Power Rangers Prime #14: Golden Threats

The rangers continue to lay low after their battle against Jun’s father Volar, but things are starting to fray during this tentative downtime. Lauren is putting herself in danger every night in a desperate search for her family. Mark’s heartbreak over Jun’s departure keeps him up at night as he tries to upgrade the team’s zords. Orion is having nightmares about the destruction of his home planet Andresia, and is throwing himself into his magic training with Rita, and at the end Valentina is trying to keep it all together. However, the team has little time to figure things out as a multiversal threat from beyond the stars will bring with it threats both new and old. 

After a somewhat shaky arc for the previous few issues (wherein a lot of things just kind of happened with no rhyme or reason), Power Rangers Prime is starting to settle into a solid groove again as it gears up for its next major arc. The foreboding tone fits well with this story and makes for a tense but still enjoyable read, even if at times undercuts the consequences of the previous arc. 

Melissa Flores does a good job of exploring these characters, but at this point it’s more than safe to say that Lauren and Orion are completely different from their mainline counterparts. That being said, that doesn’t make them any less engaging to follow, and Rita also remains a highlight of this book even if she is mostly around to make smug remarks while hiding her true intentions from the team and the readers. 

Federico Soressa’s art is a good match for this book, which has rotated between a few artists during its run so far. The characters are clearly defined and the action scenes are easy to follow. While I’m not crazy about the new design of the gold ranger in this arc, that’s more of a personal nitpick than anything substantially negative against the art itself. Joana Lafuente’s colors also compliment the illustrations that create a couple of good moments that pop off the page.