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WORK TITLE: Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1988
WEBSITE: http://www.tinihoward.com
CITY: Wilmington
STATE: NC
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1988, in Washington, DC.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Comics writer.
AWARDS:First place, Top Cow Talent Hunt, 2013.
WRITINGS
Comic contributor to periodicals and websites, including Teen Vogue and Paste.
SIDELIGHTS
Tini Howard is a comics writer. She was born in Washington, DC, in 1988. Howard broke into the industry in 2013 as the winner of the Top Cow Talent Hunt. Her first comics credit came in 2014 with Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament. Howard continues to write comics for Top Cow and elsewhere, and is a regular contributor to Teen Vogue Online and Paste Online. She lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It is a Rick and Morty spinoff inspired by the “Rick and Morty” mobile app. Rick and Morty is an animated science fiction comedy show aired on Cartoon Network’s adult audience late-night program, Adult Swim. The show follows Rick Sanchez, a mad and brilliant scientist, and his naive and kindhearted grandson, fourteen-year-old Morty Smith, as they traverse the multiverse on various adventures. Different versions of the characters exist in the other dimensions that they visit, and they are regularly confronted by variant versions of themselves. Rick and Morty are portrayed as conflicting characters, with Rick’s crass, drunken behavior juxtapositioned with Morty’s youthful innocence. Their family’s domestic life is also highlighted in the show, with Morty’s parents and teenaged sister playing central roles in the action.
The premise of the mobile game upon which the comic book is based is that Rick is tasked with traveling around the multiverse to capture the numerous variant forms of Morty and force them to fight one another simply for the fun of it. The idea that Rick would force his grandson to fight variant versions of himself for entertainment fits with the dark, cynical tendencies of the character, who is a notorious drunken egomaniac.
Howard does not present the story from a third-person narrative. Instead, she chooses to focus on one of the Morty variants, telling the story from the eyes of the young character. Some of the Mortys that the narrator encounters include Mer-Morty, a half-mermaid creature who refuses to live on land; Ants-in-My-Eyes Morty, who is afflicted with the odd symptom of ants in his eyes; and vanilla Morty, a pathetic yet amusing version of the young teen. Howard uses dialogue to highlight the characteristic crass sense of humor that defines Rick and Morty. She uses humor, twists, and gags that resemble the comedy of the show while introducing her own unique perspective.
Marc Ellerby, a veteran to Rick and Morty illustrations, provides the artistic components of the book. He offers the familiar feel of the cartoon while adding his own flair and humor. Memorable additions include toilet paper stuck to Morty’s shoe, the facial reactions of characters to Rick’s drunken antics, and the disgruntled look on a squirrel’s face. Ellerby employs speed lines and humor to give the comic a sense of fast motion. Katy Farina, the colorist of the book, adds depth through her use of light.
The comic book opens with a statement that it is “day 14,” suggesting there will be more comics to come to explain the days that preceded this book. A contributor to the Big Comic Page website noted, “Authenticity is vitally important, and Howard does a solid job of making the characters sound just like their cartoon counterparts.” Jesse Scheeden at the IGN website described the book as “Lord of the Flies mixed with the bizarre, nihilistic sense of humor the show is known for.” Writing in Booklist, Briana Shemroske described Pocket Like You Stole It as “darkly funny [and] fantastically irreverent,” adding: “Maintaining continuity with the beloved Adult Swim cartoon, Howard’s witty adaptation stretches pop-culture parodies to gleefully absurd extremes.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist April 15, 2018, Briana Shemroske, review of Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It, p. 36.
ONLINE
AIPT!, http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/ (July 3, 201), review of Rick and Morty.
Big Comic Page, https://bigcomicpage.com/ (July 5, 2017), review of Rick and Morty.
IGN, https://www.ign.com/ (July 5, 2017), Jesse Schedeen, review of Rick and Morty.
Tini Howard website, http://www.tinihoward.com (November 9, 2018).*
About Tini Howard
Tini started out in comics as a winner of the 2013 Top Cow Talent Hunt, which is a pretty cool way to break in. Her debut comic publication - Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament was released by Image/Top Cow in December of 2014. Most recently, she's worked on Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It (Oni Press), Hack/Slash: Resurrection (Image), and her new creator-owned book with Eisner Hall of Famer Gilbert Hernandez, ASSASSINISTAS (Black Crown/IDW.)
