Joe the Barbarian #6

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

Grant Morrison's fairy tale story about a hypoglycemic boy flitting between two worlds - his own and a fantasy world where he is a legendary figure, the Dying Boy - is coming close to its end, as Joe finds his way to Hearth Castle, the only place left in the kingdom with light and power, for now at least.

There, he is welcomed by the citizenry who recognize him for his legendary status, and by the flood of refugees who have arrived from the attic.  This issue is filled with some of the toy-based characters we saw at the end of the first issue, and although they are not given important roles in this comic, it is kind of cool to see Murphy's take on the main DC characters like Wonder Woman and Batman, but also on characters from various sci-fi movies, tv programs, and toy lines.

I'll be honest in saying that I'm getting a little bored with the whole 'kid needs to get to the kitchen for a soda but is instead in a fantasy land' plot.  Things are starting to feel a little stretched out or decompressed, like this might have worked better as a six-issue series instead of eight, but then, I do like the way Morrison is writing these characters, especially Smoot, the giant dwarf, and Sean Murphy's art is wonderful.