Shattered Grid
Shattered Grid is a major crossover comic book event in the Power Rangers franchise, published by Boom! Studios in collaboration with Saban Brands in 2018 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the series.[1][2] The storyline revolves around Lord Drakkon, an evil alternate-universe version of Tommy Oliver (the Green Ranger), who amasses a deadly army and invades multiple dimensions to attack Power Rangers from across eras, aiming to shatter the Morphin Grid—the mystical energy source that empowers all Rangers—and reshape reality in his image.[3][2] Written primarily by Kyle Higgins, with art by Daniele Di Nicuolo and others, the event spans issues of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (#25–30), Go Go Power Rangers (#9–12), and a dedicated Shattered Grid one-shot, marking the first large-scale comic crossover in franchise history.[1][3] It unites over 120 Rangers from various teams and timelines in an unprecedented alliance to combat Drakkon, who originates from a dystopian reality where he betrayed his allies, killed leader Jason Lee Scott, and seized both Green and White Ranger powers.[2][3] The narrative culminates in a massive battle that results in the death of at least one Ranger and fundamentally alters the Power Rangers comic universe, setting the stage for subsequent storylines like Necessary Evil.[1][3] Often compared to landmark events in DC and Marvel comics, such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Shattered Grid emphasizes themes of legacy, sacrifice, and multiversal conflict, drawing in Rangers from classic seasons including Mighty Morphin, as well as lesser-known teams from earlier eras.[2] The event was released in serialized form starting March 28, 2018, with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25, and later collected in deluxe graphic novel editions, including extras like cover galleries and original tie-in stories.[1] Its impact revitalized the Power Rangers comics line, boosting fan engagement and expanding the lore by exploring the interconnected histories of the Rangers.[1][2]Publication History
Development and Announcement
Shattered Grid was announced on December 4, 2017, by BOOM! Studios in collaboration with Saban Brands, marking the first major comic book crossover event in the Power Rangers franchise.[4][5] The event was conceived as a celebration of the franchise's 25th anniversary, aiming to unite Ranger teams from across the multiverse in a high-stakes conflict against the villainous Lord Drakkon.[5] The creative team for the main Shattered Grid series was led by writer Kyle Higgins, known for his work on Nightwing, with Ryan Parrott contributing to the tie-in stories.[6] Artist Daniele Di Nicuolo provided the primary illustrations, bringing a dynamic visual style to the multiverse-spanning narrative.[6] The development emphasized epic scale, with promotional materials highlighting the assembly of iconic Ranger teams to underscore the event's historical significance.[4] Initial teasers appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #24, serving as a prelude that built anticipation through subtle hints at the impending crossover.[7] Accompanying promotional art featured expansive illustrations of diverse Ranger lineups uniting, further amplifying hype for the anniversary milestone.[4]Release and Format
The "Shattered Grid" event unfolded over a six-month period from February 21, 2018, to August 29, 2018, marking the first major crossover storyline in Boom! Studios' Power Rangers comic series. It primarily spanned six issues of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (#25–30) and four issues of Go Go Power Rangers (#9–12), with the core narrative kicking off in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25 on March 28, 2018, and concluding in the oversized finale, [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid](/page/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers: Shattered Grid) #1.[8][9] Key tie-in issues included the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual, released on April 25, 2018, which featured stories bridging multiple Ranger teams into the event; the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Free Comic Book Day 2018 Special, distributed for free on May 5, 2018, at participating comic shops; and the introduction of the Ranger Slayer in Go Go Power Rangers #9, expanding on the event's antagonist.[10][11][12] Each standard issue in the event adhered to the typical American comic book format, containing 20–24 pages of story content within a total of approximately 32 pages including covers, ads, and editorial material.