Joe the Barbarian Paperback – March 12, 2013

The charm offered by Joe the Barbarian is enough to draw you in, but it's the hypnotic effect it has on you that will make you stay. Written by the great Grant Morrison, Joe the Barbarian finds our young teen protagonist Joe in some dire straits. He's an extreme diabetic, he's home alone, and he seriously needs to get his sugar up. Making matters worse is the storm outside that kills the power inside his house, which really exacerbates the vivid hallucinations he has involving his action figures and his pet mouse Jack. It all sounds like a ridiculous mish-mash of non-sense that wouldn't work with any other writer, but Joe the Barbarian shockingly manages to do all just that. Morrison weaves a gripping and inventive tale, while artist Sean Murphy draws us such a gorgeously brilliant world that it becomes hard not to become trapped in it yourself. All in all, do yourself a favor and pick up Joe the Barbarian, you'll be glad that you did.

This is one of the more upfront and approachable stories I've read by Grant Morrison aside from WE3. The story does hinge on one twist which provides the setting and explains some of the fantasy elements (without giving anything way) but the delivery is not convoluted at all.Sean Murphy's art as always is spectacular with incredible detailing and world building. Overall a very enjoyable fantasy adventure comic with a solid delivery and ending. If you despise Grant Morrison's writing like some do, you may actually enjoy this and everyone else should love it. I repurchased this in hardcover since I loved the art so much.

I like what Morrison does about half the time, and I have yet to love anything he has done. This changed that.Really, the only thing holding this book back from the 5 stars is the terrible, lazy binding. The binding is glued, which is fine for a thin volume, but the binding was not pressed all the way into the cover before letting the glue dry. It looks like the whole inside will pop out of the cover. Its a shame because I want to enjoy this book till the day I die.The story is about Joe's journey through his imaginative fantasy realm as he struggles to navigate through his house to save his life from a hypoglycemic coma. It all seems to be a hallucination but that is the great thing about Morrison, he leaves just enough to leave you to think about it and decide.The book is fun. Its fun, it has depth and it is drawn so well. Morrison tells a great story about letting the fantasy realm parallel Joe's fears and obstacles, allowing us to take an analogous look at death, fear and courage and explore the idea of how our tendency towards escapism and imagination help us to resolve and make sense of the world we leave in. This is all made better because it lacks the confusing story telling methods Morrison often adopts.The only drawback is that it could have benefited from another issue to engage and build one or two of the other characters better. But that may have done more harm then good considering how great the pacing is.This will remind you of the 80s wonderment stories where imagination and adventure took the pilot's seat.

When I first saw the summary of this work, I was intrigued but unsure. I was wondering how the blend of story lines (our 'real world' and the one Joe seems to imagine) would work. My take on this graphic novel is that it worked excellently. Both the artwork and story line are excellent. The story doesn't lose its way in the transitions from one setting to another. The fantastic visions merge Joe's real world setting and characters into fantasy ones that are intriguing and that have dimension. I wasn't 100% sure how this would end; there's just enough intrigue to keep you wondering how it turns out. The ending was well done and clever. All in all I consider this a great read and visually superb.

I chose to get this comic because of the creative team behind it. I've always admired Sean Gordon Murphy's art and several comic books by Grant Morrison. JOE the Barbarian combined their awesomeness in one story. Thank you, Amazon, for making this available!The comic is about the troubled, diabetic Joe Manson who lives with his widowed mother in a house that they're about to lose. But this isn't a tear-jerking drama where Joe the loser finds himself bedridden in a bleak hospital. This is an adventure that blurs reality and a dimension where Joe has to fight for his life and save the kingdom that calls him their hero.What I love about JOE is how Murphy skillfully transports the reader back and forth between the two worlds in just a panel. Morrison's narration is simple and straightforward in itself but Murphy's art makes the story all the more compelling and more thrilling than it actually is. This is one of those comics that aren't meant to be read once but rather, reread for more appreciation. So go ahead, turn that tv off and prepare for a fantasy unlike any other.

nice to see the diabetic demographic taken into account

sean gordon murphy è un mostro di bravura..il suo tratto.. il suo porsi rende questa storia incredibile. la consigli oagl iamanti del genere

Thanks

Trade mark Morrison quest where all is not what it is perceived to be. Think The Filth without the filth and fury or Flex with toys instead of super hero archetypes. Particularly liked the Iron Knight as spectoral father figure trying to kill him, the ten year gap between wars in toy land and the need for battery power to keep the lights on there... Only four stars for the rather stretched portrayal of diabetes, but I'm nit picking really. The art is beautiful, particularly the naturalistic rats in the reality portions of the story. If you were a kid in the eighties you might have owned some of the toys- Me Grimlock! As ever the dialogue works on several levels and the dark forces are a chuckle. Well worth getting the hardcover with the notes by the artist. And how often can you say your reading an author with an MBE?

Not in good condition... acceptable at best. Amazing book though