Comics Review: Rick and Morty – Issue #7

Spoilers Below:

While horsing around in the garage, Rick and Morty were visited by a strange, green, blob-like creature who immediately killed Rick. With his dying breath, Rick asked Morty to travel to the other multiverses and save the other Ricks – as he believed a mass extinction was underway.

In a second universe, Morty emerged to warn the others, but ended up waking in a third universe instead. He described his “dream” to Rick and another Morty, who took the opportunity to flee to yet another universe (304-X) where Rick thought they would be safe. The left-behind Morty was offed soon afterward.

Rick’s hunch turned out to not be very accurate, as a man appeared and stated that his target was Rick, and was poised to eliminate him. At the last moment, they were saved by another person, who said they needed to talk.

Somewhere else in the same universe, a weird alien was informed that “the package” wasn’t secured. The alien remained confident though, feeling that Rick was now cornered.

In a bonus story, Morty was wooing a pretty young lady with his tales of intergalactic travel and expressed his desire to take her along. Excited by the romantic prospects, the two started making out on his bed, until she suddenly turned into Scary Terry. Turns out it was all a dream, not in Morty’s mind, but the girl’s. She stated that clearly she has some stuff to work through.

Best Bits:

1) Morty: “Why don’t you want to build a soapbox racer with me?” / Rick: “Oh Jesus, Morty! Do you really want me to k-kick you when you’re down like that?”

2) Rick pretending not to remember the name of The Wonder Years, despite remembering Daniel Stern was the narrator and Dan Lauria was one of the stars.

3) After a “Rick and Morty for a thousand years” handshake, Rick said, “Okay, that was super *&#%ing weird. I want you to be real s–urrrp-serious right now. Promise me that won’t ever happen again. Look me in the eyes, Morty. Promise me, Morty. Swear on your *&#%ing grave.”

4) Rick, on why everyone is staring at Morty: “Probably because you’re the only one here not dressed like they’re mad at their stepdad.”

There were two things that worked really well in this issue. First, as much as I usually don’t care for “to be continued” stories, this one was actually quite interesting. I’m curious to see how Rick and Morty will escape their jam, I’m curious to hear what the mystery girl hero has to say, and I’m curious to find out more about the big-headed alien monster. There were so many layers to this story, that I’d find it hard for someone not to be interested about how the plot will unfold.

Second, the banter between Rick and Morty was spot on – in two different ways. I’m always entertained when Rick is a dick, and the lack of this attitude is something I complained about in some of my reviews for season two of the TV series. Rick is the mean drunk version of Doc Brown, and there’s no reason to change this – for the most part, at least. As most of the Best Bits show, there was no shortage of this personality trait.

On the flip side, it’s also amusing when Rick and Morty have good, clean fun together, granted that it only occurs occasionally. If they were buddy-buddy all the time, the gag would lose its appeal and completely change the dynamic of the brand. Once again, look at the TV show.

Within Issue #7, we got both of these types.

My only complaint stems from another bit of praise. It’s funny to see Rick and Morty break the fourth wall once in a while. By this, I don’t mean explicitly acknowledging the show or comic (although that can be humorous as well), but when they state things that are already obviously going on – kind of like a summary of a situation as it unfolds.

Here’s an example: in the first scene of this issue that featured both Rick and Morty, the two were playing around with a water hose and giggling like little kids. Or, as Rick put it, “Haha! Just a couple boys goof-goofin’ around, huh, Morty? We’re just some goofin’ boys!” Or, likewise, Morty’s criticism of some of Rick’s jokes being “deep cuts.” All this is funny, but when it’s used too much, it can get a bit redundant. I get that Rick and Morty uses humor that involves the characters ripping each other, and specifically ripping the statements each other make, but there needs to be a limit. We know a writer is writing both parts, so rehashing every line of dialogue immediately afterward isn’t going to work every time.

Also, it would have been nice to see some of the other family members. Although I suppose that might cut into that signature back-and-forth between the titular characters, so I’ll let it slide. Hopefully Issue #8 will prove to be a worthy follow up!

Oh, and that bonus segment was worth a laugh. Do what you wish with that info.