[13] Variant covers were a prominent feature, with artist Jamal Campbell providing main and incentive artwork for multiple issues, such as the shattered holofoil variants that emphasized thematic elements like fractured realities and Ranger alliances.[14] Other variants included legacy team designs and artist-specific incentives, enhancing collectibility during the anniversary-tied crossover.[15] Published exclusively by Boom! Studios under license from Saban Brands, the event's issues were distributed in print through Diamond Comic Distributors to local comic shops across North America and internationally, with digital editions available simultaneously via platforms like ComiXology.[16] This dual-format approach ensured broad accessibility, with print runs often selling out and prompting second printings for high-demand issues like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25.[17]Plot
Prelude and Setup
In the alternate universe known as the World of the Coinless, Lord Drakkon emerges as a malevolent counterpart to Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger. Unlike his prime counterpart who was freed from Rita Repulsa's spell and joined the Power Rangers, this version of Tommy remains under her control, amplifying his powers and leading her forces in a devastating assault on Angel Grove. Drakkon ultimately betrays and defeats Rita, then turns his wrath on Zordon, slaying the wise mentor in a pivotal battle that shatters the Rangers' command structure. With Zordon's death, Drakkon seizes control of the captured Zords and systematically eliminates the original team, including the deaths of Jason Scott, the Red Ranger, and Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger, solidifying his tyrannical rule over a dystopian Earth.[18][19] Drakkon's conquest extends beyond mere domination; he establishes an oppressive regime enforced by an army of Ranger Sentries—reprogrammed foot soldiers derived from fallen Rangers' powers—and quells any opposition through brutal efficiency. This leads to the formation of the Coinless resistance, a ragtag group of survivors led by figures like an alternate Kimberly Hart, who operate without access to Morphin Grid energies due to Drakkon's control over Ranger artifacts. Central to his supremacy is the Chaos Crystal, a powerful green gem originally used to empower the Green Ranger, which Drakkon supercharges to directly tap into the Morphin Grid—the mystical energy source fueling all Ranger abilities—granting him unparalleled strength and the ability to manipulate dimensional barriers. This artifact not only sustains his rule but also foreshadows his ambitions beyond his world, as it enables unprecedented access to multiversal energies.[20][19] To enforce loyalty and eliminate threats, Drakkon employs the Ranger Slayer, a brainwashed version of Kimberly Hart from his dimension. Captured after the fall of the original Rangers, Kimberly is enchanted by Drakkon's dark magic, transforming her into a deadly assassin wielding the Bow of Darkness—a corrupted counterpart to her original Pink Ranger weapon. As the Ranger Slayer, she serves as Drakkon's right-hand enforcer, hunting down resistance fighters and any lingering Ranger sympathizers with ruthless precision, her once-heroic spirit twisted into unwavering obedience. This prelude of internal strife and artifact-fueled power sets the stage for Drakkon's gaze turning outward, driven by a desire to conquer all Ranger timelines.[21][22]Main Conflict
The main conflict of Shattered Grid erupts when Lord Drakkon, an evil alternate version of Tommy Oliver, kills the prime universe's Tommy Oliver with an arrow infused with the Green Chaos Crystal, recharging the artifact and allowing Drakkon to shatter the Morphin Grid itself.[23][24] This cataclysmic act fractures reality across dimensions, stranding surviving Rangers in isolated timelines and enabling Drakkon's armies—comprising monstrous forces and Ranger Sentries, brainwashed duplicates of fallen heroes—to launch a systematic conquest against all Ranger teams.[25][26] In response, disparate Ranger teams unite for the first time in a multiversal alliance, including the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the younger Go Go Power Rangers, the Dino Charge Rangers, the Solar Rangers, and the enigmatic Phantom Ranger, converging at the Safehaven base operated by the Omega Rangers as a central hub for coordination.[17][27] These assembled forces engage in grueling battles across shattered dimensions, traveling through fractured timelines to counter Drakkon's invasions, with clashes escalating from defensive stands at Safehaven to offensive strikes against Drakkon's strongholds.[26][28] The conflict exacts heavy tolls, with Drakkon's relentless assaults claiming numerous Ranger lives, including many Rangers from teams like the Dino Charge Rangers overwhelmed by Sentry forces, underscoring the scale of the threat as the Morphin Grid's instability threatens to erase all Ranger powers permanently.[29][30] Compounding the losses, the devastating actions of Drakkon's enforcers, such as the Ranger Slayer, an alternate Kimberly Hart serving as his elite assassin, further demoralize the allies and prolong the interdimensional war.[31][1]Tie-Ins and Parallel Stories
