Review: Rick and Morty: The Manga: Vol 1: Get in the Robot, Morty!
Overview
Rick and Morty: The Manga : Vol 1 – Get in the Robot, Morty! hits the shelves today, much to the delight of manga fans and R&M fans alike. In this first volume, the status quo is threatened by a marauding horde of Jerrys, or Jiants. Are they naked? Of course they are! Rick’s plan to defeat them involves a giant battle robot, but, unfortunately for Morty, it’s the kind of robot that needs to be piloted by an emotionally damaged child! A steep learning curve and increasingly beefed up Jiants make the road to success a treacherous one. Following in the footsteps of so many overwhelmed young mecha pilots over the years, Morty learns that surrendering a piece of yourself in order to successfully merge with machine sure can make it difficult to live a normal , teenage life. The comic was written by based Alissa M. Sallah and illustrated by Jey Odin.
Our Take
Oni Press’ first foray into the into R&Manga-verse combines everything we all love about the 31st Century’s favourite old man/boy explorers with a ton of treasured tropes from the mecha manga world. The end result is a win-win melange that promises to please the maximum number of readers.
Sallah is a perfect choice to head up this endeavour of cultural fusion – she is able to infuse the writing with a unique life force all it was own. Sallah does not allow her writing to fall into the standard traps of “mangaesqueness” – this is not just factory standard R&M drenched in some troubling, ethnically vague Asian sauce – it’s clear that Sallah comes by her fandom honestly, and her love of manga oozes off the page. For anyone who loves manga and anime and hasn’t read Sallah’s graphic novel ‘Weeaboo’ – do yourself a favour and check it out! It’s a great glimpse into what it’s like to grow up as a young person who likes another culture A LOT. Maybe too much.
That same love of manga is evident in Jey Odin’s shōnen inspired character design. The art highlights some of the oft-underplayed personality traits of the Smith-Sanchez clan – Morty has that kind of vintage head shape that imbues him with that sort of childlike wonder we didn’t think he was capable of anymore, while Rick’s shrewd application of his lack of empathy is projected onto his vast forehead, mirroring the vast emptiness of spirit that haunts his every waking moment.
It makes sense for a manga-inspired R&M comic to go the mecha route – the show itself has pulled a ton of inspiration from the genre over the years. (As an aside, I think a Magical Girl Summer comic would practically write itself. Just saying.)
Rick Sanchez and Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Gendo Ikari have a lot in common – they’re just two dead wife bad dads in lab-coats, saddling down their battle robot with hidden agendas and negative attitudes while setting a new standard for child endangerment. R&M: The Manga – Vol 1 seeks to even more parallels between the two brilliant assholes – just like Gendo, it seems yhat Rick is a lot more interested in his ostensible solution (giant, boy-powered robot) than the initial problem (too much oversized naked Jerry). The vibe is that you just can’t trust these guys.
So if you like manga, comics, Rick & Morty, battle robots, interpersonal relationships, art or laughter, check out Rick and Morty: The Manga : Vol 1 – Get in the Robot, Morty! – it’ll probably enrich your life!
The robot is also really cool looking!
"There are also other characters that come and go (also owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate media company)."
Huh. Is that just referring to other characters from the show itself, or is this implying that the new season is going to have cameos from other WBD IPs