 Let Your Imagination Soar with Grant Morrison's least trippiest book ever. Hi everybody, welcome to another exciting episode of another edition of A Week In Keep Them Here on YouTube. This time we're going to be taking a look at the Vertigo mini-series, Joe the Barbarian. I have been meaning to review this book for a while ever since I got it, but you know, as is the norm in this channel, things take time. This is written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Sean Murphy. Basically the plot summary of Joe the Barbarian. You have our main protagonist, 13 year old Joe living with his mom. She's trying to keep the family afloat, the house in order and all that stuff, but you know, things are hard and they don't know if they're going to be able to keep the house. Joe's father was in the military and sadly passed away and our protagonist has an anger because of the loss of his father, which leads him to be sort of a recluse and not really talkative as much with other kids from his school and stuff. So on a fateful day, Joe is at his house after, I think it was a field trip. After leaving a field trip, he went back to his home. His mom wasn't there, so he locked up everything supposedly and went to bed. He has a pet rat and a ton of cool geeky items and in begins this strange adventure where Joe starts hallucinating supposedly quote unquote of a magical world where his toys have come to life and you see larger than life characters, his rats and all these elements from the real world bleed into this alternate reality about a kingdom desperate for survival that has lost the light and you could sort of see that as a symbolism for Joe himself externalizing his fears and anger and frustration and all that stuff with this magical kingdom. Now the sad thing about this story is that our little adventurer suffers from hypoglycemia and all that stuff and needs insulin and all that stuff and he gets an attack or an episode if you will and the medicine isn't there so he wants to raise his blood sugar levels so he's going to venture to his kitchen to drink some soda and the book cleverly displays the layout of the house. Rapp Morrison makes sure that you understand how the layout of the house works and the intricate details and all that fun stuff so when this adventure begins and Joe is able to go out of his room you know trenched and sweat dizzy nauseated and all those horrible sensations he travels with his pet rat on in this mythical journey. Now the whole purpose of the book is that he is trying to solve this dilemma like where the hell is he what is happening and why he's still in his house but he is seeing things he's imagining things and yeah a lot of people will say you know maybe this story is just bare bones on the surface you know a boy's overactive imagination and frustrations and all that stuff being in play but I don't know to me I sort of saw this as like a real unison of worlds like this parallel dimension blending in with reality and sort of like a real life virtual reality experience that Joe was probably going through it seemed way too specific and intricate to just simply be a 13 year old tells us a nation I don't know that's just me gnawing at the plot of the book but what is clear about this book is the gorgeous beautiful and just intricately detailed art by one of my favorite artists Sean Murphy this was the whole reason that I got this book yeah Graham Morrison is a legend there's no doubt about it but you won't see a panel like this you won't see a panel like this in comics from anybody else other than Sean himself and just the character work the expressions on these characters the way everything looks the world-building done through the pencil artwork is uh exquisite it is it is breathtaking to behold now in this other earth there is this plot of over this death king or something that he wants to take over this land and the kingdom is fearful of him and he's very close to doing this entering this abyss and there is a sun deity something that you could make the case that is a metaphor for either divinity or a lost loved one being a source of inspiration for the character it could very well mean different things and at the end of the day what I take away from Joe the Barbarian is the power of imagination the beauty of of a child being allowed to dream and dream big and imagine beautiful worlds and do awesome things all within your mind and I am a little bit scared that that is being lost with the next generation after me because I was I think I was part of the last group of of kids growing up where we we journeyed through so many mythical magical dreams and stuff and and it really helped forge our childhood and make us into the uh if you want to call us nerds or geeks or whatever into the people that we are now and and you know it breathed life into everything and made things extra special and this book reminded me of that it reminded me of Grant Morrison's ability to take the mundane and really explore the heck out of it and present us a story about the possibilities of dreams and what we can achieve even under dire circumstances there's always going to be another day there's always going to be that sunrise and there's always going to be a better tomorrow we just got to keep pushing forward now there is a very emotional scene near the end I'm not going to spoil it but if you've already read the book then you might know what I'm referring to we sort of get that exposition and we know at the end what really happened and it's a beautiful touching scene and it's drawn great by Sean and I I was floored by that scene that's my favorite part of the book here for example this that layout of this high castle like building it's just a beauty to behold and you sort of pair it with what you know of Joe's house and all that stuff and how everything mixes and matches perfectly I just think it is a fantastic book it is a very heartwarming great limited series that shouldn't be missed if you want to read good wholesome comic books that make you feel great and remind you of the essence of imagination and and your childhood even though you know the character goes to the ringer our hero has to come out on top that is why we root for our heroes can he do it well you're gonna have to read on to find out it is a very bitter sweet ending that I sort of want to just a tiny bit more especially at the end parts with all the heroes and the characters that Joe befriends and it was just very awesome and very lighthearted and beautiful to see overall I think Joe the Barbarian is excellent if you're reading a book with Sean Murphy doing the artwork you gotta pay close attention to the Easter eggs there are a lot of Easter eggs in this book of making this a great book into an amazing experience that I highly recommend Joe the Barbarian is an A plus book in my opinion and one of Grant Morrison's easiest gateway reader friendly books that I can recommend to people it is an exercise in the craft of imagination and beauty and the power of literature and fantasy and what it can do to somebody that is going through some tough times and is going through some hate and frustration and all that stuff and how we can vent with books and and toys and drawings and whatever whatever makes you happy is this artistic outlet it allows us to dream and dream big and make us feel better and and I think the book expertly explores that subject with the story of an overactive imagination or I should say Joe's overactive imagination and going through this kingdom and trying to save the land and being you know being this conquering awesome hero and I don't know plus Jack his pet rat is all kinds of awesome it's great what do you guys think about Joe the Barbarian let me know down below I'm very interested in finding out guys thank you so much for liking commenting subscribing to what we can geek them here on YouTube you guys are the absolute best I love every single one of you guys thank you I have got to go I will catch all of you on our next episode