Warning: Spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4!After 30 years, the Power Rangers finally get to battle an enemy they least expected. The original Mighty Morphin team would face off against a unique monster every week, and sometimes, they would find themselves fighting off recurring antagonists on the battlefield. Even Lord Zedd would get his hands dirty from time to time. Other antagonists would strictly lurk in the background.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 – written by Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson, with art by Nico Leon – finally makes one such background antagonist, Rita Repulsa’s resident monster maker, Finster into a threat decades in the making. Finster was always a creator, not a fighter, but in this issue, he joins the fight to protect Rita Repulsa’s daughter from the Rangers.

Although the fight is brief and Finster is defeated with relative ease, this is a significant moment considering Finster’s place in the franchise and the creative way he comes to finally fight.

Finster Becomes a Monster to Fight the Power Rangers

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 – Written By Amy Jo Johnson & Matt Hotson; Art By Nico Leon, Dono Sanchez-Almara, & Ed Dukeshire.​​​​​​

In the original show, Finster was always portrayed as a master of his craft, but never a master of the battlefield, hence why he’s never seen on or sent to the battlefield to fight the Rangers himself. He even maintains that same role in the comics. Even when he does become the lead antagonist for one of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic arcs, he leaves the fighting to his creations. Things change when, in the world of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return, he narrowly escapes death, outliving Rita Repulsa and the rest of their crew.

After years of living alone and eating Putties to survive, he’s found on the moon base where he’s saved by Rita’s secret daughter, Selena Repulsa. When the old school Rangers resurface to foil Selena’s plans to bring her mother back from the Morphin Grid, Finster is sick of the Rangers invading his home and destroying his creations. Using his clay, he molds himself into a hulking mass of a monster with five arms, the fifth wielding a pointed sickle for a hand. He surprisingly overwhelms the Rangers for a moment, until the new Green Ranger puts him down permanently.

Power Rangers’ Monster-Maker Finally Becomes A Monster Himself

Finster’s Last Stand

On top of marking the first time Finster actually fights the Power Rangers, it’s a creative means to see Finster being in a position to fight. The final form he adopts by using his signature clay to transform himself is creative itself. It showcases just how versatile Finster’s clay can be, being used to not only create monsters but also turn people like himself into monsters. In a way, it is surprising that it took this long for a Power Rangers creative team to put Finster on the battlefield, and to use his clay so creatively.

What’s even more creative than the presentation of Finster’s monstrous transformation is just how surprisingly character-driven this change is for such a minor villain. For a mere henchman recruited solely to serve the Empress of Evil, Finster’s motivations surprisingly humanize him. It almost makes him relatable, as anyone in his position would grow mad. From Finster’s perspective, he’s been constantly tormented by the Rangers while trying to obey his master, now having his home invaded in the process. Nearly dying because of the Power Rangers put him over the edge, compelling Frankenstein to become the Monster.