We got the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news this week that BOOM! Studios is bringing an end to their 8 years of awesome Power Rangers comics. I was a big fan of the Power Rangers when I was a kid, and I think this has been one of the most consistently entertaining comic books of the past decade. It rarely wavered in greatness. So it’s sad to see the whole thing come to an end.

If it really is the end. Personally, I don’t think that’s the case. All we’ve gotten so far about this ending comes from solicitations, and that stuff is specifically written to be teasing and advertisy. And the announcement came paired with a promise of bigger announcements in the future. So something is happening and I highly doubt it’s a full cancellation of all things Power Rangers at BOOM! So I’ve put my speculator hat on and have come up with six possibilities for what’s next for Power Rangers comics!

Join me after the jump to see what I think is going to happen to the Power Rangers in the funny books.

6. Zeo Rangers

The most obvious, and frankly the most exciting, possibility is that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic will simply move on to the Zeo Rangers, just like what happened in the show. There was some big destruction, the Machine Empire showed up, and the Power Rangers became Zeo Rangers. The Zeo Crystal has been a big part of the comic for some time now. Kimberly has had all sorts of character development about moving on from being a Ranger. And Jason gave up being an Omega Ranger, leaving him open to return as the Gold Zeo Ranger. And Rita and Zedd have run their course. It’s all set up nicely.

I have been really into the Gold Ranger recently for some reason…

Granted, not everything is set up nicely. We’ve yet to switch over to Kat or Tanya in the series. But maybe the comic veers off on its own, original Zeo story. Maybe we don’t follow the show exactly anymore. Take everything that has been built so far and give the comic its own spin on Zeo. And then really get in depth about the change. What’s it like for Tommy to go from Sixth Ranger to Red Ranger. Give us the full story of Kimberly stepping down from the team. Why does Billy decide to be the guy in the chair instead of a new Ranger?

Of course, this means the comics will completely skip over the ninja and shogun eras, which means we completely skip over that awesome first movie. That’s a shame. But clearly bold steps are being taken and we need to embrace them. Though how cool would it have been to see the comics change the MMPR helmets to finally match their ninja forms instead of being forced to remain dinosaur helmets? A fan can dream…

5. Pick some random Ranger season

I see this mentioned in the Power Rangers subreddit a bunch: why not focus on some other Ranger team? Why does Mighty Morphin get so much attention? Personally, I’m only a Mighty Morphin fan, so I have zero interest in Wild Storm or Ninja Force or Jungle Steel or Super Mega Charge. I’ve watched all of Linkara’s History of Power Rangers episodes, though I have retained none of his information, so I don’t really know anything about these other seasons. But I have no doubt BOOM! would make some awesome comics about any random season, so maybe there is potential in there somewhere.

4. What happens to Matt?!

The biggest concern I have is what happens to Matt, the second Green Ranger? I love the character of Matt and I still don’t think the second shoe has dropped on this character. He’s such a fascinating idea: when Zordon called forth five teenagers with attitude, he didn’t take into account that their friend group was actually six people. Such an interesting idea that was explored quite well in the comics, and then raised to the next level by making him an independent Green Ranger. But he only exists in the comics. If they come to an end, what becomes of Matt? Will he have some kind of grand ending? Are they just going to kill him? He’s starting a tentative relationship with Aisha, but she wasn’t a Zeo Ranger. So what would become of both of them if the comic transitions to Zeo?!

No matter what happens, I am most interested in what becomes of Matt.

3. Villain focus

Maybe they do a villain book. The comics have done a lot to really develop Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. Heck, Zedd is now morphed into some kind of Zedd Ranger somehow. He’s also got a long history with Zordon. So maybe he becomes the star of the next comic? Maybe him and Rita together? Villain comics happen all the time, but not yet with Power Rangers at BOOM! So that’s an option.

2. I guess they could really be cancelled

I guess the series really could just be over with and that’s that. From what I understand, the last Power Rangers series ended with Cosmic Fury in September, when all episodes dropped at once on Netflix. There are no plans for a new season yet, from what I hear. There’s no TV show, so why not end the comics as well? Maybe the people who own the brand want some kind of clean slate to lead to a fresh start? Or maybe they just want to end Power Rangers everywhere? I don’t know, but I suppose it’s possible and this really is just the end. Shame.

1. Start totally fresh with a new, comic-only set of Rangers

If there isn’t going to be a new TV season, perhaps BOOM! could start totally from scratch and create their own, original, comics-only Power Rangers story. Start completely from scratch and tell a new Power Rangers story with modern comic writing elements. There are plenty of tropes one needs to follow, like a team of 5, a sixth ranger, a mentor figure, zords, a villain, all that stuff. And I’m sure it would be fun to create a wholly original Ranger story, with no need to link to any Sentai footage. It’s been done before, and those Rangers, Hyperforce, have appeared in the comics. But now BOOM! could do it for themselves. I’d definitely pick it up and see what happens. It’s worth a shot.

——————-