Comics Review: Rick and Morty – Issue #3

 

If I had one of Rick’s time machines, I’d go back to the last issue.

Spoilers Below:

Here we are at Issue #3 of the Rick and Morty comics. The first was decent, and the second was fantastic, which makes this a pivotal point in the young life of this series. Sure, it’s still quite early, but I think it’s fair to say this issue will clear things up definitely going forward and officially separates the men from the boys. (Or the Ricks from the Mortys.)

Okay, that’s probably too much pressure. Let’s just get into it.

Picking up more or less where the story left off, Morty was traumatized by his return home without Rick, who was still stranded and trying to escape from his captors. Jerry was frustrated with Morty’s attitude and left.

Summer returned home a bit later to find clone versions of her family members in their stead. Rick – allegedly the real one – appeared just in time to save her, and then zapped her with a stun gun, because he’s a jerk.

In the bonus story (“Adventure to an Alternate Universe”), we are shown a dimension where “Morty’s the Rick and Rick’s the Morty” and the real Rick and Morty was about to head there. However, as soon as they arrived, they discovered “dumb” Rick had finally snapped and killed scientist Morty with a hammer.

Best Bits:

1) Blurring out Morty’s extended middle fingers was an interesting move.

2) “Y’all got burned!”

3) The very last panel in the last story is amazing.

Two things should be very obvious at this point in the review. First, the description of the two stories (especially the main one, which takes up 80% of the pages) is remarkably brief. This is due to the fact that the story is actually quite simple. Morty was sad, Rick was still trying to escape, Summer discovered clones in her house, and Rick returned in time to save her. Simple.

And you know what? It doesn’t necessarily need to be a complicated story, because the writing – or more specifically, the personalities of the characters expressed through the dialogue – is what makes Rick and Morty work as a comic. Sure, the stories are important in the TV version and the graphics are engrossing and unique and impressive in both, but the writing is what makes this a hit show and a potential hit comic.

But you may also have noticed the brevity of my Best Bits list. This is because there wasn’t a whole lot of dialogue unless you count grunts and noises. Instead, it was a whole bunch of action. Unfortunately, the action wasn’t incredibly-detailed space battles or anything you’d probably expect. It was hand-to-hand combat between Summer and a couple of clones, and it wasn’t very interesting.

The middle segment with Rick and the Marine dude was a bit amusing, if only because Rick was once again seemingly hung up on some minute detail while simultaneously attempting to avoid almost-certain doom.

Overall, the issue was quite forgettable. The only redeeming quality came in the last few pages; the extra story. It had some classic Rick and Morty banter (except with the roles reversed), a bit of a twist, and that slightly dark humor for which the show (and comic) is known. (Editor’s Note: But in a weird tease, the shot on the cover is actually from this story, not the main one. In other words: it’s from the better one.)

It still wasn’t nearly enough to save the issue, but it at least made it worth buying.