Warning! Spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #24 ahead!
When Tommy Oliver first became the White Ranger after terrorizing the other Power Rangers while under the Rita Repulsa’s mind control as the Green Ranger, fans of the classic ‘90s television show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were blown away. Tommy came in with a new suit, new Zord, and new weaponry. One of those updated weapons, after his green suit accompanied sword-flute was vaporized, was a talking tiger head sword named Saba. Saba quickly delighted fans of the show and became just as important a member of the squad as any one of the Rangers. In the comic book continuation of the show, however, Saba suffers a haunting death, one that will hit any fan of the series right in the childhood.
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #24 by Kyle Higgins and Jonas Scharf, Rita Repulsa is launching a full-scale attack on Earth by releasing ten giant monsters all at the same time. Nearly overwhelmed, the Rangers spring into action to stop the impending threat. Using the attack as a distraction, an evil version of Tommy, known as Lord Drakkon, who has been kept prisoner by the Power Rangers, escapes the confines of his containment. While the Power Rangers are out fighting monsters, one member of the team stays behind, but sadly loses its life in the process.
Saba, the talking tiger headed sword, attempts to stop the corrupted version of Tommy as he is trying to escape the Rangers’ facility. Saba shoots a laser beam out of its eyes after warning Tommy to return to his cell. Tommy, having all of the skills as his good guy counterpart, easily dodges the blast and rushes Saba, grabbing the hilt violently. Tommy tells Saba that he will not be the one who is ending, then rips off the tiger sword’s head from the hilt. Tommy uses a portal to escape, taking one last look into Saba’s dead eyes before he leaves.
The absolute heartbreak of the scene is immediately apparent, not just because Saba, a classic Power Rangers character from the live action series, is murdered, but because of who murders the anthropomorphic sword. While the version of Tommy who kills Saba isn’t the original, it’s still a shocking image for fans to take in. The vision of Tommy first holding Saba rings in one’s mind when the two battle it out on the page, and instead of joining together like they once did, Tommy rips the sword’s head clean off, ending the life of the unique and iconic character forever.
The fact that Drakkon, the corrupted, older version of Tommy Oliver, could so easily kill his former partner is incredibly haunting and proves how far the former hero has fallen. Even the formerly evil Green Ranger version of Tommy had his sword flute that he wouldn’t dream of hurting, yet here is a version who rips the head off of former friends. While the death of Saba was tragic, it marks a clean separation between the BOOM! Studios comics and the television series. The comics have proven to be a more realistic and gritty take on the Power Rangers while the shows have always been more on the lighter side. One of the greatest examples of this is the haunting death of the White Ranger’s talking sword Saba, which establishes that the Rangers have a separate comic book identity and tells fans that not even the most beloved original characters are safe in this Mighty Morphin Power Rangers story.
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