sabbatini (CA) Keyla Valerio
Celebrate the Rangers' 30th Anniversary as prolific Power Rangers storyteller Melissa Flores and acclaimed writer, media personality and voice of the HyperForce Pink Ranger in the HyperForce RPG,  Meghan Camarena (Radiant Pink), bring the fan-favorite HyperForce Rangers from the screen to the page-for their first dedicated full-length story since their morphinominal first season!Mistress Vile, formerly known as Rita Repulsa, and Dark Specter have invaded the Morphin Grid, but it will take far more than just the Mighty Morphin and Omega Rangers to stop them! As the dark contagion spreads and puts the Rangers in their most vulnerable state yet, the HyperForce Rangers will have to scour the multiverse for as many unexpected allies as they can, while they're pushed to their limits…In Shops: Jul 19, 2023
SRP: $7.99

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