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Locke & Key #1-6
Locke & Key Slipcase Set
Unlock the mysteries of Keyhouse! Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's extraordinary tale of the Locke family is collected in its entirety in this handsome slipcase set. Includes all six softcover volumes of the Locke & Key series.
984 pages, Paperback
Published November 25, 2014
54 people are currently reading
992 people want to read
About the author
Joe Hill
480books27.9kfollowersJoe Hill's debut, Heart-Shaped Box, won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. His second, Horns, was made into a film freakfest starring Daniel Radcliffe. His other novels include NOS4A2, and his #1 New York Times Best-Seller, The Fireman... which was also the winner of a 2016 ŷ Choice Award for Best Horror Novel.
He writes short stories too. Some of them were gathered together in his prize-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts.
He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with illustrator and art wizard Gabriel Rodriguez.
He lives in New Hampshire with a corgi named McMurtry after a certain beloved writer of cowboy tales. His next book, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, storms into bookstores in October of 2017.
He writes short stories too. Some of them were gathered together in his prize-winning collection, 20th Century Ghosts.
He won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his long running comic book series, Locke & Key, co-created with illustrator and art wizard Gabriel Rodriguez.
He lives in New Hampshire with a corgi named McMurtry after a certain beloved writer of cowboy tales. His next book, Strange Weather, a collection of novellas, storms into bookstores in October of 2017.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
March 14, 2020
3.5/5 stars
Volume 1: 3/5 stars
Volume 2: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 3: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 4: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 5: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 6: 3.5/5 stars
I won't be doing a full review for this one. The story was great, but I have a difficult time connecting with the illustrations. Don't get me wrong, the illustrations itself are well-drawn, but there were so many moments where I felt like I should've cared more but I just didn't. As much as I love reading manga/manhwa, I think it's really time to accept the fact that graphic novel, in general, just doesn't work for me as much as I wanted.
You can find the rest of my reviews at
Special thanks to my Patrons on for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
Volume 1: 3/5 stars
Volume 2: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 3: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 4: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 5: 3.5/5 stars
Volume 6: 3.5/5 stars
I won't be doing a full review for this one. The story was great, but I have a difficult time connecting with the illustrations. Don't get me wrong, the illustrations itself are well-drawn, but there were so many moments where I felt like I should've cared more but I just didn't. As much as I love reading manga/manhwa, I think it's really time to accept the fact that graphic novel, in general, just doesn't work for me as much as I wanted.
You can find the rest of my reviews at
Special thanks to my Patrons on for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
February 9, 2020
Two or three times a year, I get a random and powerful craving for graphic novels. This is not generally my genre of choice, but it makes for a fun departure from my usual reading. That craving hit early this year when I saw that Netflix was developing the Locke & Key series of graphic novels into their own original series. Since I have this thing about reading this book before seeing the show or movie, I knew I needed to read these immediately. They’ve also been on my TBR list for literally years, so what better time to take the plunge? I’m so glad I did. For the first time in my life, I think that a series of graphic novels might be contenders for my favorite reading experience of the year. And it’s only February!
Locke & Key is insanely creative and wildly unique, the perfect pairing of medium and story. The prose is surprisingly thoughtful and complex and is perfectly matched by the wonderfully detailed illustrations. And this is one of those instances where the prose and illustrations are both equally important to the story. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez are a powerful team, and I’m so glad that the pair maintained their partnership throughout the series� entirety. When it comes to graphic novels, there is nothing worse than a writer or artist being replaced in the middle of the story, and I am really thankful that didn’t happen with Locke & Key.
I love the mythology Hill built here, and how fathomless and rife with possibilities that mythology proves itself to be. The idea of these keys that not only unlock different areas or items in Keyhouse but can also unlock the mind and human potential is a brilliant concept, and it was incredibly well explored. Also, the cast of characters are real and sympathetic and completely fascinating. I adore Kinsey, but Bode and Tyler are phenomenal characters, as well. Their relationship as siblings is tight and strong and believable, as is their relationship with their broken, alcoholic mother. There are also some wonderfully developed side characters, my favorite of whom is Rufus, a boy with autism whose differently wired brain allows him to see things that no one else can. His character arc brought me to tears.
Volume 4 is formatted differently when Bode or Rufus is the perspective, and I love it. The use of an almost Calvin and Hobbes style at the beginning, and a classic action comic style further in, we’re both fun changes of pace. However, the main art style of the series remains true, and the appearances of the main characters change realistically as they age or change hairstyles and so forth, but they are always recognizably themselves. And then volume 5 delivers the back story of the creation of the keys, which was a fabulous addition and incredibly enlightening right before the series� culmination in Volume 6. Also, there was a Carrie reference in this volume that made my little nerd heart insanely happy.
This is one of those rare series that not only starts off incredibly strong, but maintains a steady growth pace through the last page of the final installment. Volume 6 made me cry multiple times, and I read the last twenty or thirty pages through tears. It was brutal and beautiful in turns and equal measure , and I thought it was an incredibly poignant depiction of growing up, finding yourself, sticking with your family through thick and thin, and the power of found family in the form of friendship, as well as living with the aftermath of bad decisions and finding a way to carry on anyway.
Locke & Key is hands down the best series of graphic novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I’m saving up to buy the set, because I really need to be able to physically place this series on my shelf of favorites. I wouldn’t change a single sentence or a single frame. I’ll leave you with something Brian K. Vaughan wrote for the introduction to the third volume:
You can find review and more at .
