[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Joe_the_barbarian_cover_7871.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Meet Joe. He's having trouble keeping a grip on reality.]]

An eight issue limited series published by Vertigo, written by Grant Morrison, and drawn by Sean Murphy.

Joe is a boy with problems. His father died in the Iraq War, he's bullied at school, he suffers from Type 1 diabetes, and he and his mother are facing an impending eviction. His only solace is found in his pet rat Jack and his vivid imagination.

After bullies steal a candy bar that Joe needs to maintain his sugar levels, he began to hallucinate an entirely new world: one of soldier toys, cowardly wizards, nautical dwarves, and a prophesy that foretells the coming of "The Dying Boy". Their world is itself dying from the encroachment of a great darkness-- one that seems strangely familiar to Joe.

With nothing but a zap gun and and his rat Jack-- now a towering armored warrior wielding [[{{BFS}} an enormous sword]]-- Joe goes on a journey to restore light to the land and return to the world he knows.

Morrison stated that when writing the story they were aiming for a "real proper kind of 'Lord of the Rings,''Alice in Wonderland' all-ages story for today."

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!!This comic series contains examples of:
%%* ActionGirl: ZYXY
* AdventuresInComaland: The basic concept, as Joe spends most of the story dying of hypoglycemia.
%%* AndYouWereThere
%%* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Several waves of them, made of people Joe had encountered previously]]
* EyepatchOfPower: Draka the pirate wears one.
* TheCameo: Gray Ghost from ''Batman: The Animated Series'' appears in two cameos.
%%* IfIDoNotReturn: Joe attempts this.
%%* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: Done in a manner similar to ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard.''
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The sewer dwarves look fairly conventional, but are submarine-using pirates who eat what they can capture in the drains
* SanitySlippage: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with Joe. Whom starts off clearly unwell but slowly regains his sanity.
%%* SplashPanel
* TookALevelInBadass: Chakk/Jack used to be the coward among his brothers, but proves he is a mighty warrior. Joe also takes one as well.
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