Remember when you were the loser in high school for not playing D&D? All the most popular and sexually active teens were doing it? Rollin’ d20s like it ain’t no thang. They like to hit that with multiple crit. Naw, I’m sayin’ my DMs? Remember?
Me neither. Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons (much like Pepperidge Farms) remembers. At least that’s the way they remember it for the sake of setting up the plot.
It’s a bit formulaic, but like 409, it’s a formula that works. Morty needs Rick’s help, Rick begrudgingly/excitedly helps him in an overblown fashion, and somehow the rest of the family is worked into the episode (issue), as well. Like I said, the formula works. This time, Morty needs help with… wait for it… getting a girl to like him. The twist? She’s into Dungeons & Dragons. Shock and surprise for the reader! Wizards of the Coast fans roar with thunderous applause that they may finally read something exciting about D&D other than fan fic about the forbidden love between a Cleric and a Bard.
The voice of the series is there within the pages of Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons immediately. It translates smoothly into the medium, like taking the series’ storyboards to page instead of screen. Written by Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Zub, and with art by Troy Little, RMvDD gets to do what the series often can’t, and that is take its time. The responsibility to wrap up a story in 21 minutes or a one-shot issue is out the door. As the collection (issues #1 – 4) progresses you find yourself immersed in the worlds of both titles, hearing dialogue in Rick’s belchy cadence or finding Easter eggs that you would normally have to freeze the screen to catch. References to previous characters and locales abound, and it’s fun as hell seeing callbacks to pop culture past. I found myself catching new jokes each time I read it. I read it twice.
Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons is an easy pick up for Dub Dubs and DMs alike. If you’ve been holding off from getting a Rick and Morty title until they did a D&D crossover, your time has come. Grab your portal gun and roll for stats, it’s time to read the book. As long as it isn’t 4th edition, right, folks? Haha. Right? Where my Dice-heads at? D&D peeps feel me.
You can thank me later.