Murphy likened the forthcoming miniseries - which writer Grant Morrison (Batman and Robin, The Invisibles) has described as "Home Alone meets Lord of the Rings" - to children's fantasy The Neverending Story.
"Instead of trying to out-write Grant's description, I’ll just say this: Joe the Barbarian will entertain the adult and the kid in you at the same time," Murphy told Newsarama.
"Hopefully it'll reach you on a more emotional level than most books. I don't think there's been anything like this and on this scale ever attempted in comics."
Joe the Barbarian is the story of a young diabetic who travels to a fantastic world when he misses his medication.
The comic takes objects in the real world and weaves them into the imagery of Joe's fantasy land.
"I think a lot of us in the industry - comic book artists, readers, writers, fans, etc - all suffer from the same affliction as Joe: an overactive imagination," said Murphy. "Building the world is still a difficult task, but I enjoy it a lot."
Joe the Barbarian will debut on January 20, 2010.
