I'd say 3 stars for the story and 4 stars for the art. I picked this up because I'm writing a book that includes a boy and a rat. So I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting too close to what Morrison was doing here. I was glad to see that there didn't seem to be any overlap.It was tough to get into at first but I'm glad I kept reading. It really seemed like the fantasy world was realized enough to be a story in itself. I would love to read a novel based on these concepts. The cross over into the real world was interesting but didn't really seem necessary. One thing that was kind of strange was that the boy had all these toys and they were there in the story but none of the toys were ever characters, they were all in the background. You saw his Batman action figure and other heroes but they never said anything, they were just included in the battle scenes or standing around. The "real" characters didn't seem to be connected to any of his toys and neither were they people from the "real world" ala Wizard of Oz. Ok. so when I first heard the name "Joe the Barbarian" this really wasn't what I expected. I'm really happy that I borrowed this from our library, because I think this was a great comic. The art is quite pretty and the story is crazy kind of wonderful. And the ending... Well, it made me sad but it was one of the best comic endings I have read for awhile. Maybe one of the best new comics I have read in the summer.
One of the best graphic novels I've read in a while. Made me tear up near the end. Great for teens!
—SadhanaS
Great little short story by one of my favorite comic book authors, with some amazing artwork.
—joey1234
This was a beautifully illustrated, well told story. I loved reading it.
—Liana
Incredible images and story!
—klopz
