#13: Power Rangers Unlimited

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS came out when I was in the third grade. It landed like an atom bomb, changed my world. Being a kid when MMPR was super hot is hard to explain to the younger crowd, because for them, Power Rangers has always just been around.

But we were shocked out of our Ninja Turtle shells by a lightning bolt to the chest. We had no idea the journey we were about to embark upon. There was before Power Rangers and there was after, and most of what came before suddenly didn’t matter.

At the start, it was inconceivable team members would be replaced or Zords would change. These characters were constants, like Bruce Wayne being Batman or Leonardo using katanas.

Watching “The Mutiny” — which aired in primetime because the MMPR phenomenon was so massive — where Lord Zedd shows up, usurps Rita, and destroys the Dinozords? Huge. Formative. Unbelievable. Are they really doing this?

The stakes were high and you never knew what direction the story was going to take. Anything could happen, you just had to get through the school day so you could get home and find out.

That’s the feeling we’re chasing on POWER RANGERS UNLIMITED.

I’m writing this book with Kenny Porter and we’re putting it all on the table. We’re not taking the opportunity for granted and we’re going as hard as we can. As for what you should expect… the entire history of Power Rangers is in play.

But it’s not just returning to favorite characters or eras — we’re taking big swings and pushing into new aspects of the Power Rangers world to put them in new situations, combinations, and plopping them in a different genre every issue. But most of all, we’re dumping out all the toys in the toy box. We love it all, we’re using it all, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Issue #1 hits on JULY 1, so please tell your favorite comic book shop to order you one. Final Order Cutoff (FOC) is May 25.

There are a bunch of incredible covers from interior artist Alessio Zonno, Cully Hamner, Ito, Federico Sabbatini, Simona Di Gianfelice, and more to come, featuring our new Striking Tiger Unlimited Ranger and the mysterious Operator. If you want to listen to us get in the weeds, Kenny and me appeared on a few podcasts to talk about the book.

But if you just want a little sneak preview, on May 2 you can visit a comic book store and they will have comics to give you for FREE — and one of those will be POWER RANGERS #0, featuring prelude stories for the new Power Rangers titles.

[An aside — should you partake in Free Comic Book Day activities and get a bunch of goodies, know that your retailer spent money to provide those books, so maybe grab a little somethin’ extra? I bet they have an awesome sale going.]

If you have no relationship with Power Rangers, I hope you’ll still give us a shot if you love big action, unique characters, and jaw-dropping art. More than anything else, this is a really fun comic book with some of the best art you can buy on stands today, full stop. Alessio and Federico are going to be legends.

Welcome to the Grid. There’s nothing else like it.

Stay morphinominal,

-Joey
[email protected]
PO Box 1093, Bath, ME 04530
Buy my comics

COMICS GIVEAWAY DAY / FREE COMIC BOOK DAY — Saturday, May 2 is Free Comic Book Day! I’m stoked to be heading down to Winchester, Virginia for Four Color Fantasies’ FCBD event from 10am - 5pm! POWER RANGERS #0 will be available for FREE and I’ll be slinging my other wares — stop by if you’re local!

KILLER INFLUENCES — May 25 is FOC for my new IDW Crime series, KILLER INFLUENCES — so if a fucked up story about a wannabe true crime influencer teaming up with a serial killer for the algo sounds like your jam, PLEASE subscribe at your local comic book shop or pre-order online. The importance of pre-orders can’t be overstated even though it’s annoying to say.

MADAM — If you missed out on the Kickstarter campaign for our horror epic MADAM, I have great news — the full 168-page graphic novel is still available in my web shop in both physical and digital formats! And if you’re a GlobalComix reader, we’ll be releasing the chapters monthly — chapters one and two are already live! Read it here.

SOUP DAD MERCH!!! 

THE PEDESTRIAN THREADLESS SHOP is still available for all your PEDESTRIAN needs. And as always, if you haven’t snagged a copy of THE PEDESTRIAN yet, it’s available in my web store, online, and on GlobalComix. 

OPERATION: IRON COFFIN by Kenny Porter & Tyrell Cannon

Even if Kenny were not my partner on Power Rangers, I would not hesitate to recommend his upcoming series with artist Tyrell Cannon from IDW. The premise is that during WWII, the British drop a secret weapon — Dracula — onto a train full of Nazi scum. It’s high-octane bloody action and I loved it. No joke, it has one of the raddest panels you’ll see this year. On sale July 8 — pre-order it online!

HOW TO KILL A WITCH: THE PATRIARCHY’S GUIDE TO PUNISHING WOMEN by Zoe Venditozzi & Claire Mitchell

Cheeky title aside, this is a pretty bleak but fascinating read. I was not aware of the Witches of Scotland podcast, which is not abnormal. If Amanda isn’t listening to it, I probably haven’t heard of it because she is much smarter than me. Anyway, it’s a podcast unraveling the fucked up history of witch hunts in Scotland that aims to find some semblance of justice for the women accused. They managed to get a formal apology from the Scottish government and wrote this book getting into the weeds on the grim details. It’s infuriating, I’m sure you can imagine, but shows we’ve been fighting the same fight for centuries. Highly recommend! Buy it on Bookshop.

NINE INCH NOIZE

Look, this space is typically reserved for shit you may not have heard of, and after their Coachella performances, even if you were not previously aware of the Nine Inch Nails/Boys Noize collab, you are now. It was incredible, the album is incredible, and it’s made this NIN-obsessive overjoyed. I’ve been a Trent Reznor devotee since I started caring about music, and you can tell when he’s inspired by his collaborations… which is often followed by a period of insane prolificacy. I was talking with a friend about stories that mean something different to you at different ages, and I realized that has definitely been true for NIN. It’s saved me and inspired me many times over, and Reznor is a beacon not just for his uncanny musicianship but also how to manage longevity in the arts, reinvention, and artistic integrity — like Bowie before him.

*PROJECT DREAD (WFH) — I dunno if you’ve watched PLATONIC, the excellent Rose Byrne and Seth Rogan TV show, but there’s a subplot in which a character has a nonsense podcast centered around her ideology, “don’t ask, don’t get.” This assignment was something I really wanted to do with a publisher I was already working with. So I asked (and pitched) and here we hare. Don’t ask, don’t get.

PROJECT CURTAINS — Tony Gregori and I, along with my pal Adam P. Knave on edits, are kicking the wheels on a new project. It’s mostly everyone waiting on me right now, because I’m a little bit like Bilbo Baggins right now (butter scraped over too much bread) but the stuff Tony is doing is so rad.

PROJECT PUKE — Still waiting for feedback on this one, I’m still hopeful.

PROJECT ENSHITTIFICATION — Had a great meeting with an editor on this and I’m turning around some tweaks on the project outline. I think it might be really ambitious, but I’m stoked.

THE PEDESTRIAN  — We’re walkin’ here!

Thanks for hanging out. If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].