While the Rick and Morty season 8 continues, viewers who enjoy the series might be tempted to check out the tie-in comics. The Rick and Morty comics began in 2015, written by Zac Gorman, Kyle Starks, and Alex Firer, and illustrated by Marc Elllerby. Book One consists of two volumes published between 2015 and 2016, while Book Two consists of two volumes released in 2016.

Book Three, which contains volumes 5 and 6, arrived in 2017, and the series continued apace until Book Six ended in 2020 with Volume 12. Since then, a second series began in 2023 and continues to this day, while 18 limited series and four one-shots have been released beginning in 2016 and 2021 respectively. Although Rick and Morty’s season 7 finale as the show’s best outing in years, many fans argue online that the comics are as inventive, original, and unpredictable as the series proper. This might lead viewers to wonder if they share the same canon.

The Rick And Morty Comics Come From A Different Creative Team

Rick and Morty’s Tie-In Comics Offer A Fresh Look At The Characters

Since Rick and Morty is so self-referential and surreal, it can be tricky to work out the show’s internal canon. However, one thing viewers can be certain of is Rick and Morty’s comics come from a totally different creative team than the TV series. Limited series like Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons and Rick and Morty vs. Cthulhu are written by the legendary Jim Zub, while 2021’s four-issue limited series Rick and Morty: Corporate Assets was penned by James Asmus.

The comics allow their creative team to play with concepts and themes that the show itself has never gotten around to addressing. Although Rick and Morty season 8 promises an Easter special, bizarrely, the tie-in comics include the show’s first Halloween and New Year’s celebrations. 2024’s Rick or Treat Halloween Special and 2025's New Year, New Rick Special were both standalone one-shots that allowed the comics to touch on holidays the series hasn’t acknowledged yet.

initially, the Rick and Morty comics were explicitly about different versions of Rick and Morty who lived in another reality from the one depicted in the show.

This would be a lot easier if the comics took place in a separate timeline that was completely unrelated to the show’s canon and, indeed, this was the case throughout the first two volumes. Initially, the Rick and Morty comics were explicitly about different versions of Rick and Morty who lived in another reality from the one depicted in the show. The Rick and Morty of the comic timeline, helpfully dubbed “C-132,” went on adventures that shared the show’s anarchic sense of humor, but not its literal continuity.

The Comic Books Were Initially About Alternate Versions Of Rick And Morty

Rick and Morty’s First Two Volumes Of Comics Didn’t Share The Show’s Reality

In the first two volumes of the first Rick and Morty comic book, Rick and Morty’s comic counterparts originally existed in another reality. This helped the comics to establish a world of their own and let them feel like more than a mere extension of the series. In literal , the comics were a reality unto themselves, so their plots didn't need to align with what the show offered viewers. However, this self-imposed distance didn’t last too long.

Rick And Morty’s Comics Eventually Shifted Into The Main Versions Of The Character

Rick and Morty’s Comics Are Now Part Of The Show’s Universe

After volumes 1 and 2 clarified that the comics took place in an entirely different reality, volume 3 changed this completely. Rick and Morty’s comics take place in the same canon as the TV show from volume 3 onward, which is when they change their focus to center on Rick and Morty C-137. Much like Rick and Morty broke its time travel rule only once, the comics only stayed separate from the show’s canon for their first few issues.

This is a series where, in the comics and the TV show alike, characters can move between dimensions, realities, and timelines with relative frequency and ease.

Once the first two volumes were over, every Rick and Morty comic from 2016 onwards shared its continuity with the show. This s for the vast majority of the comic output, including volumes 3-12 of the original run and the entirety of the ongoing revival. Of course, saying that the show and the comics share the same canon is a pretty minor distinction in the chaotic world of Rick and Morty. This is a series where, in the comics and the TV show alike, characters can move between dimensions, realities, and timelines with relative frequency and ease.

As a result, it arguably doesn’t really matter when Rick and Morty’s comics share the show’s timeline. After all, both the show and the comics are united in their disdain for anything resembling a clear, coherent canon. ittedly, Rick and Morty’s TV series has started to embrace more straightforward serialized storytelling a little more since season 5’s finale, but there are still plenty of episodes that laugh off the idea of the show establishing a coherent narrative throughline.

The Rick And Morty Comics Are Better Perceived As Being Their Own Thing

Rick and Morty’s Conics Work On Their Own

Although Rick’s season 7 character development proves that the show’s characters do grow and change, this doesn’t mean that their reality necessarily remains consistent. A big part of what makes Rick and Morty so much fun is the show’s loose attitude toward canon and its playful approach to storytelling, and neither the comics nor the show should sacrifice this for the sake of consistency.

Since the world of Rick and Morty doesn’t primarily rely on serialized storytelling, the comics can be approached as a world of their own. Whether or not viewers consider them part of the same continuity, the comics work better as standalone adventures, and it ultimately doesn’t matter if they “Happened” within the world of the show or not. The important takeaway from the comics is that they provide the show’s beloved characters with another medium for their surreal misadventures.

Since a live-action Rick and Morty wouldn’t really work, the comics are perhaps the best way to expand the world of the series, whether they literally take place in the same reality as the show or not. The canon of the comics and the show is immaterial compared to the creative freedom that Rick and Morty’s tie-in comics provide the team behind them, who make the most of this with offbeat plots that would make the show proud.

Source: IMDb