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 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."
This comic series contains examples of:
- Adventures in Comaland: The basic concept, as Joe spends most of the story dying of hypoglycemia.
- Eyepatch of Power: Draka the pirate wears one.
- The Cameo: Gray Ghost from Batman: The Animated Series appears in two cameos.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The sewer dwarves look fairly conventional, but are submarine-using pirates who eat what they can capture in the drains
- Sanity Slippage: Inverted with Joe. Whom starts off clearly unwell but slowly regains his sanity.
- Took a Level in Badass: Chakk/Jack used to be the coward among his brothers, but proves he is a mighty warrior. Joe also takes one as well.
