Rick and Morty somehow landed themselves in what literally looks like to be Hell. All signs point to Morty that this might actually be the real deal while Rick continues to vehemently deny it. As the two find themselves stuck in another hairy place, what sort of shenanigans will Rick drag Morty into again in order to see their way out of a possibly permanent dead end?
Rick and Morty Go to Hell #1
Ryan Ferrier (writer), Constanza Oroza (artist), Sarah Stern (colorist), Crank! (letterer), Sarah Gaydos (editor)
June 10, 2020
Oni Press
Despite its fiery premise, Rick and Morty Go to Hell is pretty run-of-the-mill when it comes to any other Rick and Morty story. Our two titular characters are caught in something that is probably Rick’s fault, and the rest of the family is unfortunately dragged along in it. Go to Hell’s shtick is that the situation might actually be irreversible.
Rick and Morty crash land in some sort of sprawling underground network of caves where lava runs along like rivers and daylight is nowhere to be found. We are not given any clue (yet) as to what dropped the two here. Morty justifiably is worried, seeing nothing but misery and literal signs of being in an authentic, fiery underworld. Rick, on the other hand, asserts that he is a man of science and that this facade can easily be explainable through a solution that he just hasn’t figured out yet.
Moving forward, they later run into other people, many of whom Rick has crossed in the past and are already known to have died a long time ago—another point towards this loose chance that the duo truly might have also died and truly landed in a doomed afterlife. Several banterings back and forth and an obvious DMV joke later, Rick and Morty are cornered against a fiery pit of lava before them, unsure of what is to come next.
Compared to a previous Rick and Morty comic I reviewed, there is so far nothing that indicates Go to Hell will be a huge upheaval or subversion to the series. Morty is constantly victimized by his mad scientist grandfather and we currently do not know what else will be the extent of that. Go to Hell’s first issue plays out straight with every beat one would see in the animated series.
In the classic Rick and Morty way, there is an answer to everything and when all will be revealed, our staple characters will revert back to their old selves. Rick and Morty truly fits the mold of what a cartoon is, in which the world and its eccentric ensemble is flexible enough to create a more expansive universe outside of its typical medium with no consequences or challenges to its canon.
Lead writer Ryan Ferrier sticks to the script, approaching Go to Hell with his own experience writing for comics of other IP like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Constanza Oroza’s art is also spot on, perfectly translating the animated series’ house style in this comic form with a looser interpretation that is mostly accurate to our familiarity with this cartoon cast. Characters at times go slightly off-model, but in a way that is intentionally dynamic to add freneticism to the still images.
For fans, Rick and Morty Go to Hell may likely not offer anything new, but it is another snapshot within a wacky world that can be enjoyed in conjunction with the animated series’ latest season.
