WARNING: the following contains spoilers for Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn #2 by Anthony Burch, Simone Ragazzoni, Raúl Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
The miniseries, Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn shows how the Ranger Slayer, Kimberly Hart, stepped into the leadership void left by her former, sinister master, Lord Drakkon. The former Pink Ranger must deal with both the twisted legacy left by Drakkon and the mysterious, Unknown Ranger he was keeping prisoner.
As her first act to undo the damage done by Drakkon at the start of the series, Kim descends into Deadlock, Drakkon's impenetrable prison, with her world's version of Zack and Trini. Kim's plan was to free the Coinless Rebels and bring them back to their homes. While exploring Kim stumbles upon a mysterious Ranger Suit that has someone alive still in it. And after the masked man initially fights back, Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn #2 reveals that the Unknown Ranger is really Jason Scott, this world's original Red Ranger.
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At first, the only thing Jason can remember is the torture he was put through by Drakkon. Jason was presumed dead by Kim and the other ex-Rangers, so the reveal of him being kept alive by Drakkon is an emotional moment all around, but it does bring to question why Drakkon didn't kill him when he had the chance. In a flashback, the readers see Drakkon putting Jason in the Ranger suit and using extremely painful-looking shocks to force Jason to help him. Drakkon claims he wants Jason's tactical expertise and continuously asks, "How would you stop me?" It doesn't take long for Jason to fall to the torture and finally play into Drakkon's game.
The state of the Earth in this series is much different than what some fans might remember of the Power Rangers universe. The opening panel in Drakkon New Dawn #1 illustrates a warn-torn wasteland of a world where fights take place in the streets and the citizens of the city are constantly at one another's throats. Readers see that this world is dark and unforgiving when Kim attempts to help a criminal brought to her, and he repays the kindness by shooting her in the back.
Ironically, however, the dismal state of the world has brought together characters that were once great enemies of the Rangers, such as the Ranger Sentries and Scorpina. Of course, being in the same room with the likes of his old enemies is quite the shock for Jason, who delivers a nice left-hook to Adam, the Ranger Sentry when he bursts through the door.
While Jason's return gives the surviving original Rangers of this world a nice reunion, moments like this prove that his return could also be a potentially disruptive force. Where the Ranger Slayer has forged a somewhat uneasy alliance between several different factions, Jason, the original leader of the Power Rangers, represents a legitimate challenger to her power. And with his outdated ideas of who the good guys and bad guys are, he could easily unravel the tentative trust that's been forged.
In Drakkon's Earth, there seem to be much greater enemies to worry about, as readers see in Drakkon New Dawn #2 when a fallen meteor is revealed to be an alien fighting force that was brought to earth when Jason was removed from Deadlock. Despite their relatively small forces, these Rangers might just have the warrior they need in the shape of the original Red Ranger.
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