Writer: Mairghread Scott
Illustrator: Sebastián Píriz
Colorist: JP Jordan
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Cover Artists: Taurin Clarke, Goñi Montes, Chris “Mista Jonz” Jones, Tom Scioli, Simona Di Gianfelice, Sina Grace with Nick Filardi & Ivan Tao
Designer: Madison Goyette
Editors: Caroline Butler, David Mariotte, Lily Kessinger & Andy Schmidt
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 20, 2025
Ryan Steele has a dog to welcome him home. His teammates, Kaitlyn Star and JB Reese, support him at work. He used to have a girlfriend. Now, he can feel his relationship with Valentina slipping away. After his mother's abandonment and his father's death, Earth's Eltarian overlords cared for him. They raised Ryan above all other Humans to protect Earth from monsters, mutants, off-world traffickers, alien weapons, and exotic drugs. Still, he yearns for a greater feeling of belonging.
While investigating a break-in, Ryan found a sleeping woman at the Angel Grove Water and Power facility. Ryan also spotted a mysterious figure who vanished. Then he noticed someone building a device to tap into the city's energy supply. Amid their battle, Ryan’s Virtualizer reacted to the intruder’s touch. Can Ryan and his teammates catch the fugitive who has eluded capture for two years? And how is his father’s death related to the intruder who was building the strange device? Let’s grab our Virtualizers, leap into VR Troopers #2, and see!
Story
Ryan threw himself into becoming a VR Trooper. He even encouraged Valentina’s Eltarian roommate Jun to become one. Still, Ryan knows he’ll always be a second-class citizen to his Eltarian masters. After Ryan’s confrontation with the intruder, Zarysh tells the team that their security forces are aware of this intruder. His name is classified, but the Eltarian reveals that the intruder pierced their reality two years ago. Zarysh also drops another bombshell: the Eltarians created the VR Troopers program to capture this reality-hopping intruder and prevent anyone else from traveling here from a parallel Earth.
While Ryan copes with this news, JB wonders about what else Zarysh isn’t telling them. He has examined the device that Ryan found the intruder working on. When JB muses that it could be a teleportation device, Zarysh suggests they transfer the equipment to the Eltarian Science Division. JB also notices Zarysh didn’t mention that the intruder nearly activated Ryan’s Virtualizer. As the Eltarians keyed the Virtualizers to each trooper's biosignature, it shouldn't have responded to the intruder’s touch.
As JB probes Ryan's unhappy memories, Kaitlyn undertakes an unauthorized mission in VR Troopers #2. She inhabits a world populated with alien refugees. The Eltarians have rewritten Human history to portray the Power Rangers as villains. When JB ponders a link between the mysterious figure and her sleeping aid, Kaitlyn insists on investigating the corporation that manufactured it.
Art
While the VR Troopers Headquarters evokes Seattle’s Space Needle, the Ziktor Industries tower recalls the Earth Defense Directorate building in New Chicago. After Ryan, JB, and Kaitlyn share their discoveries amid Stark Industries-like hovering displays, Mr Ziktor interacts with blue/green holographic displays before immense wall windows. While the skylights above the troopers are less colorful than in Ranger Academy’s Opalescent Dome, they shower highlights and shadows upon the teammates. Yet a tense encounter in a corridor sparks an electrifying transformation in VR Troopers #2.
As Sebastián Píriz fills pages with engaging characters, dramatic camera angles, and impressive settings, JP Jordan fills panels with a luminous color palette. A sense of warmth and vitality inhabit the VR Trooper headquarters as JB makes his case with orange holographic displays. Inside the tall gray tower, the green interior and blue wall windows give Ziktor Industries a clinical ambiance. When Kaitlyn follows her instincts, she discovers a hallway bathed in red in VR Troopers #2.
Taylor Esposito’s black uppercase letters in white and pale blue balloons grow bold for intonation, swell for volume, and rarely shrink. Large yellow letters announce locations in Mairghread Scott’s story and showcase a familiar catchphrase. Sound effects enhance a fraught battle while a slamming barrier evokes a stormtrooper's lament aboard the Death Star. Thanks to Boom! Comics for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Discovering an intruder constructing a strange device with Earth-based components was just the tip of the iceberg. Ryan Steele hungers to learn the circumstances surrounding his father's death and why the Eltarians dispense revelations on a need-to-know basis. Mysteries mount and dangers threaten the team in VR Troopers #2.
Rating 9.6/10
For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
