The First Appearance of the Power Rangers (In Comics)

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Comicbookscalping Leave a comment

This article is an excerpt from the Comic Book Scalping video series, “This week in Speculation.” This article originally appeared in episode 3. This video and more can be found on our youtube channel.

Since the Boom relaunch and the Shattered Grid Storyline, Power Ranger comic books have really started to take off. In 2016 Boom studios started to release Power Ranger Comic books and they almost immediately developed a cult following. But it is important to note that these are not the first Power Ranger comic books.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) debuted on American television on August 28 1993 and it was immediately a rating success. As well as being one of the most popular television shows in the 1990’s, The MMPR’s were a merchandising gold mine. Soon after the television debut of the Power Ranger TV show, Fruit of the Loom started to release Power Rangers branded merchandise. They released children’s underwear and T-shirts. At one point Fruit of the Loom offered a promotional comic book with the purchase of these items. And its this book, published by Harris Comics, that is considered the first appearance of the Power Rangers. This book is so rare that CGC hasn’t graded a single copy. There are pictures of the book online, but how many copies are actually out there is still up for debate.

There are two other noteworthy Power Ranger books. In December of 1994 comic publisher Hamilton Comics published The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 – this was the first power ranger comic book released for sale. The same month came the release of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Saga #1 also from Hamilton Comics. But there is an earlier comic book that features the first appearance of the Power Rangers and its so rare it’s almost non existent.