Dig Into Alpha One’s Origin Story In Go Go Power Rangers #18

Alpha One stands revealed, but is he friend or foe? We dig into his origins and where he’s been all this time. Meanwhile, Rita reconnects with her mother in an effort to unlock the Green Power Coin. Tensions rise on all fronts in Go Go Power Rangers #18.

Let’s start with Alpha One. You’re probably familiar with the bumbling and silly Alpha Five. He’s useless in a fight, but helpful with a computer. Alpha One is pretty much the opposite. He’s lean and mean with a frightening appearance. Seriously, artist Eleonora Carlini, aiding with inks by Simona Di Gianfelice, creates this haunting visage. Whereas the newer Alpha doesn’t have much of a face, Alpha One has these menacing teeth and beady eyes that look emotionless and inhuman. Granted, he’s a robot, but you get what I mean.
While he seems to be helping the Power Rangers, his appearance gives the impression that he’s downright evil and up to something. His actions in secret in this issue certainly lend some credence to this theory. We learn about how he came to be, created to aid Zordon in the war against Master Vile. He was made for combat, capable of fighting battles in deep space with impressive weaponry.

Times have changed since Zordon now has the Power Rangers at his side. Alpha One helps them out in battle with a dinosaur-like monster. Carlini packs this scene with astonishing imagery that keeps the excitement high. The panel layout gets more varied here with some nontraditional formats and sizes that only adds to the fun.
Letterer Ed Dukeshire puts this over the top as the Power Rangers unleash their final attack. The word pop off the page in an explosive fashion and just like that, I’m a little kid again, sitting in front of the TV after school. It’s amazing how stuff like this can immediately take you back to those memories.

That’s the hero side, but what about the villain angle? Rita released the ghost of her mother to get at the secrets of the Green Power Coin. The difference between these two women is staggering. Colorist Raul Angulo makes Rita’s mother look like a saint, glowing with a white light that illuminates everything around her. Contrast that with Rita who is shrouded in darkness.
There’s a brief moment of clarity where we see the real Rita. She lets her guard down with her mother and her whole face changes. Gone are the hard lines and smirk, replaced with a caring, loving expression. This is soon washed away as we see that Rita is more her father’s daughter than her mother’s. If she’s willing to go to these lengths for revenge, there is nothing she won’t do.

As with previous issues of Go Go Power Rangers, we get a great amount of character development across the board. While the bulk of the issue focuses on Alpha One and Rita, we get some nice movement with Trini during a session with her guidance counselor. Scenes like this help flesh out these characters we thought we knew, adding so much more depth to them. This takes an already enjoyable comic and makes it even more so. Writer Ryan Parrott is doing some dynamite work in this department.
Go Go Power Rangers #18 from Boom! Studios is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.