In another crossover that’ll delight the ’90s kids who watched too much television, DC’s heroes take on Angel Grove’s in Justice League/Power Rangers. But does this inter-hero event work?
The premise of issue #1 is simple. Alpha Five is missing, so Zordon sends the Power Rangers to look for him. Zack finds him—although the robot behaves strangely—and brings him back to the command centre. When Zordon notices something’s wrong, it’s too late and Alpha blows up, opening up a portal for Lord Zedd and his Putties to come through. Zack battles Zedd, but when he realises he can’t defeat him, he takes him and some of the Putties through the teleporter (which was damaged by Alpha’s explosion). The other Rangers arrive and promptly defeat the Putties. Zordon explains to them the exploding robot was a fake Alpha and that Zack teleported far, far away.
In Gotham City, Zack finds himself battling Putties in the streets. When Batman intervenes, Zack presumes he’s one of Zedd’s monsters and they do battle. Batman holds his own, until the rest of the Rangers arrive. Noticing he’s outmatched, he calls the Justice League. The Flash arrives to assist Batman, but Kimberly summons her Zord and takes the Batmobile (with Batman in it) up into the sky. This results in a hilarious call to the Watchtower where The Flash tells Cyborg, “Batman’s been taken by a flying pink dinosaur robot.”
As far as first issues go, Justice League/Power Rangers #1 is a safe one. There’s nothing shocking or too earth-shattering happening as the two worlds meet for the first time. When Alpha Five exploded, I presumed something different (or edgier) was coming, but that thought quickly fizzled before it gained any traction. It’s a bit disappointing, to be honest, because we can all predict where this series is going: Zedd teams up with the Justice League’s villains and the heroes have to team up to stop them. We’ve already seen this idea executed in the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, so it would’ve been nice to see something new.
As far as the artwork goes, it’s much like the story—safe and predictable. Stephen Byrne does a decent job of bringing these two franchises together, without every really rocking the boat or taking liberties.
Overall, Justice League/Power Rangers #1 doesn’t do any wheel spins or accelerate out of the block; instead, it pulls away slowly and cautiously. It’s a middling issue, which makes you pray the creators will inject a bit more excitement into the remaining books.
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