Joe meets Queen Bree and the Knights of the Hearth Castle – the last remnants of a kingdom standing guard against Death's soldiers. And when they welcome the Dying Boy as the new hero and champion of their golden realm, will he be lured by the excitement of fame into the clutches of King Death?

Here’s a sneak peek at the first 3 pages, with an amazing two page spread, all drawn by Sean Murphy. Read it tomorrow!

The superstar team of Grant Morrison and artist Sean Murphy are quickly approaching the end of their 8 issue adventure mini-series JOE THE BARBARIAN.

In this month’s issue Joe, Jack, Smoot and Zyxy plunge from the heights of Inventoria to the ruined Forest City of Yalway. But why is the shattered statue of the long-lost Iron Knight so familiar to Joe? How can the prophecy of the Dying Boy bring this once powerful kingdom back to its former glory? And what unknown, terrible creature from the Outer Darkness has King Death sent forth to do his terrible bidding? Is this the end for one of the companions? Find out in issue #5 on May 19th.

Check out this page from issue #5:

. . . . And, now to reveal the cover of #8:

Celebrate the launch of JOE THE BARBARIAN #1 (written by Grant Morrison)
with artist Sean Murphy
at BERGEN STREET COMICS
(between Flatbush & 5th Avenues) Brooklyn
Saturday, January 30th
7pm-close

Sean will be signing, so don't miss this opportunity!

And check out some of the great reviews COMICS ALLIANCE, IFANBOY, io9 , and THE OKLAHOMAN/Nerdage, as well as a feature with Grant Morrison on IGN, and today's feature with Sean Murphy in AM NEW YORK.

I asked Sean Murphy to describe what he tried to capture on the cover of JOE THE BARBARIAN #3 and here’s what he had to say:

"For issue three of JOE THE BARBARIAN, Joe and Jack (his warrior rat friend) escape a losing battle by diving into a Dwarven submarine. As heroic as Jack is, one thing he’s terrified of is enclosed places. Which made the escape scene not only exciting and action packed, but also pretty funny. The irony is that Jack is by far the largest character in the sub, so he’s even more cramped than the other passengers. The scene was my favorite from the issue, so I figured that it would make a good cover.

I tried to fit in the action and humor I just described. Obviously, most of the cover is used to show the dark innards of the submarine and how scary it must feel for our heroes—especially Jack who’s a claustrophobic. I tilted everything onto an angle to suggest the rolling motion that a sub might have, and I feel the dramatic light sources of the lantern and the crystals where perfect slow, underhanded pitch to Dave Stewart (who would then knock it out of the park).

So far it’s my favorite cover. I think that with all the black it should stand out on the shelves. Hopefully the title block’s colors will be adjusted to reds to help unify the whole piece."

Now, to reveal the cover. What do you think? Did he accomplish what he set out to do?