Joe the Barbarian

Meet Joe. He's having trouble keeping a grip on reality.

Joe the Barbarian is an eight-issue comic book limited series written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Sean Murphy. It was published in 2010-2011 by Vertigo Comics, an imprint of American company DC Comics.

Joe is a teenage boy with Type 1 diabetes. When his blood sugar drops and he enters a state of hypoglycemia, he begins to hallucinate, and enters a fantasy world populated with his toys and other fantasy characters. Here he becomes embroiled in a war with King Death, while in the real world he searches for a soda to fix his blood sugar. He knows there is one in the kitchen downstairs, but it is extremely far away, made farther by his medical condition affecting his mobility.

Tropes used in Joe the Barbarian include:

• Action Girl: ZYXY
• Eyepatch of Power: Draka the pirate
• Expy: Subverted and played straight. While some of Joe's toys just bear resemblances to popular comic book and tv characters, most of them are the real deal--but in toy form.
• Fake Crossover: Gray Ghost from Batman: The Animated Series appears in two cameos.
• Five-Man Band
  • The Hero: Joe
  • The Lancer: Chakk
  • The Big Guy: Smoot and Chakk
  • The Smart Guy/The Chick: ZYXY
  • Sixth Ranger: Sir Adamark
• If I Do Not Return: Joe attempts this.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Done in a manner similar to The Indian in the Cupboard.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The sewer dwarves.
• Splash Panel: several
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Chakk/Jack used to be the coward among his brothers, but proves he is a mighty warrior.
  • Joe takes one as a well.