Comic Review: Rick and Morty: Rick’s New Hat #4

 

 

Overview:

Rick is in hot pursuit of the three laws of science after a mysterious new hat took away his intellect. After discovering the first two laws in their original dimension and the afterlife, the final piece has been hiding with Rick and Morty all along, in one of their brains.

Now, Rick must cut Morty’s head off if he hopes to gain his super-intelligence back before being stomped out by the Council of Dunces. Unfortunately, Morty is dealing with his own existential crisis and is a little occupied to help Rick’s mission.

 

Our Take:

The comic mini-series Rick and Morty: Rick’s New Hat has been loaded with unique misadventures the whole way through. Each of the issues has taken us somewhere completely different, including a Kronenberg world and the afterlife. Issue four takes things even further with a fourth wall bending autobiographical comic featuring Morty on the run from being murdered by his own grandfather.

Last we saw Rick and Morty, the super genius turned idiot, had finally found a way to get his new hat off his head. Unfortunately, his grandson managed to grab the mind-altering hat and make a run for it. Before Rick could give chase, he was abruptly interrupted by the Council of Dunces.

This comic takes a surprisingly long time to get back to the main story at hand. Instead, we follow Morty, who is trying his best to be normal. However, he struggles to reconnect with the real world after going on all those grand adventures across the multiverse with his grandpa. Throughout the plot, we watch him grow into a well-adjusted middle-aged man from his existential crisis in high school. Unfortunately for him, across time, his grandfather is still trying to cut his head off.

Subsequently, the entire story is just a comic being read by a real-world Morty Smith. Who is later also murdered by Rick? The whole comic is a bit complicated. Especially when considering that the issue starts with us reading a comic book within a comic within a comic book within a comic book. Taking it further, there are even more comic pages from alternate Rick and Morty universes.

Truthfully, as convoluted as this issue is to explain, the comic does well to keep the audience in the loop. In fact, it is as close to an episode of the original animated series as you can get. Just as the show can surprise you with twist after twist while simultaneously mocking the same genre that it’s exploring, this comic gets ridiculous and complex.

The next issue of Rick and Morty: Rick’s New Hat is all set to wrap up this mini-series. There is a lot to pack into a final issue. Most of the story’s conflict is still awaiting an explanation, never mind resolution. Although, with the amount of content that each issue of this collection has managed to squeeze into the panels, it is likely to be a big issue that tightly wraps everything up.

Regardless, this series has already been strong the entire way through. This issue as a stand-alone is one of the best Rick and Morty comics of the year.