“Dying is nothing. I’ve died a thousand times and I’ve always come back. Ideas can’t really be killed. Not for good.�
Locke & Key is insanely creative and wildly unique, the perfect pairing of medium and story. The prose is surprisingly thoughtful and complex and is perfectly matched by the wonderfully detailed illustrations. And this is one of those instances where the prose and illustrations are both equally important to the story. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez are a powerful team, and I’m so glad that the pair maintained their partnership throughout the series� entirety. When it comes to graphic novels, there is nothing worse than a writer or artist being replaced in the middle of the story, and I am really thankful that didn’t happen with Locke & Key.
“Keys turn both ways. You can lock something away� but you can also throw a bolt and set something free.�
I love the mythology Hill built here, and how fathomless and rife with possibilities that mythology proves itself to be. The idea of these keys that not only unlock different areas or items in Keyhouse but can also unlock the mind and human potential is a brilliant concept, and it was incredibly well explored. Also, the cast of characters are real and sympathetic and completely fascinating. I adore Kinsey, but Bode and Tyler are phenomenal characters, as well. Their relationship as siblings is tight and strong and believable, as is their relationship with their broken, alcoholic mother. There are also some wonderfully developed side characters, my favorite of whom is Rufus, a boy with autism whose differently wired brain allows him to see things that no one else can. His character arc brought me to tears.
“Secrets are hell. Secrets are the prisons we make for ourselves.�
Volume 4 is formatted differently when Bode or Rufus is the perspective, and I love it. The use of an almost Calvin and Hobbes style at the beginning, and a classic action comic style further in, we’re both fun changes of pace. However, the main art style of the series remains true, and the appearances of the main characters change realistically as they age or change hairstyles and so forth, but they are always recognizably themselves. And then volume 5 delivers the back story of the creation of the keys, which was a fabulous addition and incredibly enlightening right before the series� culmination in Volume 6. Also, there was a Carrie reference in this volume that made my little nerd heart insanely happy.
“You were strong enough to pick yours up all on your own. You don’t need me to be your crutch. You don’t need a crutch at all.�
This is one of those rare series that not only starts off incredibly strong, but maintains a steady growth pace through the last page of the final installment. Volume 6 made me cry multiple times, and I read the last twenty or thirty pages through tears. It was brutal and beautiful in turns and equal measure , and I thought it was an incredibly poignant depiction of growing up, finding yourself, sticking with your family through thick and thin, and the power of found family in the form of friendship, as well as living with the aftermath of bad decisions and finding a way to carry on anyway.
“Death isn’t the end of your life, you know. Your body is a lock. Death is the key. The key turns� and you’re free.�
Locke & Key is hands down the best series of graphic novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I’m saving up to buy the set, because I really need to be able to physically place this series on my shelf of favorites. I wouldn’t change a single sentence or a single frame. I’ll leave you with something Brian K. Vaughan wrote for the introduction to the third volume:
“Readers love fantasy, but we need horror. Smart horror. Truthful horror. Horror that holds us make sense of a cruelly senseless world. Locke & Key is all of those things.�
You can find review and more at .
March 7, 2020
”Kids always think they’re coming into a story at the beginning, when usually they’re coming in at the end�
After watching the first few episodes of the Netflix series, I just had to read this again.
This was my first introduction to the world of comics and it is still the set of comics I compare all the others against (not fair but it's the truth)
Even the second time around I was completely addicted and totally obsessed with this masterpiece.
Brilliant art work, the most imaginative story and relatable characters all my idea of perfection.
After watching the first few episodes of the Netflix series, I just had to read this again.
This was my first introduction to the world of comics and it is still the set of comics I compare all the others against (not fair but it's the truth)
Even the second time around I was completely addicted and totally obsessed with this masterpiece.
Brilliant art work, the most imaginative story and relatable characters all my idea of perfection.
September 4, 2021
Locke and Key is one of the best series I've ever read, right up there with Sandman, Death Note, Watchmen, and a few select others. It's the story of the Locke children, who move back to the family's ancestral home in Lovecraft, MA after their father's death at the hands of a pair of desperate killers. The house is full of secrets and mysteries. Strange, magical keys are hidden throughout, with powers over gender, memory, form, time, shadows, death, and more. Something else lurks in the house, something that will stop at nothing to gain control over the keys and the secrets that they unlock.
This handsome slipcased edition contains all six volumes of the series. Story and art are top notch. There's really not much to say that I haven't said about the individual volumes already. Read this! You won't be disappointed.
This handsome slipcased edition contains all six volumes of the series. Story and art are top notch. There's really not much to say that I haven't said about the individual volumes already. Read this! You won't be disappointed.
October 9, 2021
Locke & Key exceeded my expectations. In a big way. I can see it becoming one of my all-time favorite graphic novels. With stunning art, an engrossing plot, and relatable characters, it tells more than just a horror story. It goes much deeper than that. It's an excellent book about family, grief, and growing up.
January 5, 2025
"Death isn't the end of your life, you know. Your body is a lock. Death is the key. The key turns... And you're free. To be anywhere. Everywhere. Two places at once. Nowhere. Part of the background hum of the universe...Life was a good dream, but now I'm awake. Only demons cling to life after their time is up. You go finish the rest of your dream." (vol. 6, Alpha & Omega, when Rendell is speaking to Tyler)
Wow, I'm so glad I decided to reread my favorite graphic novel series! I first read it in 2018 and was blown away by this magical and dark world, where three kids who are grieving their father move into his childhood home (Keyhouse) and discover magical keys which can do amazing things, like go into your own head or open a door and go literally anywhere you want in the world.
