Joe the Barbarian [Hardcover]

Grant Morrison (Author), Sean Murphy (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: November 8, 2011

One of the hottest writers in the industry, Grant Morrison, brings this Home Alone meets The Lord of the Rings story to life.

Joe is an imaginative eleven year-old boy. He can’t fit in at school. He’s the victim of bullies. His dad died overseas in the Iraq war. He also suffers from Type 1 diabetes. One fateful day, his condition causes him to believe he has entered a vivid fantasy world in which he is the lost savior — a fantastic land based on the layout and contents of his home. His desperate attempts to make it out of his bedroom transform into an incredible, epic adventure through a bizarre landscape of submarine pirate dwarves, evil Hell Hounds, Lightning Lords and besieged castles. But is his quest really just an insulindeprived delirium — from which he can die if he doesn’t take his meds — or something much bigger?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gorgeous and haunting... a success." (IGN)" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Grant Morrison is a Scottish writer, known for being one of the most innovative and groundbreaking creators ever in the comics medium.  His careers spans over two decades, in which many of his most notable and critically acclaimed works have come from DC Comics and Vertigo. After his work in the 80s on 2000 AD in the United Kingdom, Morrison moved onto DC's ANIMAL MAN, followed up by original graphic novel BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM, THE INVISIBLES, DOOM PATROL and a award-winning run on DC's superteam JLA. Other critically acclaimed projects include FINAL CRISIS, BATMAN R.I.P., SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY, WE3, BATMAN & ROBIN, BATMAN, INC., ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and JOE THE BARBARIAN. He is currently writing SUPERMAN: ACTION COMICS as a part of DC COMICS - THE NEW 52. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo; Deluxe edition (November 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401229719
• ISBN-13: 978-1401229719
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.7 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #518,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Grant Morrison is one of comics' greatest innovators. His long list of credits includes Batman: Arkham Asylum, JLA, Seven Soldiers, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, The Invisibles and The Filth. He is currently writing Batman and All-Star Superman.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inner magic August 26, 2011

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I have to give Grant Morrison credit -- few writers could turn a trip to the refrigerator into an epic fantasy adventure. But somehow he manages to do that in "Joe the Barbarian," deftly blurring the lines of fantasy and reality inside one young boy's head. It reads like a cross between "Alice in Wonderland" and "Lord of the Rings," but with more steampunk.

Joe is at home alone with his pet rat Jack. Joe also happens to be diabetic, and bullies stole his snacks earlier that day. When his blood sugar plummets, he struggles to get down the stairs despite his hallucinations and delusions. In his head, he is the legendary Dying Boy, prophesied to save a strange fantasy world from the evil King Death. Oh, and Jack is a giant talking warrior-rat who comes along to help him.

In the real world, Joe is seriously ill and stumbling through his home, trying to get some soda pop before he falls into a diabetic coma. His hallucinating brain sees everything around him -- a bathtub, a staircase, a vicious dog -- as being part of a vast fantasy world, where airpunk planes fly, dwarves are in steampunk submarines, and ruined cities lead into the final battle.

Will Joe and Jack survive -- both in the real world and in the fantasy one -- and what secrets will be revealed to them if they do?

"Joe the Barbarian" is a simple story, and the beauty of it is in the execution. Grant Morrison takes a simple everyday problem, and manages to expand it into an epic quest, in a world as colorful, wild and strange as a kid's imagination. He even throws in a surprising twist near the end, adding a new dimension to Joe's quest for survival.

Also, the artwork is gorgeous.... The real world is dark, shadowy, and filled with torrential rain, while Joe's inner world is exploding with color, strange inventions (steampunk submarines!), and expansive bright skies that seem to go forever.

However, Morrison also gives you the feeling that this world is starting to crumble into chaos because of King Death, and we even get some glimpses of what he's turning it into. And while he inserts some fun comic relief (there's a "giant" dwarf, who is basically normal-sized) and breathtaking action scenes, we never forget that the stakes are very real, and that our hero could easily die.

Joe himself is a solid classic protagonist -- quiet, remote, artistic, and a little embittered by his dad's untimely death. But he also has a lot of courage, as evidenced by his standoff against his enemy. Jack is almost as well-rounded a character, even in the real world -- he's a sweet little rat who obviously loves his owner, worries about him, and even takes on a giant dog to defend him.

"Joe the Barbarian" is a gorgeous piece of work, and Grant Morrison obviously lavished it with care. Beautiful art and a likable young hero... and the most adorable rat you'll ever see. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Short Series November 9, 2011

By Reena10589

Format:Hardcover

I accidentally picked up and read issue number two a few months back, I was so intrigued by what I read that when the trade became available I had to own it. The story line is intricate enough that while I am reading to my kids that I am intrigued. I re-read some pages multiple times just to deduce that fine line between 'realities' that the main character has to deal with. The Story line is also easily understood by the kids (their version of it). The graphics are fabulous and provide endless 'eye candy'!

I have even bought extra copies to give out as Christmas gifts. Definitely 5 stars

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Holding out for a hero March 25, 2012

By Noel TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

This world: Joe Manson is a high school boy, likes drawing, is diabetic, has a pet rat called Jack and no friends, has a single mother working to save their house while his father is buried in a military grave having died fighting overseas.

The other world: Joe the Barbarian is a prophet called "The Dying Boy" who must traverse mountains, castles full of cowardly inventors, submarines full of toilet dwarves, with his companion, a fighting warrior rat called Jack, dodging flying demons, laser gun fights, epic battles, to flood the land with light and the Fountain of Life, and destroy evil King Death.

Grant Morrison writes a hugely inventive story of fantastic proportions, throwing in tropes from every fantasy story ever written of the band of heroes on a quest to destroy evil and save kingdoms of innocents. Joe is diabetic and it seems that his low blood sugar has triggered a vivid hallucination as he struggles to go from his bedroom attic to the kitchen downstairs to drink a soda and keep him from going into hypoglycaemic shock. But anyone who's read Morrison before or knows anything about him, knows that he is a true believer in parallel worlds and that there's more to life than we can see with our eyes. This book mirrors that philosophy as the smallest things in the "real world" are brought to life in the "other world", for example Joe makes himself a bath but forgets to turn off the tap causing the water to pour from the tub into the room and down the stairs, creating a new waterfall across the mountains in the other world....

While there's very little explanation for the who what where and why of the story, and Morrison just plunges the reader from the real world into this fantasy world, I felt that the pure energetic gusto of the storytelling coupled with Sean Murphy's superb artwork made this book an exceptional read for pure creativity alone. The story makes some sense once you read it and realise that it's this boy's way of understanding and coping with his father's death, though Morrison wants the reader to also believe in the fantastic, that it's out there and it's real and it's symbols in this world mean that it exists just beyond our reach - a near death experience can bring us into it, however briefly.

I think that if the reader allows the force of Morrison and Murphy's imaginations wash over themselves, this book will be enjoyable though at times frustratingly melodramatic and incongruous. "Joe the Barbarian" is nothing if not ambitious in its scope and incredibly creative throughout, though not without its flaws. Read more ›

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrible binding, fantastic story February 10, 2012

By Scrantonicity

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.