Comic Review: Rick and Morty vs Dungeons & Dragons Chapter II: Painscape #2

Overview:

Morty and Summer are swarmed by dismissed characters created by Rick in his early years of playing Dungeons & Dragons. Lost and forgotten, the characters are now intending to take over the real world and make Rick pay for his carelessness. Unfortunately, as things get worse, Beth and Jerry pull up to the house in time to be swarmed by vicious monsters.

Meanwhile, the real Rick Sanchez has been fighting his way through the Tomb of Horrors. Thankfully his knowledge and skills have made him quite formidable at the dangerous dungeon. Making friends with a Demi-Lich, Rick finally makes his escape only to find himself still trapped within Borden, a forgotten map of his own creation.

Our Take:

Where everything started out in Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons Chapter II #1 a little bit confusing, the second issue begins with a bit of background. In the first chapter of Rick and Morty vs. D&D, we discovered that Rick is a player from way back in the day. Fittingly, this issue begins in 1979 with Rick first learning the rules of the game. And, now we discover that the first character that he ever tried to build is the enemy reaping revenge currently. It may seem like a lot to take in as I write it like that, but if you have been reading the series up unto this point, it’s a prominent reveal.

The villains that have assembled are great variations on Rick Sanchez, a character we have seen with hundreds of designs. These D&D themed Ricks are all formidable in their own right. Despite Rick disregarding Bards in the first chapter, it turns out that his first character was a failed bard; with some substantial stats. Aside from the leader, there are wizards, thieves, elves, and a half-orc barbarian which nearly kills Morty and Summer. With only one true Rick, who is trapped in his own world, it’s hard to see how the Smiths will be able to get out of this one.

Speaking of the real Rick Sanchez, out of all of the Rick and Morty vs. D&D issues that have come out, he has never been as badass as he is in this issue. Wise of all the traps and secrets. Strong enough to conquer any foe. Rick truly is as talented as they come to the role-playing game. As he declares in the issue, “the master of these dungeons”. To tip the whole segment over, by the end, Rick has one of the coolest D&D redesigns that we’ve seen out of this title yet. Though, it doesn’t seem to be helping him escape.

Another thing that seems to be continuing on from chapter one of Rick and Morty vs. D&D is Beth and Jerry’s relationship. During the inaugural run, we saw Jerry as we have never seen before, confident, capable, and athletic. This resulted in his relationship with Beth finding a new spark and the two were the healthiest you have ever seen them. In this issue, we see that the same flame continues to flicker and the flirting flare-up. It’s an exciting direction to take these characters that we usually see in turmoil. But, considering how impactful it was in the first run, it’s great to see it continue forward.

These adventures continue to be some of my favourite Rick and Morty content to date. There is a balanced amalgamation of the two franchises, led by the wonderful characters we love from the television series. Typically there is a nice injection of the off-beat humour from the show as well, though this issue lacked the room for that. The stakes are higher than before, and for the most part, everything has been unpredictable. Of course, I expect Rick to save the day at the last minute and act as nothing happened, but you can never be sure with this franchise. For now, things are about to get much worse off for these characters before it begins to get better.