In 2020, I watched the TV show adaptation, and I really enjoyed it. Now that I'm rereading the books, I'm watching the show again and finding even more differences between the two, it's a fun journey!
Once again, I got so attached to the characters, they are very well developed and felt real. I was rooting for them and scared for them at the same time, even though I already knew what was going to happen.
The illustrations by Gabriel Rodríguez are unique and full of details and colors, and the writing by Joe Hill is beautiful. He tackles many themes, like grief, alcoholism, racism, homophobia, coming-of-age, etc. This time around, there were some things that he wrote here and there that I found a bit problematic or out of place, but it didn't hinder my overall enjoyment.
I think the fifth volume, Clockworks, remains my favorite, because that is when Tyler and Kinsey discover the time shift key and understand how and why the keys were created. Head Games is also one of my favorites, since the Head key can be so fun and dangerous at the same time. Imagine if someone would take away most or all of your memories and you're left with little to no identity?
The ending of volume 6, Alpha & Omega, made me cry again, it's just so emotional and satisfying. I'm definitely going to reread the series again in the future.
Wow, I'm so glad I decided to reread my favorite graphic novel series! I first read it in 2018 and was blown away by this magical and dark world, where three kids who are grieving their father move into his childhood home (Keyhouse) and discover magical keys which can do amazing things, like go into your own head or open a door and go literally anywhere you want in the world.
In 2020, I watched the TV show adaptation, and I really enjoyed it. Now that I'm rereading the books, I'm watching the show again and finding even more differences between the two, it's a fun journey!
Once again, I got so attached to the characters, they are very well developed and felt real. I was rooting for them and scared for them at the same time, even though I already knew what was going to happen.
The illustrations by Gabriel Rodríguez are unique and full of details and colors, and the writing by Joe Hill is beautiful. He tackles many themes, like grief, alcoholism, racism, homophobia, coming-of-age, etc. This time around, there were some things that he wrote here and there that I found a bit problematic or out of place, but it didn't hinder my overall enjoyment.
I think the fifth volume, Clockworks, remains my favorite, because that is when Tyler and Kinsey discover the time shift key and understand how and why the keys were created. Head Games is also one of my favorites, since the Head key can be so fun and dangerous at the same time. Imagine if someone would take away most or all of your memories and you're left with little to no identity?
The ending of volume 6, Alpha & Omega, made me cry again, it's just so emotional and satisfying. I'm definitely going to reread the series again in the future.
April 5, 2017
It's been a month or so since I started this, and almost a month since I finished, and for that whole time I've idly been trying to process what my rating should be. The 3-star end result is tempered by - even though it absolutely shouldn't be - the fact that this was given to me as a gift by two people who really love it. This makes me want to love it too! Because when smart and kind people like things I'm inclined to like them too.
... which made me push back against this series when I initially didn't like it, setting up this weird feedback loop of "I should like it / I don't like it / why don't I like it? / I should like it! / I hate it for making me want to like it / why don't I like it?" and so on. You get the point.
So a few weeks away, and that loop finally petered out, and I have had some time to process it, and here's what I came up with, the crux of the whole thing:
I didn't like Gabriel Rodriguez's art here.
I don't know Rodriguez from Adam and that's fine, and so I don't know if this is the best or worst example of his illustrations or maybe just in the middle, and that's fine too. And I'm not implying they're bad, they just were not a good fit for me with regards to this story. I hear many many other people heaping praises on his stuff and that's justified for them.
[basically I don't want Rodriguez to hate me if he ever sees this because it's good work, it's just not at all what I would have pictured for this series and his slightly more cartoony exaggerated style constantly took me out of the story.]
If I had my choice in an imaginary world where everything was done to my liking I would have picked someone like Michael Zulli, or Dave McKean's work on Arkham Asylum, or Walter Simonson's work on Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown. Basically: either stark B&W or very painterly fluid stuff. I just ... didn't dig Rodriguez here.
okay so past that! At some point a few years back I apparently got Locke & Key TBP #1 through Comixology. I know now that the series starts in media res, but at the time I didn't. I thought, "Well, this is ... this sucks. I didn't realize I was coming in in the middle of the story" and I just kind of walked through the pages feeling lost and then let it go. When I picked up this set and started and it began in the exact same place I realized, "Oh, okay. I was a dummy before and should have recognized that this was the true beginning of the series" but by then my beginning-the-story experience was already tainted by my past idiocy. This just meant that the first issues came pre-packaged with a bit of a bad taste from previous consumption. Again, totally my fault here. It just made for a rocky start.
Once I was past that, though, it was a pretty enjoyable story. I really liked knowing that it had a beginning and a middle and an end. That sounds like a joke, but there's nothing worse (in my mind) than TV show (or written work, or whatever, you get the point) that makes a couple bucks and then the execs or whatever say, "We are ordering 10 more seasons!" and some writer has to say, "Uh my story takes two seasons at best" and then they continue to milk that cow until it's dust. It's extremely satisfying to know that I'm taking in a product that's built around a real story that won't be stretched like taffy just because someone's trying to squeeze some more bucks out of it.
If I were still a teen - with my then-infinite capacity for wonder and fantasy - I would have eaten this story up. A big mysterious house full of magic keys? Oh shit yeah. Absolute home run. As a boring adult who's constantly distracted by spreadsheets and veterinary bills and teleconferences and mortgage payments and all that, I just couldn't sink into it like I needed to. Honestly this made me a bit sad, but I get it. That's the nature of growing up and losing some of the ability to immerse yourself in fantasy.