The tie-in issues of Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #9–12 provide parallel narratives to the main Shattered Grid event, centering on the younger iterations of Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, Billy Cranston, and Jason Scott as they undergo rigorous training at the Angel Grove Youth Center amid the escalating Drakkon threat. These stories depict the novice Rangers grappling with their first major crises, including monster attacks orchestrated by Rita Repulsa in alliance with the Ranger Slayer, who infiltrates their timeline to secure the Chaos Crystal. Bulk and Skull, as recurring supporting characters in the series, experience the ground-level chaos in Angel Grove, highlighting the civilian perspective on the multiversal invasion.[32][33] Special one-shot issues expand on individual character arcs, particularly the Ranger Slayer (an alternate Kimberly Hart from the Coinless world). In Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #12, the Ranger Slayer undertakes a solo mission to confront the young Pink Ranger, revealing her internal conflicts over her loyalty to Lord Drakkon and her lingering ties to her original team, culminating in a tense standoff that underscores her tragic motivations. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Free Comic Book Day 2018 Special features historical Ranger cameos, such as Zordon consulting the Morphin Masters for aid against Drakkon while various past teams briefly appear in fragmented visions of the fracturing Grid, emphasizing the event's multiversal scope without advancing the core plot.[34][35] Parallel events in the tie-ins delve into the Coinless resistance arcs, portraying the underground fight against Drakkon's regime through glimpses in Go Go Power Rangers issues, where survivors like alternate versions of Zack and Trini coordinate sabotage efforts using scavenged Ranger tech. Minor team spotlights, such as the Samurai Rangers, receive brief but pivotal roles; Lauren Shiba allies with Jason Scott in defensive maneuvers against Drakkon's sentries, while a corrupted Blue Samurai Sentry in Drakkon's army showcases the conquest of non-Mighty Morphin teams. These vignettes illustrate the resistance's desperation and the rapid spread of Drakkon's influence across timelines.[33][36] Thematically, the tie-ins explore the Morphin Grid's fractures, which isolate and destabilize non-MMPR teams by disrupting their power sources and forcing improvised alliances, as seen in the Samurai Rangers' overwhelmed defenses and the Coinless fighters' reliance on unstable Grid remnants. This world-building highlights how Drakkon's Chaos Crystal amplifies rifts, causing power surges and visions that affect teams like Time Force and S.P.D. indirectly, emphasizing the event's broader impact on Ranger legacy without detailing main invasion battles.[36]Climax and Resolution
As the assembled Power Rangers, bolstered by allied teams from across time such as the Time Force and Dino Charge squads, launch a coordinated assault on Lord Drakkon's lunar tower, they successfully destroy it, severing the connection that empowered his Ranger Sentries and tearing open a rift into the fractured Morphin Grid.[1] This sets the stage for the ultimate showdown, with the Rangers venturing into the unstable Grid to prevent Drakkon from fully consuming its energy and erasing all Ranger histories.[37] Within the Morphin Grid, Drakkon—now in his ultimate form, having overpowered the Emissaries of the Grid and seized the Heart of the Master—engages in fierce confrontations against multiple Ranger leaders, including Jason Scott, Tommy Oliver, and Jen Scotts, as he attempts to absorb their powers to achieve total dominion.[38] The Ranger Slayer, an alternate-universe Kimberly Hart formerly loyal to Drakkon, undergoes a pivotal redemption by defecting to the Rangers' side; her earlier betrayal of shooting Tommy with a shard of the Chaos Crystal is revealed to have saved his life, transporting his essence into the Grid for this moment.[37] Tommy, revived and confronting his dark counterpart unmorphed to emphasize themes of friendship and choice, removes the Heart from Drakkon, exposing his vulnerabilities and manifesting his inner doubts as spectral beasts that the Rangers help dispel.[39] The climax peaks with the collective Rangers destroying the Chaos Crystal, Drakkon's key artifact for shattering and manipulating the Grid, which triggers a chain reaction destabilizing his god-like power and causing his constructed reality to collapse around him.[38] Drakkon's temporary defeat follows as he rejects Tommy's offer of redemption, consumed by his isolation and rage, allowing the Rangers to partially repair the Morphin Grid using the reclaimed Heart and restore a semblance of multiversal balance.[37] In the immediate aftermath, the surviving Rangers regroup amid the stabilizing Grid, forging a unified front while hints of lingering fractures suggest ongoing threats across realities.[6]Epilogue
