Comic Review: Rick and Morty Presents: HeRicktics of Rick

Overview:

Rick has enlisted his grandson/protégé on another mission, hunting down the most valuable naturally occurring substance in the known galaxy. After crash landing on an alien planet, Rick locates the unique substance and takes what he reveals as a powerful hallucinogen.

Renaming the planet in his own likeness, Arrickis, Rick finds himself in battle with the locals. Things escalate as Rick and Morty find themselves in the middle of a political and religious war. Now, they must find their way home without losing their lives or their minds.

Our Take:

Rick and Morty Presents: HeRicktics of Rick is the first of three new comics in 2022 that promise to parody some of the greatest science fiction stories ever told. With upcoming spoofs of Logan’s Run and Star Wars set for release in March, things kick off with a retelling of Dune with our favourite animated characters.

The option to parody other successful stories is strange, even for a comic book adaptation. Rick and Morty is already, in and of itself, a spoof on the entire science fiction genre. The subversive tone of the highly-acclaimed animated series is about taking the tropes of the blockbusters and flipping them on their head; or finding new and unique ways to approach the themes. Doing a direct parody of any established franchise seems to go against everything Rick and Morty stands for.

Unfortunately, the worst fears of this spoof approach are realized in this one-shot comic. Nothing helps the story stand-out as a Rick and Morty tale. Truthfully, any characters could be shoehorned into a rip-off version of Dune, and it would read similar to this piece. A fact that does not bode well for more comics coming under the same parody method.

Arguably, slipping one of pop culture’s most intelligent and proficient characters into any film makes telling these stories even simpler. Rick Sanchez can easily mastermind his way through any situation. As if the evil genius couldn’t have blown up the Death Star or defeated giant sandworms easier than the heroes of those respective adventures.

Doomed for failure, HeRicktics of Rick does not take the necessary steps to make this a Rick and Morty story. Especially with a lacklustre beginning that has Rick enlist Morty to help him find his drugs. Honestly, the animated series would have jumped through a dozen hoops in the first two minutes in the lead up for a Dune knock-off.

Hopefully, the Logan’s Run and Star Wars parodies will be done with a much bolder approach. The latter, specifically, has been done countless times before and would require a particular technique. Thankfully, there have been more pleasant surprises out of Rick and Morty comic adaptations than there have been disappointments such as this one-shot.