Uh let's see. What didn't I like, other than the art? I didn't like that Hill d-
okay I know I know I know he's not his dad, but we are influenced by our parents and I feel this is a valid comparison
I didn't like that Hill decided to use that weird and borderline offensive trope of "developmentally disabled person is actually Magical". Some Locke & Key wiki says of Rufus "He has an unspecified mental disorder, and is affected by the Keys in different ways than anyone else." To be clear: I am all for people of all colors, beliefs, conditions, etc. being included in any work. This world is populated with diverse humans. I don't feel like you have to "make up for" someone being disabled in some way by granting them additional powers the other characters don't have. Blind people don't have enhanced senses to make up for their lack of vision. You wouldn't write a character who suffered a terrible accident and became a quadruple amputee but her IQ suddenly went up by 30 points.
I mean I get it, I'm reading a fantasy comic book for cryin' out loud, but I also mean it: let Rufus be Rufus. If someone in the series needs to have the mystical ability to see things that no one else can, then draw straws or something. Don't always hand it to the disabled character because doing so makes it feel like you're saying they were less important or less than whole without it.
[see for reference King's characters Duddits (Dreamcatcher) and Tom Cullen (The Stand). "From you, Dad! I learned it from watching you!"]
This has already gotten too long, and spilled out in too many directions, and I'm too far behind on ŷ reviews to take any more time on it. As usual here's the summary at the end:
I want to take this back in time and give it to my 13-year-old self, who would have unabashedly loved the shit out of it. I want the alternate dimension version done by a different artist.
... but I want these things because ultimately it was a fun story that entertained me, and I just want to love it more than I did.
... which made me push back against this series when I initially didn't like it, setting up this weird feedback loop of "I should like it / I don't like it / why don't I like it? / I should like it! / I hate it for making me want to like it / why don't I like it?" and so on. You get the point.
So a few weeks away, and that loop finally petered out, and I have had some time to process it, and here's what I came up with, the crux of the whole thing:
I didn't like Gabriel Rodriguez's art here.
I don't know Rodriguez from Adam and that's fine, and so I don't know if this is the best or worst example of his illustrations or maybe just in the middle, and that's fine too. And I'm not implying they're bad, they just were not a good fit for me with regards to this story. I hear many many other people heaping praises on his stuff and that's justified for them.
[basically I don't want Rodriguez to hate me if he ever sees this because it's good work, it's just not at all what I would have pictured for this series and his slightly more cartoony exaggerated style constantly took me out of the story.]
If I had my choice in an imaginary world where everything was done to my liking I would have picked someone like Michael Zulli, or Dave McKean's work on Arkham Asylum, or Walter Simonson's work on Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown. Basically: either stark B&W or very painterly fluid stuff. I just ... didn't dig Rodriguez here.
okay so past that! At some point a few years back I apparently got Locke & Key TBP #1 through Comixology. I know now that the series starts in media res, but at the time I didn't. I thought, "Well, this is ... this sucks. I didn't realize I was coming in in the middle of the story" and I just kind of walked through the pages feeling lost and then let it go. When I picked up this set and started and it began in the exact same place I realized, "Oh, okay. I was a dummy before and should have recognized that this was the true beginning of the series" but by then my beginning-the-story experience was already tainted by my past idiocy. This just meant that the first issues came pre-packaged with a bit of a bad taste from previous consumption. Again, totally my fault here. It just made for a rocky start.
Once I was past that, though, it was a pretty enjoyable story. I really liked knowing that it had a beginning and a middle and an end. That sounds like a joke, but there's nothing worse (in my mind) than TV show (or written work, or whatever, you get the point) that makes a couple bucks and then the execs or whatever say, "We are ordering 10 more seasons!" and some writer has to say, "Uh my story takes two seasons at best" and then they continue to milk that cow until it's dust. It's extremely satisfying to know that I'm taking in a product that's built around a real story that won't be stretched like taffy just because someone's trying to squeeze some more bucks out of it.
If I were still a teen - with my then-infinite capacity for wonder and fantasy - I would have eaten this story up. A big mysterious house full of magic keys? Oh shit yeah. Absolute home run. As a boring adult who's constantly distracted by spreadsheets and veterinary bills and teleconferences and mortgage payments and all that, I just couldn't sink into it like I needed to. Honestly this made me a bit sad, but I get it. That's the nature of growing up and losing some of the ability to immerse yourself in fantasy.
Uh let's see. What didn't I like, other than the art? I didn't like that Hill d-
okay I know I know I know he's not his dad, but we are influenced by our parents and I feel this is a valid comparison
I didn't like that Hill decided to use that weird and borderline offensive trope of "developmentally disabled person is actually Magical". Some Locke & Key wiki says of Rufus "He has an unspecified mental disorder, and is affected by the Keys in different ways than anyone else." To be clear: I am all for people of all colors, beliefs, conditions, etc. being included in any work. This world is populated with diverse humans. I don't feel like you have to "make up for" someone being disabled in some way by granting them additional powers the other characters don't have. Blind people don't have enhanced senses to make up for their lack of vision. You wouldn't write a character who suffered a terrible accident and became a quadruple amputee but her IQ suddenly went up by 30 points.
I mean I get it, I'm reading a fantasy comic book for cryin' out loud, but I also mean it: let Rufus be Rufus. If someone in the series needs to have the mystical ability to see things that no one else can, then draw straws or something. Don't always hand it to the disabled character because doing so makes it feel like you're saying they were less important or less than whole without it.
