If you have been following the Beyond The Grid plot the mysterious Dark Ranger will without doubt have become one of your favorite characters. In this exciting new issue we take a break from the overall story to find out a little more about the origins and abilities of Heckyl. At first I was not a fan of Heckyl as he was a character from Dino Charge, which is a little after my time, but he has rapidly grown on me. He is the guardian of a dark power and when his homeworld was threatened he took this power and ran, eventually becoming corrupted by it and turning into an out right villain. Years later the Rangers would eventually defeat him and turn him back to the light. 

Out story picks up with Heckyl, Alternate Future KIm and Green Ninja Storm Cam sitting down and enjoying a nice cup of tea. They end up getting into an in depth conversation about the past and that is when we get to find out how Hekyl went from reformed villain to the Dark Ranger. His tale is rather tragic, because he comes from a beautiful peaceful world and in order to save it he had to sacrifice himself, a second time. Yet sacrificing himself to gain the power needed to save his world inadvertently made it at a target for his universes big bad. As they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

This issue’s overall theme can be take from the quote: 

“One may save a thing and in it’s saving destroy it.” 

This is the warning that Heckyl’s master gave him, one that he failed to understand and one that we as a people should better understand. He is a character that was so damaged by fear that he would eventually give in and through that fear bring hell straight to paradise. Not to get preachy but as someone who comes from a western democracy I can see this statement ringing true, because it is far to easy for us to sacrifice our civil liberties in order to protect them.

It just shows how you can use such a simple medium to convey such an important message. Though the issue finishes with hope and as much as this sounds cheesy hope is an important message to end it with, it can easily help dispel all the fear that we accumulate as a society and with hope there is a chance that Heckyl will also finally master his fear and darkness within him.