The following contains major spoilers for Mighty Morphin #19, available now from Boom! Studios.
While the Power Rangers have taken on all manner of planet and universe-shaking threats in nearly thirty years, the past few months have been especially fraught. After a series of stunning betrayals and shocking revelations, the heroes barely survived a devastating onslaught of epic proportions.
Now, in the middle of their efforts to rebuild, the Rangers and their home have come under attack by yet another alien empire. And this one has brought a cosmic civil war right to the heroes’ doorstep.
While most of the Power Rangers have taken to the stars on multiple, extremely long-distance missions, Rocky and Matthew stayed behind to protect the world as its lone Red and Green Rangers. Their prudence almost immediately paid off. Not long after the others’ departure, Angel Grove was introduced to the mechanized menace of the Automaton Dominion. As revealed in the pages of Mighty Morphin #19 (by Mat Groom, Moises Hidalgo, Raul Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire), King Aradon’s isn’t the only empire looking to lay waste to the Rangers’ home. In fact, readers can now see he’s in a race with a far better-known counterpart from the original series.
The Machine Empire led by King Mondo was first seen back in 1996’s Power Rangers Zeo. As the primary antagonists of the series, the Machine Empire followed in the footsteps of Lord Zedd and the Evil Space Aliens. As a massive race of mechanical beings, the Machine Empire posed a new kind of threat. Still, no matter how exciting the arrival of King Mondo and his minions may be, the overwhelming tension blanketing the Power Rangers isn’t entirely about the Empire.
The Machine Empire isn’t just on the heels of the Automaton Dominion because of any simple family rivalry. Instead, the two regents are vying for their place at the right hand of Dark Specter. Considering the current state of Angel Grove and the world in general, the chances that either would survive being at the epicenter of another cosmic war is incredibly unlikely. While the heroes were able to defend themselves against the might of the Eltarian army and the near godlike Empyreals before, it was no simple affair. The Rangers’ victory came at such great expense that it forced them to search the stars for a new base of operations.
King Aradon and his Automaton Dominion’s arrival have already done more than merely escalate the stakes on Earth. Their actions have Matthew Cook’s life on the line, for example. Earth’s force already seems on the ropes, with only a Red Ranger at full strength and an injured Green Ranger struggling to survive. It’s hard to imagine how they could possibly fend off one, let alone two, invading forces.
That doesn’t mean that the end is guaranteed, though. For one, there is always the chance that the Machine Empire will prove to be more of a problem for the Automaton Dominion than Earth’s defenders. If the remaining Rangers and Promethea can navigate a battle between two other opposing forces, instead of taking on both armies for themselves, they could very well by the time needed for reinforcements to arrive. Even better, they might be able to lead at least one of their new enemies into complete annihilation at the hands of the other. With any luck, whatever happens next won’t end in utter disaster for the Power Rangers, especially when they have lost so much so recently already.
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