Other projects include: The Secret Loves of Geek Girls (Dark Horse), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink (BOOM! Studios,) Magdalena: Reformation (Image/Top Cow), and more.
As a winner of the Top Cow Talent Hunt, Tini Howard's first comics credit was 2014's Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament. Since then, she's continued her work with Top Cow and elsewhere. She lives at the beach.
I started out in comics as a winner of the 2013 Top Cow Talent Hunt, which is a pretty cool way to break in. My debut comic publication - Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament was released by Image/Top Cow in December of 2014. Most recently, I’ve worked on projects like Poseidon IX (Image/Top Cow), The Secret Loves of Geek Girls (Bedside Press), and Oath Anthology.
I also write about comics - primarily for TeenVogue.com and Paste Magazine’s site.
Age: Dirty Thirty.
Whereabouts: Wilmington, NC.
Birthplace: DC. The US capital, not the Multiverse.
Starsign: Scorpio.
Hogwarts House: Slytherin.
Contact Info: tini.c.howard at gmail dot com.
Favorite Fictional Characters: Dick Grayson, Jessica Jones, Tony Stark, Dream of the Endless, Humbert Humbert, Meg Murray, Hannibal Lecter, Titus Pullo, Kara Thrace.
Where’d You Get Your Glasses?: zenni-optical. They don’t pay me to say that, I just get asked a lot.
Coffee? Cream, no sugar.
Tini started out in comics as a winner of the 2013 Top Cow Talent Hunt, which is a pretty cool way to break in. Her debut comic publication - Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament was released by Image/Top Cow in December of 2014. Most recently, she's worked on Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It (Oni Press), Hack/Slash: Resurrection (Image), and her new creator-owned book with Eisner Hall of Famer Gilbert Hernandez, ASSASSINISTAS (Black Crown/IDW.)
Other projects include: The Secret Loves of Geek Girls (Dark Horse), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink (BOOM! Studios,) Magdalena: Reformation (Image/Top Cow), and more.
As a winner of the Top Cow Talent Hunt, Tini Howard's first comics credit was 2014's Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament. Since then, she's continued her work with Top Cow and elsewhere. She lives at the beach.
Rick and Morty: Pocket like You Stole It
Briana Shemroske
Booklist. 114.16 (Apr. 15, 2018): p36.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Rick and Morty: Pocket like You Stole It.
By Tini Howard. Illus. by Marc Ellerby and Katy Farina.
Apr. 2018. 128p. Oni, paper, $19.99 (9781620104743). 741.5. Gr. 10-12.
A Rick and Morty spinoff inspired by the Pocket Mortys mobile app? Wubba lubba dub dub! In a dark corner of the multiverse, Mortys, Ricks, and even Jerrys abound. Yet not all alternate selves are created equal (just ask Ants-in-My-Eyes Morty); the belching, ever-enterprising Ricks and their elite squad, the Council of Ricks, rule the land. Hapless mutant Mortys, their subjects, are captured, chipped, and forced to fight. But thanks to a glitch in his manipulation chip, Morty--Plain Morty, that is--walks free, and this stuttering, pubescent antihero will stop at nothing to free his kind. Maintaining continuity with the beloved Adult Swim cartoon, Howard's witty adaptation stretches pop-culture parodies to gleefully absurd extremes. Here, riffs on virtual creature-collection games, including Pokemon and Neko Atsume, erupt in insatiable bloodlust. And though each hulking, butt-faced, arm-headed Rick and Morty variation is zanier than the last, Ellerby and Farina's portrayals of wide-eyed Morty, slobber-mouthed Rick, and their feverish, futuristic realm remain altogether distinctive. A darkly funny, fantastically irreverent addition to the Rick and Morty-verse--grab your portal guns and hop in.--Briana Shemroske
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Shemroske, Briana. "Rick and Morty: Pocket like You Stole It." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2018, p. 36. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537268114/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=37c78fee. Accessed 18 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537268114
Review – Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It #1 (Oni Press)
Posted on July 5, 2017 in Oni Press Reviews
Publisher: Oni Press
Writer: Tini Howard
Artwork: Marc Ellerby
Colours: Katy Farina
Release Date: 5th July 2017
Pokemon, amirite? Catching little animals and forcing them to fight each other for our amusement has long been the staple of video and card gaming, so it was always only ever going to be a matter of time before the team behind Rick and Morty turned their attention to this fundamentally peculiar craze.
