One of the most, if not the most, absurdly irreverent, hilarious, offbeat, crazy, imaginative, deliriously-wacky, gloriously politically-incorrect (in a way that even Family Guy, hardly a bastion of traditional family values, might blanch at) discoveries of last year was Rick Harmon and Justin Roiland’s Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty.
Being a longtime devoted fan of Harmon’s off-the-wall genius sitcom creation Community, the odds were always good that I would find his and Justin’s madly colourful, zany, narratively-bonkers tale of an irascible, alcoholic scientist Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) and his grandson Morty Smith’s (Justin Roiland) adventures through time and space, and family – Rick’s daughter Beth (Sarah Chalke), mild-mannered husband Jerry (Ben Parnell) and daughter Summer (Spencer Grammer) – absolutely irresistible but even I was surprised by just how much I liked it.
Everything from the utterly over the top sense of humour, its graphically colourful visual style, sheer sense of boundless, original inventiveness and imagination and its ability to almost touching and emotionally profound without losing an ounce of its comic momentum made it an instant favourite in my household.
It was, and remains, one of those rare comedy shows, animated or otherwise, that has me laughing out loud like an idiot, caring not what the neighbours may think; other sitcoms and animated shows may make me smile, laugh and giggle a little but Rick and Morty makes me laugh loudly, long and often to the point where my sides hurt and I can’t breathe.
(Part of its appeal no doubt lies with the fact that gleefully punctures pomposity, conformity, political correctness and “the right thing” with the sort of abandon I wish I was capable of in real life.)
So imagine my room-shattering, squealing delight – seriously take a minute and yes use earplugs if you must – when I found out via EW that Oni press is readying a comic book version of the show, “written by Zac Gorman, illustrated by CJ Cannon and colored by Ryan Hill.”
And the good news, according to Kyle Anderson of EW’s Shelf Life, is that “Gorman and Cannon have perfectly captured the insane spirit and skewed visual style of the show.”
Hurrah! Let us away to the Citadel of Ricks with Birdperson and the whole mad bunch to await the release of the comic book on 1 April.
It will no doubt keep us endlessly, decibel-raising laughingly-amused till season 2 of Rick and Morty debuts in the US summer.
You can see the rest of the first six pages at EW.
Of course what is a post about Rick and Morty without some video evidence of their insane comic glory?