In the immediate aftermath of the climactic confrontation, the Emissaries guide the surviving Rangers in using the Heart of the Master—a powerful artifact from the Morphin Grid's origins—to initiate repairs on the fractured multiverse and timestream. This effort partially restores the Morphin Grid, allowing many Ranger teams and timelines to realign, but leaves behind persistent fractures that alter realities in subtle yet irreversible ways. The Promethea space station, a key operational hub commanded by Grace Sterling and housing several Rangers, is violently dislodged from the continuum, propelling it into uncharted, Grid-deprived territory and severing its connection to familiar dimensions.[40][38] Character arcs among the survivors emphasize reflection and tentative healing, as the core Mighty Morphin team grapples with the event's staggering toll, including the permanent loss of allies like Zack Taylor and countless others across eras. The Ranger Slayer, Kimberly Hart from the Coinless world and recently liberated from Lord Drakkon's psychic domination, surrenders and receives asylum under Grace Sterling's Promethea initiative, transitioning from a relentless hunter to a figure seeking redemption amid the chaos. Subtle narrative cues suggest Drakkon's evasion of total defeat, as he rejects an offer of extraction and fades into the newly reformed multiverse, his whereabouts unknown but his threat undiminished.[40][41] This epilogue provides emotional closure through somber tributes to the fallen Rangers, woven into the Rangers' collective mourning and resolve to honor their sacrifices by protecting the fragile Grid. Timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise, the storyline amplifies these themes of legacy and perseverance. The isolation of the Promethea crew and other displaced Rangers introduces the "Beyond the Grid" framework, where stranded heroes confront survival in a lifeless, power-starved expanse, laying groundwork for ensuing narratives without fully resolving the multiverse's vulnerabilities.[40][42]Collected Editions
Trade Paperbacks and Hardcovers
The primary trade paperback collection for the Shattered Grid event is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid, released by Boom! Studios on August 13, 2019, with ISBN 978-1-68415-390-9 and comprising 256 pages.[43] It collects Mighty Morphin Power Rangers issues #25–30, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Free Comic Book Day 2018 Special, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Shattered Grid #1, originally priced at $29.99.[44] A companion trade paperback, Saban's Go Go Power Rangers Vol. 3, was published on April 23, 2019, with ISBN 978-1-68415-329-9 and 112 pages, originally retailing for $16.99.[45] This volume collects Go Go Power Rangers issues #9–12, which form the parallel storyline tie-in during the event.[46] The hardcover deluxe edition, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Deluxe Edition, followed on November 12, 2019, with ISBN 978-1-68415-343-5 and 480 pages, initially priced at $49.99.[47] It compiles the contents of both trade paperbacks, adds Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #24 and the 2018 Annual #1, and includes the exclusive short story "A Promise to Keep," along with behind-the-scenes material such as creator commentary and additional artwork from writers Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott, and artists Daniele Di Nicuolo, Dan Mora, and Diego Galindo.[6]| Edition | Format | Release Date | Page Count | ISBN | Original Price | Key Contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid | Trade Paperback | August 13, 2019 | 256 | 978-1-68415-390-9 | $29.99 | MMPR #25–30, FCBD 2018 Special, Shattered Grid #1 |
| Saban's Go Go Power Rangers Vol. 3 | Trade Paperback | April 23, 2019 | 112 | 978-1-68415-329-9 | $16.99 | Go Go Power Rangers #9–12 |
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Deluxe Edition | Hardcover | November 12, 2019 | 480 | 978-1-68415-343-5 | $49.99 | MMPR #24–30 & Annual #1, Go Go #9–12, FCBD 2018 Special, Shattered Grid #1, exclusive story & behind-the-scenes |