Pocket Like You Stole It is based on the ‘Pocket Mortys’ mobile game, a game which sees Rick traversing the multiverse capturing all manner of weird and wonderful Mortys and forcing them to fight each other for fun (his, not theirs). As you’d expect, the inhumane barbarism of the premise is twisted into a distinctly Rick and Morty style here, balancing familiar science fiction and gaming tropes with some typically jet-black humour.
Writer Tini Howard shows a firm grasp of the voices of the characters, with some great verbal barbs being delivered by Rick. With such a beloved property, authenticity is vitally important, and Howard does a solid job of making the characters sound just like their cartoon counterparts, nailing Rick’s intermittent belching and Morty’s flustered stammer with consummate ease.
Artist Marc Ellerby’s Rick and Morty credentials are pretty much unquestioned by now, and he displays a comfortable grasp of the characters throughout the course of this issue. He’s also clearly having a blast with the variety of Mortys he gets to play around with, from the despondent, caged versions in Rick’s “zoobliette” to the lively assortment which grace the final page. Ellerby’s work is given an extra layer of polish thanks to the colours of Katy Farina, who captures the distinctive aesthetic of the show while still adding some of her own flair with the depth and shadow of the interior scenes.
The issue sees Morty trying to escape the clutches of Rick and attempting to lead his fellow Mortys in a mini revolution, with decidedly mixed results. It’s an enjoyable enough story, and definitely feels faithful to the show, but doesn’t quite deliver enough over the course of this first issue to make it an essential purchase. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great moments along the way, but it doesn’t quite capture that ol’ rick and Morty magic the way the majority of the cartoons – and a decent amount of Oni Press’s other comics – have managed to do, and lacks the ‘laugh out loud’ hilarity that often comes hand-in-hand with this particular franchise.
Fun, authentic, but not quite reaching those Szechuan sauce levels of “must have” just yet, this is still a great way to indulge your Rick and Morty fix while you’re waiting for the third season to premiere at the end of the month.
Rating: 3.5/5.
5 JUL 2017 6:58 AM PDT
RICK AND MORTY: POCKET IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT #1 REVIEW
Share. He wants to be the very best, like no Rick ever was.
BY JESSE SCHEDEEN It's shaping up to be a very good month for Rick and Morty fans. Not only is the animated series finally returning on July 30, but Oni Press is launching a new Rick and Morty spinoff comic book this week. And not just any spinoff, but one that adapts the mobile game Pocket Mortys. This may be an adaptation of an adaptation, but it also works as a legitimately entertaining adventure in its own right, one that should help fill the wait until the show returns.
Thankfully, writer Tini Howard doesn't attempt a straightforward adaptation of the game (which is basically a parody of the Pokemon series). Instead, Howard frames the comic from the perspective of one of the many Mortys who have become pawns in Rick's quest to complete his collection. This issue could probably have benefited from offering a little more background on the Pocket Mortys concept rather than opening in media res two weeks into Morty's captivity, but there's something to be said for just skipping to the good stuff.
What follows is a goofy but bleak little misadventure that feels worthy of the source material. It's basically Lord of the Flies mixed with the bizarre, nihilistic sense of humor the show is known for. Howard and artist Marc Ellerby get plenty of mileage out of showcasing all the strange, varied Morty permutations Rick has assembled for his collection. There's Mer-Morty, a half-boy, half-fish who doesn't take well to living in dry captivity. There's Ants-In-My-Eyes Morty, a character who capitalizes on an amusing gag from the show without wearing out said gag. Even vanilla Morty makes of an amusing protagonist, one who's laughably pathetic yet rendered just well enough that the reader can't help but root for him.
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Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this series is the way that Rick is painted as such an overt villain. Rick is a crass, self-absorbed, thoughtless person on his best day, but here we see what the Rick/Morty dynamic is like when the former shows absolutely no sense of attachment or affection towards the latter. Hopefully that angle is something the series will emphasize going forward. As entertaining as Morty's struggle is, it's hard to imagine that alone keeping the momentum going for five straight issues.
