Power Rangers/Ninja Turtles II #4 Review

Welcome back everybody. Last time, Rita and Krang’s forces broke into the command center and blew up the power node that stabilizes the Rangers’ connection to the Morphin Grid, meaning they can no longer morph. While the Rangers used the Mutagenic Ooze to become Mutant Dinosaur creatures in order to take back Angel Grove, The Turtles, along with Shredder, who has temporarily aligned with our heroes to ensure that no one gets to rule the world but him, enter Dimension X in order to steal a new power node from Krang’s stronghold.

We open in the wastelands of Dimension X with the turtles complaining about their situation. I absolutely love this. Shredder here is basically an annoyed dad on a road trip and the Turtles are the whiny kids in the back seat constantly asking “Are We There Yet.” Since they actually have a moment to talk, Mikey takes a second to ask Shredder why he wants to conquer the world in the first place. Shredder says his reasons aren’t that different from why The Turtles protect people who despise them. They want to be loved, Shredder wants to be feared. According to Shredder, love may win you friends but fear gets you a statue. Personally, I think Shred-Head is full of shit, but we don’t have time to dwell on that since our heroes have reached Krang’s stronghold.

Back in Angel Grove, the Mutant Rangers, under the guidance of Master Splinter, are becoming more adept at fighting in their new animal forms. We even get a cool fight between Tommy and Leatherhead in which Tommy tries to entreat the big mutant Gator to join their side. Leatherhead declines since Krang has promised him dominion over Louisiana and some of Florida once this is over.

At the ruins of the command center, Bebop and Rocksteady have brought Rita a pair of hostages who claim to be the Rangers’ best friends. Said hostages turn out to be none other than our old pals Bulk and Skull. Rita demands Bebop and Rocksteady interrogate then dispose of the two idiot humans, but Bull and Skull manage to avoid a grim fate by volunteering to make Bebop and Rocksteady the subject of a YouTube documentary. (If anyone is confused by this, in the more modernized Boom Studios continuity, Bulk and Skull have been reimagined as YouTubers.)

Elsewhere, Rita is giving Casey his next assignment and reveals her plan to use Angel Grove to launch a Global scale invasion. Rita also reveals that she’s been on to Casey’s deception for some time now and knows that The Turtles are headed to Dimension X. Casey, his cover blown, tries to attack Rita but the space witch blasts him across the room.

In Dimension X, The Turtles and Shredder easily take out Krang’s guards. Mikey finds the broken Dimension X Morphers and decides to take them with him, just in case. Shredder on the other hand has found the kidnapped Karai, who refused to swear loyalty to anyone other than her master so was left out of Rita’s invasion army. However, we have a problem. Remember, Rita knew what Casey was planning and left a surprise for The Turtles. Said surprise is Goldar leading a small army of classic Power Rangers Monsters including Bones, Pumpkin Rapper, Terror Toad, Pudgy Pig and Madame Woe. Well, that’s definitely not good. Despite the stupid names, these are still monsters that the Rangers needed their superhuman strength, agility and stamina to defeat. Even with Shredder and Karai on their team, The Turtles are outnumbered and outmatched. That is until, of course, the Dimension X Morphers start glowing. Well, you all saw this coming a mile away. It’s Morphin Time as the Turtles assume Ranger Forms not unlike Casey’s. Well, with that new power up, The Turtles start making quick work of the Monsters as Goldar retreats.

Back in Angel Grove, The Rangers have all but defeated Krang’s forces and appear to have won the day. But the fight isn’t over yet as Krang reveals what he was building last issue. And so our comic ends with the big reveal that Kranghas converted The Megazord into his new body.

Oh, this issue was a blast. I thought the back and forth between Shredder and The Turtles. The fight with the classic MMPR monsters and the reveal of the Dimension X Tutrle Rangers was cool, even if the latter was telegraphed two issues ago. And finally, I just love the design of the evil Megazord. Let’s be honest, The classic Megazord already looks like Optimus Prime if he was also The Devil. Now that it’s evil, it looks even more badass and it serves as an excellent hook to lead into the final issue. If I had one nitpick, it’s that we didn’t get nearly enough time devoted to the Mutated Rangers in this issue, but that aside, this was still a lot of fun. Join me next time as we wrap this crossover up.