The Power Rangers‘ iconic villains Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa are getting a gnarly redesign in new art depicting them as flesh-eating zombies. The art from Björn Barends comes as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ ‘Darkest Hour’ event reaches its end, and follows a series of ‘zombie’ covers imagining the franchise’s greatest heroes as the living dead.
The recently revealed cover from Björn Barends shows Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Goldstar, Finster and Baboo in horrifying zombie forms. The cover is a variant appearing on the upcoming Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1, which will act as the finale issue for the epic ‘Darkest Hour’ event, in which all Rangers across time and space have fought against Dark Specter.
The cover featuring the franchise’s iconic ’90s villains is noteworthy because Barends’ other zombie covers have put the Rangers themselves front and center. The dark art shows how the franchise has graduated from Saturday Morning cartoon to something with a much larger and more diverse fanbase, many looking for genuinely dark takes on the Teenagers With Attitude.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 (2024) | |
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IT ALL ENDS HERE! With the Morphin Grid in peril, the people of Earth are left without the Power Rangers to protect them. The ultimate battle against Dark Specter will play out with unexpected consequences, while an unexpected group of rogues, villains, and Rangers make strange company… But even if they win… can they rebuild everything they’ve lost? Fan favorite Rangers writer Melissa Flores (Spider-Gwen: Smash) and acclaimed artist Simona Di Gianfelice (Firefly: Return to the Earth That Was) deliver the epic finale that everything has been building to! | |
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Power Rangers’ Darkest Hour Has Been All About Corrupted
Dark Specter Has Turned the Rangers into Its Own Army
The ‘Darkest Hour’ event has seen Dark Specter released by Rita Repulsa, infecting the Morphin Grid with its monstrous influence. Because of this, any Rangers who morph are corrupted, becoming part of the Dark Ranger Army. While it’s not literally a zombie story, Barends’ covers do speak to the idea of a spreading corruption, and the idea of the Rangers having to fight against more and more of their friends and allies just to survive. Just as in a zombie story, beloved characters have been turned against the heroes, forcing them back across the galaxy as Dark Specter’s influence nears total control of all existence.
‘Darkest Hour’ has seen friends turn into major threats and all routes of possible escape or support cut off, as the remaining Rangers band together and even recruit their former villains in this cataclysmic battle for the future of everything. It’s an incredibly ambitious story that leans heavily into horror, and Björn Barends’ art perfectly captures the dark idea of Power Rangers icons truly reduced to absolute, mindless evil – the fate that will befall everything if Dark Specter wins.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1 is coming July 31 from BOOM! Studios.
Power Rangers
- Created by:
- Haim Saban, Shuki Levy
- First TV Show:
- Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers
- Video Game(s):
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle
