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!

If you didn’t see the announcements last week, Vertigo will be publishing DELIRIUM’S PARTY: A Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson, and for Vertigo Crime, RAT CATCHER by Andy Diggle and artist Victor Ibanez, and NOCHE ROJA by Simon Oliver and artist Jason Latour. Then there’s the original graphic novel AARON & AHMED by Jay Cantor and artist James Romberger. We’ll also be collecting two of our hottest mini-series in hardcover as well as the first volume of the new series iZOMBIE!

Check out the details below:

JOE THE BARBARIAN DELUXE EDITION HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Sean Murphy
Collects: JOE THE BARBARIAN #1-8
$29.99 US, 224 pages

DAYTRIPPER HC
Writers: Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
Artists: Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Collects: DAYTRIPPER #1-10
$29.99 US, 256 pages

iZOMBIE: DEAD TO THE WORLD TP
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Michael Allred
Collects: iZOMBIE #1-5
price TK, pages TK

DELIRIUM’S PARTY: A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK HC
Writer/Artist: Jill Thompson
An original graphic novel
$14.99 US, 64 pages

RAT CATCHER HC
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Victor Ibañez
An original Vertigo Crime graphic novel
$19.99 US, 184 pages

AARON AND AHMED HC
Writer: Jay Cantor
Artist: James Romberger
An original graphic novel
$24.99 US, 144 pages

NOCHE ROJA HC
Writer: Simon Oliver
Artist: Jason Latour
An original Vertigo Crime graphic novel
$19.99 US, 184 pages

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:

This weekend Vertigo heads to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, WA for the first time. Editor Shelly Bond will be in attendance with Mike and Laura Allred (I, Zombie), Chris Roberson (I, Zombie), Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, The Nobody), Sean Murphy (Joe the Barbarian), G. Willow Wilson (Air), Peter Bagge (Other Lives) and others! So join in the fun Sunday at 2pm in Panel Room A (4C1-2)

Here’s a peek at a few things you’ll see:

Amazing interior art from i, ZOMBIE by Mike Allred colored by Laura Allred

Fantastic cover of JOE THE BARBARIAN #6 by Sean Murphy

In Grant Morrison and artist Sean Murphy’s JOE THE BARBARIAN, Joe is a teenager who imagines that his amazing room full of toys comes to life.

Sean has mentioned that Legos were his favorite toy growing up. I, on the other hand, am proud to admit that I was more into dolls, Barbie dolls. I had Crystal Barbie, the Heart Family, Peaches N Cream Barbie and many others. I think what I loved most were the clothes—the fantastic dresses and shoes—my girls had an amazing wardrobe of outfits for every occasion!

What was your favorite toy as a child?

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.

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 now to reveal another amazing JOE THE BARBARIAN cover. Here’s #4:

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?

Now to reveal the cover of the upcoming mini-series JOE THE BARBARIAN #2 by Grant Morrison and artist Sean Murphy:

Pretty awesome, right?

Exclusive first look: