Rick And Morty Verses Cthulhu #4 - Oni Press

RICK AND MORTY VERSES CTHULHU No. 4, March 2023

Rather neatly tying this mini-series in with one of the animated science-fiction sitcom’s most beloved opening title sequences, which depicts Rick Sanchez desperately fleeing the wrath of Cthulhu whilst harbouring a baby cosmic entity aboard his flying saucer, this twenty-two page periodical’s epilogue certainly must have pleased many a viewer of Adult Swim’s show. However, as to whether the rest of Jim Zub’s narrative proved entertaining is arguably another question entirely, with much of what precedes this comic’s conclusion proving to be something of a disorientating, expletive-laden exploration of H.P. Lovecraft’s less tangible eldritch horrors; “It doesn’t matter how many apostrophes and f**ked-up sounds you use. No one is impressed, okay?!”

For starters though, the Canadian author pens a surprisingly endearing look at what would happen to young Morty should he become the adopted son of Dagon and “look like a f**king fish.” Composed in the form of a letter the fourteen-year old plans to send his biological parents from his underwater grotto, this lengthy sequence seemingly strikes an engaging balance between the sentimentally of parenthood and obligatory gratuitous violence whenever the Fish-God rises from the depths to savagely slaughter any vessel’s crew foolish enough not to offer the deity a human sacrifice or two.

In addition, there’s plenty of short-lived fun to be found when “the Smartest Man in the Universe” returns home to rescue Jerry Smith from a supernaturally-powerful possessed Beth, and inadvertently drags his gibbering son-in-law straight into the sharp-toothed maws of the Hounds of Tindalos, who were hiding inside his space vessel. Indeed, despite the brevity of Troy Little’s dynamically-drawn chase and frenzied laser-gun shoot-out, there’s some genuine belly laughs to be found as Sanchez honestly appears determined to save the drug-addled “stay-at-home dad”.

Disappointingly however, the rest of this book almost appears to be a case of Zub writing himself into a corner as Rick somehow kills Cthulhu with a rocket launcher, and then begrudgingly acquiesces to the “original existential terror pulled from mankind’s deepest subconscious” so his now dead family will be miraculously returned to their normal lives. This ‘hard reset’ is rather disheartening after all the trials and tribulations the titular characters have endured beforehand, and despite the aforementioned association to the cartoon’s credits, it might have been better if the storyline had simply continued in its exploration of the Mythos tales as it did in its first issue, rather than have Sanchez lose a debate with a cognisant philosophical dilemma.

Written by: Jim Zub, Illustrated by: Troy Little, and Coloured by: Nick Filardi