Rick and Morty – Let the Rick One In is a graphic novel, jointly written by Kyle Starks & Tini Howard and illustrated by Marc Ellerby, and released in two parts throughout 2018 by Oni Press, as the eighth volume of the comic series based on the television series of the same name by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. Part One, "Part I", was released on April 25, 2018, while Part Two, "Part II", was released on May 30, 2018. Published with the one-shots A Jerry Bad Day, Rick Air, and Battle Rickale (with backup stories written by Josh Trujillo and illustrated by Rii Abrego), respectively released on March 28, June 27, and July 25 (all 2018), and respectively written by Starks and illustrated by Katy Farina, it is followed by the story arc Rick Revenge Squad. The series' name is a reference to the 2004 Swedish John Ajvide Lindqvist vampire novel Let the Right One In and its 2008 Tomas Alfredson romantic horror film adaptation of the same name. In October 2018, Let the Rick One In was republished as the Rickmobile Special, exclusively available from the Rickmobile (the Rick and Morty traveling shop), with an exclusive variant cover by Dean Rankine.
The main storyline, a direct continuation of the 2015 second season episode "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez" by Alex Rubens, received a universally positive critical reception, comparatively compared to existing vampire novels, described as "pleasingly [reading] like an Adult Swim episode of Rick and Morty".
Overview
Let the Rick One In is set one year after the events of the 2015 second season episode "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez", a "vampire-y two parter" following Coach Feratu's vampire clan as they seek revenge for his murder at the hands of Morty and Summer Smith and Tiny Rick. As Morty becomes a vampire, Summer bonds with the eternal youths of the horde.
The storyline's name is a reference to the novel and film Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Plot
Part I
During the events of "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez", Summer Smith kills vampire gym teacher Coach Feratu with a stake through the heart, while her brother Morty and Tiny Rick kill Feratu's followers. One year later, Summer and Morty are kidnapped by different vampires on the way home from a dance, and brought to a Castle of "Draculas" in another country, the coven leader of which seeks revenge for Feratu's murder. Brought to separate rooms to be turned into vampires, Morty quickly decides to go along with it on learning he can have his own brides, while Summer quickly brings the vampires in her room (eternal teenagers, including Feratu's son "Feratu Junior") under her service, who are in awe of her knowledge as a 17-year-old. One week later, Rick and Beth realise Morty is a vampire after raiding his room (previously believing him to have gotten past the house's parental controls), and finding he has been having orgies with six vampire women in there for the entire week (after returning home from the castle). While Rick and Jerry are open to staking Morty, Beth convinces them to try curing him instead, before they raid Morty's room, kill his brides, and inject him with a substance to lead them to where Summer is (on realising she has also been gone for days), with Rick excited at the prospect of killing more vampires in the next issue.
Part II
On making their way to the vampires' castle, using a Morty as a (floating) tracker, Rick, Beth, and Jerry enter the compound, deducing that killing the vampire coven leader will revert Morty to normal, while elsewhere inside, Summer regales her teenage vampire posse of tales of the Sun (the God of the Daytime). As Rick and Jerry take on hundreds of vampires "Jet Li"-style, the coven leader kidnaps Beth and Jerry. As Rick and the coven leader argue about how his "revenge" of turning Morty into a vampire only made him "cool", Summer enters with her posse (with an oblivious Jerry staking Feratu Junior) before having them free Morty, whom Beth sets upon the leader's head, as Summer stakes him through the heart herself. As the posse celebrate with Summer, Jerry ponders when Morty will turn back into a human, while Beth laughs as Rick remarks again on how "cool" Morty is as a vampire.