Skip to content

Joe the Barbarian

by Grant Morrison

Summary

Joe is an imaginative eleven-year-old boy. He can’t fit in at school. He’s the victim of bullies. His dad died overseas in the Iraq war. He also suffers from Type 1 diabetes. One fateful day, his condition causes him to believe he has entered a vivid fantasy world in which he is the lost savior—a fantastic land based on the layout and contents of his home. His desperate attempts to make it out of his bedroom transform into an incredible, epic adventure through a bizarre landscape of submarine pirate dwarves, evil Hell Hounds, Lightning Lords and besieged castles. But is his quest really just an insulin deprived delirium—from which he can die if he doesn’t take his meds—or something much bigger?

Joe the Barbarian thumbnail

Additional Information

Publication Year

2011

Diabetes Type(s)

  • > Type One

Age Group(s)

  • > Middle Grade

Genre(s)

  • > Adventure
  • > Fantasy
  • > Comic/Graphic Novel

Representation

T1D Main Character

External Links

© 2026 Concieved without a functioning pancreas by Kelsey Geller. Created with a functioning pancreas and ❤️ by Eric Wilhite.