Combo Rangers

Combo Rangers is a series of webcomics created in 1998 by Japanese-Brazilian author Fábio Yabu. It is based on Japanese manga and the Super Sentai series. It started off as a parody, then developed more serious storylines that still included comedy. It features five main rangers (red, blue, green, pink and yellow) as well as an extra white one. They are led by O Poderoso Combo (The Mighty Combo, whom the Rangers call Tio Combo, or Uncle Combo in English), and fight against several forms of evil. Combo Rangers has won the HQ Mix Award three times.

Combo Rangers
The five main Rangers in their Revolution era. From left to right: Lisa, Ken, Fox, Kiko and Tati.
Author(s)	Fábio Yabu
Launch date	1998
End date	2005
Publisher(s)	Editora JBC Panini Comics
Genre(s)	parody, super sentai

Synopsis

The story is set in a fictional city called Cidade City ("City City") which is located in a fictional universe called "Yabuverso" ("Yabuverse"). This universe's Earth is depicted as having several superheroes and villains inspired by both American and Japanese media. The webcomic had three sagas (the first one, Zero and Revolution) and was continued by the print version by publishers JBC and Panini.

The plot starts when Retired superhero Poderoso Combo recruits a group of five kids (Fox, Tati, Lisa, Ken and Kiko), all about nine years old, to turn into the Combo Rangers to protect their city from an alien invasion by the Deskarga Empire led by General Monte. In the course of the story they meet a sixth ranger named Luke who came from the future to save Lisa from a greater threat. The first part of the story ends with the heroes sacrificing themselves in the final battle, but being resurrected with their memories as Combo Rangers erased.

In Combo Rangers Zero, a mysterious villain called Grande Mestre ("Grandmaster") appears using his henchmen Dr. Delírio and the young girl Fabi to spread terror in Cidade City, Combo decides to ask for help from the kids again (now older) to become Combo Rangers again, having their memories restored and gaining evolved forms. In the course of the saga they meet Maya, find Luke again, lose their powers, but get new powers with new forms at the end with the help of an alien wizard. The saga ends with Grande Mestre revealing himself as an evil clone of Combo and Delírio being Maya's lost father, Dr. Cooper.

In Combo Rangers Revolution after the defeat of Grande Mestre a new alien villain called Cardman appears wanting to dominate Earth with his henchman Deck. The saga ends with an incomplete end-of-the-world arc.

The JBC series followed with stories without continuity. The Panini series showed changes with more focus on other superheroes helping the protagonists with Fox gaining new powers (which are stolen by a villain in one of the arcs) and Tati leaving the group in the end being replaced by Sarah as the pink ranger.

Characters

Heroes

• Fox Fonseca, the red Combo Ranger and leader of the team. He is portrayed as an immature, airheaded, lazy boy who hates studying, most often serving as the main comic relief; still, he is responsible enough to lead the team and has a great sense of justice. He starts dating Tati in Combo Rangers Zero.
• Tatiana "Tati" Rosa, the pink Combo Ranger. She is portrayed as an extroverted and sometimes flighty girl, who has a platonic love for Fox. In the first saga, she constantly tried to get Fox's attention without success, in Combo Rangers Zero she starts dating Fox, starting to act like an aggressive and jealous girl, especially in front of Maya. In the printed series, she matures in behavior and leaves the team in the last issues.
• Lisa Lima, the yellow Combo Ranger. Tends to be the most innocent and naive of the team. At first she was portrayed in the first saga as a poor girl who constantly struggled to try to study and have a better life, still in this saga she showed prominence by developing special powers and also a close relationship with Luke who becomes her boyfriend in the following sagas. Her best friend is Tati. Her early design was based on Fuu Hououji from Magic Knight Rayearth.
• Kenji "Ken" Ozora, the blue Combo Ranger. A Japanese-Brazilian boy, he is sometimes seen as the group's second leader after Fox. Unlike Fox, he is more serious and focused on missions, in addition to being one of the smartest along with Lisa. His parents are divorced, his father is busy and he rarely sees his mother.
• Frederico "Kiko" Freitas, the green Combo Ranger. An Afro-Brazilian boy, he has a calm personality and sometimes speaks with slang, in addition to having a passion for music. Among the characters, he is the one who is most seen changing his haircut between each saga.
• Luke, the white Combo Ranger. He was introduced during the plot of the first saga as a mysterious hero who often appeared to save Lisa. In time it was revealed that he was a time traveler from the future to save the Combo Rangers from a terrible fate. At the end of the saga he disappears after fulfilling his mission, but his present counterpart appears in the following seasons as a permanent member of the team.
• Maya Cooper, a young genius girl who is one of the main allies of the team. She was introduced in the first saga as a girl from the future who was responsible for training Luke and sending him to the past to save the Combo Rangers. In Combo Rangers Zero her present-day counterpart gains a major spotlight as one of the main protagonists, after meeting and helping the team against Grande Mestre and Dr. Delírio while she was in the search of her father Dr. Cooper. Her early design was based on Hikaru Shidou from Magic Knight Rayearth.
• Poderoso Combo, the mentor of the Combo Rangers often referred to as Tio Combo ("Uncle Combo") by his students and other characters. He is a retired superhero of alien origin, he is characterized by his short stature, always wearing a mask and his immense lack of luck. Alongside Fox, he is often portrayed as the main comic relief due to his immense lack of luck during his long life. His design is a reference to Ted Kord (Blue Beetle).