[see for reference King's characters Duddits (Dreamcatcher) and Tom Cullen (The Stand). "From you, Dad! I learned it from watching you!"]
This has already gotten too long, and spilled out in too many directions, and I'm too far behind on ŷ reviews to take any more time on it. As usual here's the summary at the end:
I want to take this back in time and give it to my 13-year-old self, who would have unabashedly loved the shit out of it. I want the alternate dimension version done by a different artist.
... but I want these things because ultimately it was a fun story that entertained me, and I just want to love it more than I did.
January 14, 2022
I’m so glad I’ve spent the last few days into Keyhouse, Lovecraft, rather than into Matheson’s.
As many (but not most) I’ve been drawn to the comics by the Netflix series � not because I loved it, but because I HATED IT, and my reaction was that strong because I felt that there was a HUGE potential that was being destroyed.
I was right.
The comics are really good, smart, dark, poetical, and make actual sense, whereas the tv show was just most of the time plain dumb, never took time to really dive into the lore, and had more inconsistencies that I could suffer, even for a light show (I even liked Riverdale better because it’s SO bad it’s actually getting fun to watch). I don’t know how they chose (most of) their actors either � we had the same problem with Sabrina.
Anyway.
I’m grateful to the show because not reading much comics (yet), I’ve never read that one before and it spoke to my sensibility, and matched my tastes.
I would definitely recommend this read if you felt angry watching the show, feeling a potential that never was quite honored.
The compendium IS a splurge, but a worthy one. You don’t want to read half the story!
As many (but not most) I’ve been drawn to the comics by the Netflix series � not because I loved it, but because I HATED IT, and my reaction was that strong because I felt that there was a HUGE potential that was being destroyed.
I was right.
The comics are really good, smart, dark, poetical, and make actual sense, whereas the tv show was just most of the time plain dumb, never took time to really dive into the lore, and had more inconsistencies that I could suffer, even for a light show (I even liked Riverdale better because it’s SO bad it’s actually getting fun to watch). I don’t know how they chose (most of) their actors either � we had the same problem with Sabrina.
Anyway.
I’m grateful to the show because not reading much comics (yet), I’ve never read that one before and it spoke to my sensibility, and matched my tastes.
I would definitely recommend this read if you felt angry watching the show, feeling a potential that never was quite honored.
The compendium IS a splurge, but a worthy one. You don’t want to read half the story!
December 12, 2022
I’m not too proud to admit this, and my wife can confirm this, but this story made me shed actual tears.
In the introduction to his book, author Joe Hill iterates a sentiment to the likes of “a really good horror story is less about the gore and jump-scares and more about falling in love with a cast of characters and then watching them go through the worst.� Joe Hill has changed how I look at horror with this statement and this book. Joe Hill truly understands horror. This might not only have been the best horror story I’ve ever read, but this might have actually been the best story I’ve ever read.
The character development in this story is top notch, matched by a unique and beautiful art style by Gabriel Rodriguez. This horrors of this book stem from a story where you’re horrified of what will happen to this family, but you’re also horrified of what this family will do to themselves. I found myself enthralled with the Locke family and where their story would continue with each new issue all the way from the beginning to the end. There was not a dull moment or a dull issue in this entire series. Every issue of this book absolutely deserves a 5 out of 5 and the collected stories read together deserve whatever accolades would exist that would reward this story as being close to, if not absolute perfection.
In the introduction to his book, author Joe Hill iterates a sentiment to the likes of “a really good horror story is less about the gore and jump-scares and more about falling in love with a cast of characters and then watching them go through the worst.� Joe Hill has changed how I look at horror with this statement and this book. Joe Hill truly understands horror. This might not only have been the best horror story I’ve ever read, but this might have actually been the best story I’ve ever read.
The character development in this story is top notch, matched by a unique and beautiful art style by Gabriel Rodriguez. This horrors of this book stem from a story where you’re horrified of what will happen to this family, but you’re also horrified of what this family will do to themselves. I found myself enthralled with the Locke family and where their story would continue with each new issue all the way from the beginning to the end. There was not a dull moment or a dull issue in this entire series. Every issue of this book absolutely deserves a 5 out of 5 and the collected stories read together deserve whatever accolades would exist that would reward this story as being close to, if not absolute perfection.
December 20, 2021
If you came to this book by watching the Netflix series. Your standards just got a boost. Cause this is not your average Netflix teendrama that they made it. This is comics-thriller and eary at it´s finest. With the artwork that looks liek it belongs in a kids-book. It makes for a phenomenal contrast with the scenes and horrors that pay out in this book.
This is the third time I´ve read this story and each time I get the feels, and that is a very rare and good thing. That each time nomatter how many times you´ve read or seen something. That it still has impact on you. And that is a good story!
This is the third time I´ve read this story and each time I get the feels, and that is a very rare and good thing. That each time nomatter how many times you´ve read or seen something. That it still has impact on you. And that is a good story!
July 18, 2016
If I had to describe this whole series in just two words: holy. shit.
As far as comic books go, this is the best of the best. Never have I read a graphic novel that would suck me in so completely and entertain me for hours.
This six volume series starts off very violently - and it gets even more violent with every volume. The impact is even stronger because the main characters are kids and teenagers. The magic, plot and the characters evolve in a way that feels very natural to the story and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat even if severed heads aren't flying at the time.
