IDW Publishing is a master of bringing two beloved franchises together in comics form. It’s created crossovers between Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe and Street Fighter, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Doctor Who, and Transformers with… pretty much everybody. Which is why I am shocked — shocked — to discover that it’s taken IDW until 2021 to dream up what may be the smartest crossover of all time: Godzilla Vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
To be fair, I never thought of the crossover either, until IDW sent a press release announcing the five-issue limited series, which will be published with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics rights holder Boom Studios, and will be written by Cullen Bunn with art from Freddie Williams II. But it’s stunningly obvious in retrospect. Japan’s most iconic heroes taking on Japan’s most iconic monster? A colour-coded quintet who have been defeating giant monsters forever thanks to their massive, combining robot, the Megazord? These franchises were absolutely made for each other.
I should clarify that while the Power Rangers concept is inherently Japanese — after all, it’s based on the iconic tokusatsu series Super Sentai — the comic miniseries itself is of course pitting the American characters from the beloved U.S. adaptation of the ‘90s against the Big G, which we know because the crossover is Rita Repulsa’s fault (of course). Here’s the official synopsis:
“When Rita Repulsa uses an ancient artefact to transport herself to a universe without Power Rangers, she finds herself in a world with aliens, kaiju, and… Godzilla! Hoping to annihilate this new foe, Rita hurls her own terrible creatures into battle. But she never expects that the Rangers have followed her to this alternate reality, pitting the Dinozords themselves head-to-head with the King of the Monsters!”
Honestly, I don’t even care if the comic is any good when the first issue arrives in March; I’m just happy to know this match-made-in-nerd-heaven is going to exist. And if Japanese Godzilla rights holder Toho isn’t already hard at work on a live-action crossover movie between the two franchises, it needs to get on it ASAP.