By Dean Poling
The Valdosta Daily Times
JOE THE BARBARIAN
Hard to judge a comic book series by its first issue. “Joe the Barbarian” is one such book. Joe is a young, imaginative teen whose military father died in Iraq.
Joe’s diabetic and bullied at school.
Then, one day, seated in his room, his sketch pad nearby, his collection of action figures and toys come to life as if his room is a portal to another dimension.
Is the portal for real, or a figment of Joe’s imagination? An intriguing premise, but that summation is pretty much the first issue in a nutshell.
Where will it go? Will it use this clever device as a springboard to become a truly inspired series? Again, one issue, too soon to tell. With the prolific Grant Morrison as “Joe the Barbarian’s” creator and writer, coupled with the sharp art by Sean Murphy, this series has promise as well as potential.
For a buck (cheap for 21st century comics), “Joe the Barbarian” is an imaginative land worth visiting for a few issues ... and maybe more.
Comic Books
Comics: Joe the Barbarian
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A GOD SOMEWHERE
Writer John Arcudi with artists Peter Snejbjerg and Bjarne Hansen create a tragic take on the traditional superhero tale with “A God Somewhere.” A young man named Eric awakens one day with miraculous powers. At first, he does the expected. He saves people. He enjoys his powers of flight, strength, invulnerability. He is impressed by the people he meets through his powers. But power changes him.
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JONAH HEX: NO WAY BACK
With Hollywood on the verge of releasing a Jonah Hex movie starring Josh Brolin this summer, DC Comics may have wanted to bank a little ahead of the curve by offering something of an origin for its disfigured Western renegade in comics form prior to the film’s release. Sort of like Marvel Comics finally offering an origin for Wolverine once Hollywood came sniffing around. Jonah Hex has always been a character akin to Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales, a Confederate rebel without a cause in the post-Civil War West, with the difference being that bounty-hunter Hex doesn’t have Eastwood’s looks.
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