Joe the Barbarian #8

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

While it's nice to see that Morrison and Murphy's hallucinatory epic has finally finished, I think the wait between the seventh and eighth issues was long enough that I more or less stopped caring about this title and its characters.

The series has always been a little strange.  It's about a boy named Joe who, in a hypoglycemic episode, has imagined his house as a strange fantasy world where his pet rat and his toys take on mythic proportions, and the spectre of King Death looms over everyone.

The story has been pretty conventional, and this issue is no exception.  It reads more like a young adult comic than anything Morrison has ever written, and when taken in that sense, it's very good, but when read as a Grant Morrison comic, it feels a little lacking (there is no reason why this should be labeled a 'mature readers' comic.

The strength of this title has been Sean Murphy's artwork.  His designs of the house and the mythical world of Hypogeia are fantastic, as is his figure work.  This comic would have been a lot less impressive in the hands of another artist.

Joe the Barbarian #7

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

In the two and a half months since the last issue of this comic came out, I thought I'd lost interest.  I'd been enjoying Morrison's riff on the old CBC show The Odyssey (which might not be an inspiration, but the parallels are clear), but was starting to find it a little drawn out.  When I saw this issue finally showing up in my pull-file, I expected to be underwhelmed.

Instead, I quickly got back into Joe's story, as he and the various denizens of Playtown (more on whom momentarily) face off against King Death's forces, Joe reaches the Fountain of Life (ie. the soda in the fridge), and then has to make some hard choices about what he does with it.  The pacing of this issue is excellent, and I appreciate some of the more bizarre asides (like the blue crabs).  Now I'm eagerly looking forward to the last issue.

Murphy's art is as great as it's been throughout this series.  The big kick in this issue comes from seeing which DC, Star Trek, Transformers, and other characters get the Playtown treatment and show up in the comic, albeit slightly altered to avoid copyright issues.  There's a lot to look at with this comic, and it's worth reading through it slowly to absorb all the details.

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.

Joe the Barbarian #5

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

There's not much new to say about this book at this point in the series.  Joe is continuing his quest, which depending on which layer of reality you're thinking about, is either to get a soda from the kitchen, or to fulfill his destiny as the Dying Boy and protect or restore the Light to the Kingdom.

What I like about this series is the way that Morrison has arranged all of the different elements so carefully.  Back in the first issue, I remember it being odd that Joe left the front door of his house open.  In an establishing shot last issue, I noticed the dog standing out in the yard of a house on the same street.  Well, in this issue, the dog comes in to Joe's house.  It's a big scene in the story, and I appreciate the care that was put into setting it up.

As usual, the art in this comic is fantastic.

Joe the Barbarian #4

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

There's not a whole lot to say about this title at this point.  It continues to be an exciting story, as Joe continues to flip back and forth between the real world and the fantasy world where he is the prophesied 'Dying Boy', and the target of Lord Death (horrid name).

This issue does give us a little more exposition about Joe's strange value in this world, this time coming from a group of animal skull wearing science monks who take vows of cowardice.  See, that's why I like this series.  Morrison is really just playing around here, and letting his creative juices flow all over the place.

The art, as usual, is stunningly good, and this series continues to be a lot of fun.  I'm not sure why it's a Vertigo series, as it's not really a 'mature readers' title so far as I can tell.  If anything, it's a little more young adult than anything else.

Joe the Barbarian #3

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

Morrison's latest Vertigo title continues to be an entertaining ride, as it takes on more of the classic features of a hero's quest, now saddling Joe and Jack with the company of Smoot, a giant dwarf (which means he's Joe's size) from a kingdom of submarine pirates that (I think) live in the pipes of Joe's house.

The story continues to cut between Joe's adventures in some fantasy land with his attempts to get himself to the kitchen for some soda (he's hypoglycemic remember) in interesting and visually arresting ways. There is a little more background information provided this time around, as we learn a little more about the 'Dying Boy', a prophesied hero that everyone assumes is Joe.

The big draw of this book continues to be the art, as Murphy is doing some amazing stuff here. I found it interesting that, considering the book's content, that Morrison would have a character use the phrase 'the stuff of legend'. Intentional shout-out?

Joe the Barbarian #2

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy
Little more is revealed than in last issue, as Joe continues to flit between the reality of his house and a strange fantasy world where his toys have come to life. He is now being helped by Jack, who is his pet mouse in the real world.

I'm not sure where Morrison is going with this. So far, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of comment on childhood, it's just been a straight up adventure story, wherein the protagonist desperately needs some glucose.

As with the first issue, the pace is very quick, but the art is fantastic. I love Murphy's way of re-drawing familiar (and copyrighted) icons of commercial childhood. The plastic Lego trees would be a favorite, just for the associations their image evoked.

I know that this title has become a source of some controversy, and I don't think it's Morrison's best work, but it's enjoyable.

Joe the Barbarian #1

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Sean Murphy

I'm not too sure how to respond to this first issue. I see from quickly perusing a few different review sites, that I'm not the only person to have found the beginning of Morrison's newest Vertigo title to be a little problematic. Where some people are complaining that not much happens, I think my problem is more that a lot of stuff is happening that I can't recognize or comprehend just yet. All I know is I want to know more, which I suppose is the hallmark of a good monthly comic.

The book is very decompressed, and things do move rather slowly, but this doesn't bother me for two reasons: 1. I trust Morrison completely as a writer; if things are moving slowly, there's a reason for it; and 2. Sean Murphy is an amazing artist, and I would gladly buy a whole book of his interior design ideas, if they looked as good as Joe's house and bedroom look here.

The story takes its time establishing that Joe is your typical nerdy diabetic or hypoglycemic kid with an over-active imagination, good art skills, and slightly dysfunctional home life. He gets picked on by the school bullies, and rescued by the nice girl. Where some reviewers complain that the book is just trotting out old stereotypes, I think the fact that Morrison has Joe acknowledge this is proof that something more is going on. When Joe gets home, strangely leaving the front door open, he somehow gets transported to a fantasy world where his toys have come to life, and suffered some form of catastrophe. Or, he just goes into diabetic shock. I'm not really sure yet, and imagine I won't be for a while longer.

Reading this comic brought to mind a few things: Th3rd World Studios' excellent comic The Stuff of Legend was the first comparison I made, as it has similar content. I also thought of (or more like, remembered from somewhere in the depths of my memory) the CBC show The Odyssey, and the "Visions of Counterpane" stuff in William Vollmann's first novel, You Bright and Risen Angels.

While I understand that some people may have been less than satisfied with this comic, I found it fascinating and rich, and look forward to reading the rest of the series. The fact that it only cost a dollar, in my mind at least, meant that it could be as decompressed as it wanted to be, I was getting my money's worth regardless.