Comics Review: Rick and Morty – Issue #5

Spoilers Below:

“Morty and Rick in: Mortballs.”

Morty is a camper at Camp Camperson when he began to discover strange whisperings. Confused, he consulted Counselor Rick, who seemed uninterested, telling him the whole place is probably a coma dream. Morty then encountered Scary Terry, who explained that the world is, in fact, a dream world. Or more accurately, a “Dreamverse” in which dream thieves make up the entire population and need to be slayed in order for the world to be saved. Morty was named the chosen one, became Terry, and went on a heroic killing spree around the camp – sparing only Rick, who was still being cynical about the whole situation. Morty then woke up and was told by Rick that he was in a coma – and scoffed at Morty’s Dreamverse idea. The final panel cut to the dream world, which was completely destroyed.

Best Bits:

1) Morty on almost scoring with a lady: “Jesus, Rick! Places! PLACES! Not ‘place’ singular but ‘places’ plural! Multiple ‘places,’ Rick!!”

2) Rick and the truth about pool noodles: “They’re basically giant foam wieners that double as swords, Morty! What kid could resist the urge to misuse that?!”

3) Rick takes a shot at fanatics: “I mean, look at you! You look like bad fan art!”

This was certainly an interesting comic. The story was remarkably simple, at least compared to the usually complex plots we see from Rick and Morty. It dealt with dreams and another reality, but contained very little science-y stuff and no technological doohickeys. It was also a “just a dream” story, with the added benefit of making that not-so-certain at the very end.

Also, we saw Morty in charge, as Rick (or Dream Rick) was very passive, to the point of not even being a co-protagonist with Morty for a lot of it. Scary Terry had almost as big of a role as Rick. (By the way, I loved that Terry returned in this issue.)

I also thought the animation was beautiful. It always is, but some of the dream sequences were especially detailed and memorable in both a whimsical and frightening way.

As for dialogue, it was funny enough, and in addition to the few lines I quoted above, I liked the general tone of the writing, with the signature use of non-sequiturs that Rick and Morty is known for. Hell, even the onomatopoeias (SNEAK SNEAK SNEAKY SNEAK) were funny.

I also enjoyed the corny and overly-simplistic lyrics for the camp song, which not only were unimaginative and very matter-of-fact, but we’re twice acknowledged by Morty for having these qualities.

In the end, I can’t say I was as pleased with Issue #5 as I have been with others. It just wasn’t quite as humorous, had a pretty lame second story (“Introducing…Beth and the Beths!” which I didn’t even summarize), and even two spelling mistakes (the wrong form of “wiener” and “kumbaya.”) Still, I was entertained, and the writing was so obviously in the style of Rick and Morty, that it’s hard to knock it too much with a solid plot.