Villains

• General Monte, the main villain of the first saga of Combo Rangers. A poo-like alien that is the immature leader of an army of aliens who is on a mission to dominate the Earth for the Empire Deskarga, whose members are based in toilet things (Deskarga is a pun with descarga, "flush" in Portuguese). Among his main partners are Pum and Carolho. At the end of the saga his empire is destroyed by the Supernova Crystal Warriors and his fate becomes unknown.

• Pum, a secondary antagonist during the first saga and Zero. An E.T.-like flatulent alien creature who communicates only by speaking his own name and has the ability to making the monsters giant through his gases (Pum by the way means "fart" in Portuguese) in a way similar to Gyodai from Changeman. He was introduced as General Monte's main partner in the first saga, but abandoned him after his defeat at the end of the saga. In Combo Rangers Zero he returns to serve the Grande Mestre, playing the same role as in the previous saga and serving as Fabi's partner in crime and also her best friend. Like Fabi, he redeems himself at the end of the saga and follows her after that, only returning in the Panini series where he reveals that he has achieved the ability to change shape.

• Carolho, a secondary antagonist during the first saga and a recurring villain in the following sagas. A round gray alien with lots of eyes that has the ability to reproduce small gray humanoid monsters called the Homens de Quatro Olhos ("Four-Eyed Men") who serve as minion monsters against the Combo Rangers. He was introduced as one of the main servants of General Monte along with Pum, being responsible for sending the monsters against the Combo Rangers. He remained the same until he accidentally merged with a gorilla monster in one of the stories, becoming the Macacacarolho who was killed, but later revived by Monte. Still in the first saga he received two evolutions by Monte: Cyber Macacarolho and Macacaloiro. He returns in Combo Rangers Zero being evolved by Fabi becoming the Super Macacaloiro (as a reference to the Super Saiyans from Dragon Ball Z), remaining in this form ever since.

• Grande Mestre, the main villain in Combo Rangers Zero. At first he is portrayed as a hidden and mysterious villain who gave orders to Delírio and Fabi to attack humans and steal their energy. At the end of the saga he reveals himself as an evil twin of Tio Combo who had arisen because of his negative feelings when he felt concern for his students being in danger during the first saga. He wanted to restore his powers so he could use them for world domination, but he was defeated in the end with Maya's help by convincing Tio Combo to forget his negative feelings. During his final appearance he was abruptly renamed Proteus.

• Dr. Delírio, one of the main antagonists in Combo Rangers Zero. Originally having been Dr. Paul Cooper (Maya's father), he moved to Cidade City where he ended up separating from his daughter and on the way he ended up adopting the young Fabi. He was eventually transformed into the villainous mad scientist Dr. Delírio by becoming the Grande Mestre's servant, being responsible for sending monsters and setting up other plans against the Combo Rangers. At the end of the saga he returns to his original self and reunites with Maya becoming a recurring ally in the following sagas.

• Fabi, adopted daughter of Dr. Cooper/Delírio is one of the main antagonists in Combo Rangers Zero. Originally an orphaned girl, she was adopted by Cooper when he arrived in Cidade City, just before they started serving the Grande Mestre. As a villain, she played the role of commanding the monsters against the Combo Rangers and occasionally expanding their powers, in addition to frequently being assisted by Pum, who over time became her best friend. She also demonstrates a great rivalry with Maya. Like Pum, she redeems herself at the end of the saga and leaves the city with his friend, only returning in the Panini series where he develops a relationship with Ken.

• Cardman, the main villain in Combo Rangers Revolution. Just like General Monte, he's an alien dictator that wants to conquer the Earth in order to take advantage of the natural resources. He is aided by the young boy Deck and his army of card monsters. At the end of the saga he leaves Earth during the end of the world arc and his fate is unknown.

• Deck, a secondary antagonist in Combo Rangers Revolution. A young alien human boy originally hailing from the devastated planet Oreo that serves Cardman as his main ally, acting very similar to Fabi. He is arrogant and demonstrates rivalry with Luke. Like Cardman, his fate after the saga is unknown.

• Marvin Maluco and Denis Demente, a duo of two young criminal brothers who are rivals in crime. Maluco Marvin was originally introduced as a filler antagonist in one of the Combo Rangers Revolution stories as an old enemy of Tio Combo during his youth as a superhero. In the printed issues it is revealed that the original Marvin trained an orphan boy to be his successor as a villain becoming the new Marvin Maluco, ignoring his brother who in an act of rebellion became the villain Denis Demente to rival them.

Other Characters

• Yabu/Spectroseven, a recurring superhero who is one of the main allies of the Combo Rangers. At first he appeared as a joke character being a self-insert by Fábio Yabu, however, he later revealed himself to be a superhero of alien origin and an old partner of Tio Combo. His superhero alter ego, Spectroseven, is a parody of the Kyodai heroes Ultraman and Spectreman while his origin story of how he came to Earth is a reference to Superman.

Development

The series was featured online until 2003, when it was cancelled. It was also printed as comics. There was a 3-issue miniseries printed by Editora JBC in 2000, a 12-issue series printed by the same company, and a 10-issue series printed by Panini Comics. In 2004, Yabu decided to stop writing the comic, in order to focus solely on his book "Princesas do Mar" (Sea Princesses). The book has been a success and Yabu has since released two sequels.

In December 2012, Yabu ran a crowdfunding project on the website Catarse.me to release a new Combo Rangers story as a graphic novel. The funding was successful and the book was released in Brazil in 2013. It was followed by two sequel books, the latter of which had a crowdfunding campaign launched for it in 2017.

External links

• Yabu's official blog Archived 2007-08-21 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

• Brienza, Casey (2016). Global Manga: 'Japanese' Comics Without Japan?. Routledge. pp. 49–50. ISBN 9781317127666.