The art starts of by seeming kind of weird, but trust me, it evolves with the story as well. It is absolutely gorgeous at times and made me very emotional during the last volume. The writing and the art work together so well! The story wouldn't be the same without the art. I'm really impressed.
Your enjoyment of the series relies heavily on how much you care for the main trio, the Locke siblings. And one by one I fell in love with them all. All the characters in this series are very multi-layered and I liked how much representation for all kinds of people we have in this one. All of the characters were explored enough to make the end feel very satisfactory, it feels like there were no more loose threads.
Stunning.
An absolutely brilliant work of art. If you haven't read this series yet and can stomach some horror do yourself a favour and give this one a go!
As far as comic books go, this is the best of the best. Never have I read a graphic novel that would suck me in so completely and entertain me for hours.
This six volume series starts off very violently - and it gets even more violent with every volume. The impact is even stronger because the main characters are kids and teenagers. The magic, plot and the characters evolve in a way that feels very natural to the story and manages to keep you on the edge of your seat even if severed heads aren't flying at the time.
The art starts of by seeming kind of weird, but trust me, it evolves with the story as well. It is absolutely gorgeous at times and made me very emotional during the last volume. The writing and the art work together so well! The story wouldn't be the same without the art. I'm really impressed.
Your enjoyment of the series relies heavily on how much you care for the main trio, the Locke siblings. And one by one I fell in love with them all. All the characters in this series are very multi-layered and I liked how much representation for all kinds of people we have in this one. All of the characters were explored enough to make the end feel very satisfactory, it feels like there were no more loose threads.
Stunning.
An absolutely brilliant work of art. If you haven't read this series yet and can stomach some horror do yourself a favour and give this one a go!
December 24, 2021
I love this book!!! I just love it!
The story is different than the Netflix serie. Its Has so much more killing and blood in it. But the story is so much more thrilling. I love how the characters develop in the book. They start as normale kids and end up as bad ass fighters who don't like to give up easely. The illustrations are also so amazing. I'm so glad that i bought this book. Also the extra material at the end of the book is awsome!
The story is different than the Netflix serie. Its Has so much more killing and blood in it. But the story is so much more thrilling. I love how the characters develop in the book. They start as normale kids and end up as bad ass fighters who don't like to give up easely. The illustrations are also so amazing. I'm so glad that i bought this book. Also the extra material at the end of the book is awsome!
September 1, 2017
I had heard about this series and had it on my reading list for ages. I finally sat down to read it as part of research for work.
We follow the Locke family, recently mourning the loss of a family member and recovering from the after-effects of a particularly traumatic experience. They move away from their home into Lovecraft and suddenly supernatural occurrences become par for the course.
Volume one was great, pacey and concise. The following volumes made the mistake of expanding on the lore, and it felt like tonally they didn't capture the eerieness of the first volume.
Generally the concept is splendid. The idea that Keyhouse is riddled with keys each of which has a distinctive power is gripping and innovative. It really pushes the limits of your imagination and I can see why so many people absolutely love this series. It even won a couple of Eisner awards, so I shouldn't diss it.
Except I have to. There were problems with this series and they probably grated on me more because I have always found the medium of comic books fun and derogatory all at the same time. We level a lot of criticism on the big two of comics, but when independent or other publishers tow the same line it gives the impression that comics as a medium is problematic and irredeemable.
Gabriel Rodriguez's art is unattractive. There is a cartoonish tinge to the whole thing which detracts from the overall spooky atmosphere that the story is trying to portray.
My biggest problem with the art was how the artist makes the men diverse and cartoony but the women all look exactly the same. I kid you not. Ty is big and burly, his father is tall, big and burly. His uncle is scrawny and freckled, and his uncle's partner is short and chubby. The juvenile murderers are comical and hideous. Kinsey's friend Scot is bald and lanky while Jamal is dreadlocked and round faced. The only conventionally attractive male character is Zack, so of course Kinsey falls for him and a useless romance ensues.
Can't say the same about the women though. Aside from a couple of black women and the homophobic hillbillies, literally every other female character is a copy of the other - the variation is hair/ eye color, height and dress sense. That's it. The moms and teachers look like the daughters and students. It's disturbing. There is no variation in shape and this angers me the most. I know when this series was created we did not have so many conversations about diversity, but would it have killed the creators to give it a try? Each and every female character is drawn to be pleasing to the male gaze, and they're made to act like that too.
The entire series is so damn cliched it is frustrating and blood-boiling. The older women not looking different from the younger ones especially grates because the bad guy keeps telling Ellie Whedon that she's ugly and old when in fact the only difference between her and the other 'prettier' women is coiffed hair and lipstick. It sends a really bad message to those reading it. Though I think this series should be only for adults, I get the feeling it was targeted at teenagers.
Also, the artist relies heavily on low neck tops to ensure the reader knows for sure that these are women! No other way for us to figure it out - it's low neck tops for ALL or that person is a guy.
The violence, gore and profanity is overused in the series as well. Like, no one needs such an abundance of it to know that we're up against some scary bad guys. It's grotesque to the point where you have to stop and look away - yugh.
One thing that I haven't come across many people talking about is what happened to the mom character Nina.
