Review by Frank Plowright

The opening two hardcover collections were exclusively reprints of the ongoing Rick and Morty series, but that changed with Book Three, which revealed this series to be a chronological reprinting of all Rick and Morty comic stories. That being the case we once again have five regular issues, available as Volume Six, accompanied by a miniseries, in this case Pocket Like You Stole It.

Going forward, there are few issues of the regular series Kyle Starks won’t be involved with, but this remains the period where other writers were given their shot rather than being handed a miniseries. It means the weakest story here is the collaboration of Olly Moss and Sean Vanaman, starting with the good idea of testing how likely it is individuals could become Hitler. Jerry scores high. Unfortunately despite being handled by excellent artist CJ Cannon, the jokes don’t come as thick and fast as they do in a Starks script.

Starks’ opening collaboration with Cannon is one of their funniest, concerning an incredibly feral alien race handicapped by a genetic predisposition to politeness. Keep them socially ill at ease and they can be beaten. Starks and Cannon also collaborate on three fun chapters showing Jerry as his alternate world’s greatest intellect, but wanting more. Starks again gets to draw one of his own strips, and again proves the weakest artist included, but newcomer Benjamin Dewey moves completely away from the distinctive look via individual colouring. That’s another strange one, Starks supplying a straightforward medical drama. There are obviously worlds where the Smith family don’t generate laughs.

If the regular issues are a mixed bag, so’s the miniseries. The plus point is finding work for talented back-up artist Marc Ellerby (sample art), but it’s not a great debut for Tini Howard, who’ll later collaborate with Starks. She’s producing a comic version of a Rick and Morty phone game, the format of which is imitated too closely. It’s a rambling story heading round in circles that would have been far stronger at three chapters rather than five.

Ellerby illustrates all accompanying shorts, and writes half of them also. They’re all good, yet absent when some content is republished as the second Rick and Morty Compendium.