As the iconic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers of the 1990s return, the franchise admits that Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart’s happy ending was a lie – one which misled fans about her life following her time with the team.
Introduced in 1993, Amy Jo Johnson’s Kimberly Hart was an iconic part of the series, with her unique Power Bow and Pterodactyl Dinozord. The character left the show in 1995’s ‘A Different Shade of Pink,’ pursuing a gymnastics career in the Pan Global Games.
The character has been revisited multiple times since, with original actress Amy Jo Johnson writing the character in 2023’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return. Now, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers depicts her return to Ranger life.
Power Rangers Confirms Kimberly Hart’s Gymnastics Career Didn’t Last
In the recent Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #3, fans find out what Kimberly Hart is up to ten years after the original TV series. Once again operating as the Pink Ranger, Kimberly admits that while her gymnastics career was meaningful, it was also brief, leaving her feeling bitter that “my happily-ever-after just… didn’t last that long.”
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers doesn’t erase Kimberly’s meaningful decision to leave the team, as she observes that choosing her own path was important to her personal growth, and that the Pan Global Games inspired people around the world. However, since elite gymnasts have a small window at the top of their game, a decade later she finds herself seeking a new purpose.
The issue reveals that the Pink Ranger’s ennui was amplified by Rita Repulsa’s latest monster – a psychic parasite known as the Parastructionsite – as the villain attempts to strategically undermine the heroes by confronting them with their psychological baggage. However, the core feelings are hers, confirming that while leaving the team was a meaningful decision she doesn’t regret, it wasn’t a permanent “happy ending” in the way the original show implied.
Overall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers offers a mature vision of the character’s future, ideal for the concept of both readers and protagonists revisiting a childhood franchise with some extra years under their belts.
The Pink Ranger Isn’t the Only One With a New ‘Ending’
While Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart undergoes a grounded retcon, her old teammate Tommy Oliver is experiencing a very different rebirth over in Pallie Paul Allor and Gustaffo Vargas’ Power Rangers: Green.
While the new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic depicts the Teens With Attitude in relatable scenarios (albeit with the added drama of their superhero identities), Green is set in a future dystopia where a merciless dictator is hunting down and destroying all magical beings, including those touched by the Morphin Grid.
In this world, Tommy Oliver is the ‘Last Ranger’, living out of his old Dragonzord before being tempted back to his prior identity by Goldar, who is planning a rebellion against the villainous Unmade and her enforcer the Red Censer.
Power Rangers Is Giving Lifelong Fans Exactly What They Want
Despite these different approaches, BOOM! Studios’ various Power Rangers comics are succeeding in giving fans of the classic ’90s show exactly what they want, revisiting the classic characters years later in a more mature light while still maintaining all the thrills, spectacle and bombast that make the franchise so beloved over thirty years later.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers may have just undone Kimberly Hart’s happy ending – choosing an inspiring gymnastics career over her place as the Pink Ranger – but it does so in a way that continues to build the character and depict her as someone who doesn’t regret her choices even as her story continues in interesting new ways.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #3 is available now from BOOM! Studios.
- TV Show(s)
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers In Space, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Power Rangers Time Force, Power Rangers Wild Force, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers S.P.D., Power Rangers Mystic Force, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers RPM, Power Rangers Samurai, Power Rangers Megaforce, Power Rangers Dino Charge, Power Rangers Ninja Steel, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Power Rangers Dino Fury, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
- Video Game(s)
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Saban’s Power Rangers Megaforce, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind
- First TV Show
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Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers
- Created by
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Haim Saban, Shuki Levy, Shotaro Ishinomori
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