Review: Rick and Morty Comics Ongoing #11(2023)

In a battle to become a god, it’s a smart move on Rick’s part to open this issue with this kind of power move. No matter who wins this no-holds-barred battle at godhead, Rick has positioned himself as the omniscient narrator – the ultimate over-god in any story.

The anti-Nunzumel show down at the pirate bar is between Rick wearing a cardboard box on his head and Goldenfold wearing a cardboard box on his head. Proving Nunzumel’s purported omniscience to the devoted believers of the Grey Planet is a tricky task. Rick’s plan is to show them Morty in all his Morty-ness, asking the followers if their perfect god could have made something so ungodly, while Goldenfold’s method is to use math to scientifically prove that Nunzumel could not have created their planet. These two rationales have been employed by sceptics for centuries to rattle the faithful, and are rarely successful.

Meanwhile, Beth decides that she’s going to stay with the newer, grosser Jerry, worms and all. He gives Morty some terrifying meta-advice that’s actually pretty good. Achieving life after death has imbued Jerry with the semi-prescient future sight of a Shakespearean witch – he can see that this story is soon to end, both in the literal context of this comic run and in the way that all life is a story with an inevitable ending. He also has deep regrets about not vomiting more slime when he had the chance.

The acolytes do end up rebelling, but by using their own internal logic to reach a place of doubt. The newspaper headline “Nunzumel Didn’t Make Shit” says it all. After the dethroned God burns up in the atmosphere, the Grey Planet returns to its blank state, giving somebody else the chance to imprint themselves.

The Grey Planet is a really neat concept. It has pretty limitless possibilities for storytelling and philosophical exploration -it’s a bit like the oft-parodied Twilight Zone episode “The Little People,” but one with limitless do-overs. Goldenfold and Rick have the extremely novel idea to combine math and science to build a perfect utopia together, ushering in the Age of Ultra-Reason. Move over More and Paine, we’re all just going to read Alex Firer in class from now on! Back in the 60s and 70s, a whole generation of future thinkers were introduced to some real heavy concepts through comics like Kirby’s The New Gods. This is like that!

There are sceptics (Noelle) who don’t believe in Ultra-Reason Utopias, but things work out perfectly for everybody. Things are even looking up for Noelle and Morty’s doomed romance. Everything would stay that way, too, if not for the very thing that set this whole story in motion – Rick’s desire to drink a space shake. The space shake isn’t just a hyper-specific beverage – it represents all the things that humanity desires. Wanting something can lead to exploration, new discoveries, and new ways of thinking. It can also corrupt people, and destroy worlds. In this comic, it’s both! When Rick learns that Goldenfold has literally drunk his space shake, everything falls apart. Arms become swords, swords become fire, and everybody else flees the dying planet. Tune in next month for the thrilling conclusion to this delightful thought exploration!