Ellerby is a veteran of the Rick and Morty comics, so it goes without saying that his style captures the look and feel of the show while bringing its own flavor to the table. This issue is crammed with memorable sight gags and little touches that enhance the off-kilter nature of this universe. Colorist Katy Farina brings a welcome sense of depth to Ellerby's work thanks to her use of lighting.
The art has some weak moments, however, generally revolving around wonky perspective shots. An early scene stands out particularly in this regard, with each panel offering a completely different sense of how far above the ground a particular object is resting. In general, the art quality doesn't quite hold steady when the action heats up.
The Verdict
Pocket It Like You Stole It is an enjoyable addition to Oni's growing Rick and Morty library. This first issue captures the look, feel and general sense of humor of the show while also offering a different perspective on the mobile gaming source material. The art quality doesn't always hold up, but fans hungry for more Rick and Morty could do far worse.
A genuinely funny comic, though it might be difficult to get into for those who don’t play the mobile game.
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Rick and Morty isn’t just a highly successful TV show. It’s also been spun off into a popular mobile game and several comics. Now, even the spin-offs are getting spin-offs; Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It is inspired by the Pocket Mortys game, a parody of Pokémon. In the game, the player — who takes on the role of Rick — captures and fights different Mortys. The comic’s story, which is written by Tini Howard (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink) with art by Marc Ellerby (Rick and Morty: Lil’ Poopy Superstar; Rick and Morty), follows an escaped Morty who wishes to free himself and the other Mortys from the Ricks. Pocket Like You Stole It #1 is certainly a funny comic, but there are problems with the pacing in the first issue that have me wondering where the mini-series is going. Additionally, while the art is often the most entertaining part of the comic, there are a few places where it’s inconsistent, which can be jarring.
The Good: Funny and Dynamic
Howard’s dialogue really matches the iconic combination of crass, shocking, and intelligent that defines the show’s style of humor. She does a particularly good job with Ants In My Eyes Morty, who is so dense and one-noted that his constant repetition of the fact that he has ants in his eyes comes off just like it would if he was on the show. There are also several instances of cutaway gags and twists related to the main Mortys’ incompetence that make it hard not to laugh. While not every Morty gets a chance to speak or act, when they do, they always bring something funny to the table by through their slight variations.
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It #1
Not Mer-Morty!
As funny as the dialogue and plot are, much of the humor relies on Ellerby’s art, and he crafts some genuinely great sight gags. Ellerby draws little details — like toilet paper on Rick’s shoe, the reactions of various characters to Morty’s bumbling, and even the annoyed look on a squirrel’s face — that are tremendously funny. Each one livens up the action and exposition panels to the effect of yielding a comic that tries, and succeeds, to be funny at all times. Ellerby also injects a kineticism into the art through the use of speed lines and motion that help make the entire comic feel alive and active, like a cartoon.
The Bad: Where Are We Going With This Again?
There are issues with the comic’s pacing. Pocket Like You Stole It doesn’t give readers much indication as to where it’s going next and it blows through plot at a remarkable pace. While it’s clear that the series is going to feature Morty escaping from various Ricks, I’m not sure if that’s enough to be entertaining over several issues or if it will get repetitive.
There are also parts of the plot that are glossed over that really should be given more exploration. The beginning of the comic notes that it’s “day 14,” but it’s not yet clear what that means or how Morty got into the predicament we find him in. Later comics might answer that question, but it makes the start rather jarring. It’s not clear if Morty has previously escaped or if it’s been 14 days since he came to the world of Pocket Mortys.
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It #1
Look at that vert!
Ellerby’s art is by no means perfect, and its problems come down to consistency. There are several scenes where it feels like details change between them. Even in the above panels of Morty jumping for the food, the perspective is quite off. While in the middle two panels, the snacks appear close to the ground, seemingly close enough that Morty could just grab them, they’re quite high off the ground in the final panel. The sequence is entertaining, but it doesn’t hold up to more scrutiny. That might be part of the joke; I just wish it was clearer.
Is It Good?
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It is a solid comic with some great laughs. However, the series is probably more suited to people who have played the video game as opposed to those who haven’t.