The incident that sparks the series is the murder of the Locke patriarch by Sam Lesser and his friend. The friend is killed in the incident but Lesser is put in juvie. It is evident when Nina kills the partner that she's been raped. But... no one ever talks about it. It came to such a point that I wondered whether I had just misinterpreted her demeanor and ripped outfit when it could have been a result of a fight to save her life. Nina is shown as drinking and drunk constantly after the incident and all anyone talks about is her dead husband. All the kids talk about is their dead father. Of course people will talk about the dead person, but surely the paramedics would have seen what happened to Nina and offered some help and this would have filtered down to the adults around Nina? In Lesser's sentencing this would have been mentioned. Heck, Ty was right there when his mother emerged to kill one of the killers, he could have talked to her or acknowledged what happened. It is literally forgotten and not brought up by the creators until at a convenient time when the sole other woman in the Locke family, teenager Kinsey, mentions the attack as not being a good enough reason for her mother's drunken neglect of her family. And that's it. No one thinks to send her for counseling or get her help. Ignoring an uncomfortable or traumatic incident in public is one thing, but in private moments - the ones the readers are often privy to - people would consider this, weep over it or wonder how to make things better. All the writers care about is the dead father and people's feelings about him. Because Nina liked to drink (a fact that emerges conveniently - like her needing a crutch - when the writers want to give Kinsey more reason to hate her mother) we are meant to believe that no one will consider her excessive drinking as a sign of her trauma? It irritates me that male writers just can't understand how to write women characters - why must rape be used as a plot device or in this case as a necessary and bygone incident to be used frivolously for plot purposes. Why does Nina have absolutely no personality or agency to act on her own? She has no family or friends of her own to turn to? Only her husband's family exist in this world? I'm so mad at this book it's not even funny.
Why there is no sympathy for Nina is beyond me. Kinsey is so hard on her - especially in the final issue when Nina is attacked by shadows and forced to drink alcohol. Pretty sure there would be obvious signs of the attack, but the creators just use it as an excuse for Kinsey to throw a hissey fit and drag her friends to their eventual deaths.
The sexualisation of the female characters is so all encompassing in this book. We never get to see the female characters imagining their hot classmates naked on a desk, so why do we have to see the male characters' daydreams like this about their female classmates?
The villain of the series is a demon-infested student named Luke/Zach. They uses the gender key to change from female to male and back again. As a male, he pretends to be nice to people and hooks up with Kinsey - in the meantime he is busy terrorizing Ellie Whedon at home, to the point where it is suggested that he is assaulting her as well.
As a female, Luke is always sexually alluring and uses her appeal to get her way. I would one day like to read a comic series where the male version is sexually alluring and the female is the go-getter.
I am surprised it took till volume 4 to draw the female version completely naked and then fighting naked. The male gaze loves it when a woman does a regular act sans clothes. This crops up later with another character. Ty's girlfriend, who is literally there just to be a love interest, takes off her seriously adult looking dress in the middle of the empty quad and proceeds to spend severally pages holding a conversation in her underwear. How did she not freeze to death? I don't think male writers have ever actually tried wearing less than jeans and a tee anywhere beyond their own four walls - if they had I'm pretty sure they would stop drawing women in the tiny excuses they call clothes.
The women characters are also written as being supremely stupid. Most dumb things happen because a female character is made to act impulsively or unthinkingly. Ty on the other hand is virtually invincible - he's the saviour from beginning to end. He caught Lesser and in the end, Kinsey has to wait for him to come save her. And he does. Of course. Nothing can stop the unbeatable straight male protagonist.
There are so many issues with how the women are portrayed and drawn in this series that I can't understand how come no one else has mentioned it. I think my anger comes from the fact that every time I pick up a comic I will find the women to be drawn and written exactly the same way and this series unfortunately did not surprise me.
Other miscellaneous grouses follow:
In the 80s storyline, the black girl, Erin, is in love with Rendell Locke, but he's with the hot, white girl, Kim. Noticeably, both father and son get the hottest girls in their schools because both these guys are such catches, like wow. Rendell is not at all attractive but he may be intelligent. No one points out to him how lucky he is to have got such a catch; Ellie, on the other hand, is made patently aware that she is too unattractive to have Luke and man is she lucky he's into her. The only difference between Ellie and Kim is that the former is a sportsperson with no interest in doing her hair or wearing make up. That's it.
Back to the original point. Rendell does not see Erin's love but at the fag end of their storyline it is suggested that maybe the two are getting close. Kim even says she's been shipping them - good job, since you didn't actually step aside to let that happen. Kim isn't even a nice person, no matter what hogwash the writers make Rendell say - he's so obviously into her because she's conventionally attractive. Anyway, all this talk of inter-racial romance comes to nought because he goes and marries another hot, white girl, anyway.
There are convenient plot devices thrown in to fix some problems and that is poor writing. In book six, suddenly Erin's thoughts appear in the cave and help save the day. Where were they all this while - why did they emerge now?
Duncan is gay, so the writers make him love using the gender key - because of course all gay men just want to be girls actually. I call bullshit to this stereotyping.
Duncan is the reason Luke is infected by a demon and so many people's lives are ruined. What the heck? How come the Locke family don't have to pay for the damage done. Why should we be happy for them after they destroyed so many lives.
The Locke family get the best deal of the series. Aside from the death of Rendell and the attack on Nina (which, as I've mentioned, is really seen as no big deal for some reason) the entire family is together and whole and happy. In both the 80s timeline and the 2000s, they come off fairly unscathed. The writer should have stuck with letting Bode be dead - or as a ghost that turns malicious and comes back to haunt people.
In the 80s storyline, Luke becomes a demon, Erin loses her mind for 30 years, Ellie is a nervous wreck bringing up a mentally disabled child and he one whose boyfriend comes back to assault, terrorize and kill her; Mark and Kim are killed. Rendell goes on to have a happy and successful life till his stupid ass son suggests to a deranged school mate that it would be best for him to kill his father. Deed is done, why the mother had to be raped in the bargain I don't understand.
