Review: Rick and Morty: Heart of Rickness #4

The ongoing war between techno-Rick and the primal version of the family starts coming to a head in the fourth installment of Michael Moreci’s ‘Heart of Rickness’. Rick and semi-cyber Beth debate the moral implications of doing battle against the demon horde as they do battle against the demon horde. It’s generally agreed that they may not deserve it. Simultaneously, Summer’s flirtation with phone free living proves to be a fleeting one, and Primal Morty continues to look cool in his lil robe and emo haircut.Our Take

‘Heart of Rickness’ take its name from the 1898 novella by Joseph Conrad, which went on to inspire the 1978 Francis Ford Coppola film, Apocalypse Now. Like both those properties, this limited run of Rick and Morty comics spends a fair amount of time waxing philosophical on the moral implications of one civilization imposing its will on another, but it also devotes the right amount of energy towards being a wacky melee of warring factions laser blasting each other and busting through walls. The delicate balance of the Demon/Human alliance has been seriously shook by Techno Rick’s meddling – Cyber Beth’s sudden abdication from the throne as the defacto god of the demons has created a deus ex vacuuma – one that is eagerly filled by the classically-horned super demon that ruled the lands before her. So it goes with regimes, demon or otherwise.

In terms of variant covers, we’ve got another three top notch options. Cover A by Patricia Martin is a singular portrait of Primal Rick that stares directly into your soul, Cover B by Philip Murphy is a Lord of the Rings riff with little to do with the story but who cares, it’s dope, and Cover C, by ‘Heart of Rickness’ illustrator Priscilla Tramontano, is yet another example of her mastery of dynamic depictions of cartoon characters battling.

The Rick and Morty-verse can often be a high concept miasma full of complex twists and turns, so it’s rather refreshing that a major plot point in this issue sees the grandkids getting locked in a closet. It’s exactly the kind of effective, lo-fi move that we’ve come to expect from the Primal Grandkids. Lucky for the Techno Grandkids, that closet also has service robots in it, but unluckily, they just so happen to be stuck on the murder setting. Just when a climactic and heavily symbolic battle between demons and robots seems inevitable, ‘Heart of Rickness’ throws all that shit into the background so Cyber-Beth can reunite with her original family. A climactic talking it out ensues.

At times, ‘Heart of Rickness’ feels like it might lean a bit too heavily on classic R&M tropes like defining who the Rickest Rick is, but it all gets balanced out by Moreci’s writing, which always feels fresh and rarely goes in a predictable direction. As with all the best Rick and Morty stories, lessons and social commentary are available, but optional. Concluding this story with the familiar beat of the family mindlessly watching tv feels like a perfectly fitting ending. Oh, and Beth and Jerry seem to have really messed things up in the Spa Dimension!