Oh, and Ellie's kid is sent to a foster home and then a psych ward before he's adopted by the Lockes. Who's to say there won't be trauma from all that happened to him.
In the noughties timeline the family are okay. All the kids' friends (bar one) are killed, as are another 100 unknown kids. The book fails to mention how many are maimed or permanently affected by this - but there are plenty there too.
Can writers just stop equating fantastical attacks with rape. When Luke becomes a demon, they take his memories out - this actually makes no sense but anyway. When they do this Ellie says what they've done to him is worse than rape - what on earth, why would she equate the two? They're nothing like each other. Only stupid male writers would write this.
Why is it that the moment Luke's memories are removed he becomes a cruel misogynistic creep? How does that work? Why isn't he cruel to everyone, why only women. It often feels like the writers have something against women in general, because the violence done to them in the series is all pervading.
Kinsey is the hot chick that everyone wants to get with. Her two friends Scot and Jamal only start talking to her as a way to get in her pants and their sexualisation of her never ends. It continues to be a tussle for Kinsey. Why does she even get with Jamal in the end - it makes no sense aside from the writers not knowing how to write a female character as anything other than hot and a desirable object to be coveted and won by warring men.
I think this series could have been particularly great had it stayed away from the mountain of cliches that it decided to incorporate. Also, the writing became really choppy near the end and ruined the fluidity of the story. Three stars is right for it, but were it not for the creative idea, any other comic would have got one.
I am so concerned about the tv adaptation for this series. I'd love it if they cast a genderqueer or non binary person for the role of Zack, but undoubtedly they'll go with an androgynous woman and then lay claim to representing the LGBTQIA+ community to perfection. If the tv writers can remove the sexist elements of the comics and instead involve valid conversations about sexual assault and it's repercussions on the culprit we may have a better show. Or else, leave that out and just make a ghost story. I'm down with that.
We follow the Locke family, recently mourning the loss of a family member and recovering from the after-effects of a particularly traumatic experience. They move away from their home into Lovecraft and suddenly supernatural occurrences become par for the course.
Volume one was great, pacey and concise. The following volumes made the mistake of expanding on the lore, and it felt like tonally they didn't capture the eerieness of the first volume.
Generally the concept is splendid. The idea that Keyhouse is riddled with keys each of which has a distinctive power is gripping and innovative. It really pushes the limits of your imagination and I can see why so many people absolutely love this series. It even won a couple of Eisner awards, so I shouldn't diss it.
Except I have to. There were problems with this series and they probably grated on me more because I have always found the medium of comic books fun and derogatory all at the same time. We level a lot of criticism on the big two of comics, but when independent or other publishers tow the same line it gives the impression that comics as a medium is problematic and irredeemable.
Gabriel Rodriguez's art is unattractive. There is a cartoonish tinge to the whole thing which detracts from the overall spooky atmosphere that the story is trying to portray.
My biggest problem with the art was how the artist makes the men diverse and cartoony but the women all look exactly the same. I kid you not. Ty is big and burly, his father is tall, big and burly. His uncle is scrawny and freckled, and his uncle's partner is short and chubby. The juvenile murderers are comical and hideous. Kinsey's friend Scot is bald and lanky while Jamal is dreadlocked and round faced. The only conventionally attractive male character is Zack, so of course Kinsey falls for him and a useless romance ensues.
Can't say the same about the women though. Aside from a couple of black women and the homophobic hillbillies, literally every other female character is a copy of the other - the variation is hair/ eye color, height and dress sense. That's it. The moms and teachers look like the daughters and students. It's disturbing. There is no variation in shape and this angers me the most. I know when this series was created we did not have so many conversations about diversity, but would it have killed the creators to give it a try? Each and every female character is drawn to be pleasing to the male gaze, and they're made to act like that too.
The entire series is so damn cliched it is frustrating and blood-boiling. The older women not looking different from the younger ones especially grates because the bad guy keeps telling Ellie Whedon that she's ugly and old when in fact the only difference between her and the other 'prettier' women is coiffed hair and lipstick. It sends a really bad message to those reading it. Though I think this series should be only for adults, I get the feeling it was targeted at teenagers.
Also, the artist relies heavily on low neck tops to ensure the reader knows for sure that these are women! No other way for us to figure it out - it's low neck tops for ALL or that person is a guy.
The violence, gore and profanity is overused in the series as well. Like, no one needs such an abundance of it to know that we're up against some scary bad guys. It's grotesque to the point where you have to stop and look away - yugh.
One thing that I haven't come across many people talking about is what happened to the mom character Nina.
The incident that sparks the series is the murder of the Locke patriarch by Sam Lesser and his friend. The friend is killed in the incident but Lesser is put in juvie. It is evident when Nina kills the partner that she's been raped. But... no one ever talks about it. It came to such a point that I wondered whether I had just misinterpreted her demeanor and ripped outfit when it could have been a result of a fight to save her life. Nina is shown as drinking and drunk constantly after the incident and all anyone talks about is her dead husband. All the kids talk about is their dead father. Of course people will talk about the dead person, but surely the paramedics would have seen what happened to Nina and offered some help and this would have filtered down to the adults around Nina? In Lesser's sentencing this would have been mentioned. Heck, Ty was right there when his mother emerged to kill one of the killers, he could have talked to her or acknowledged what happened. It is literally forgotten and not brought up by the creators until at a convenient time when the sole other woman in the Locke family, teenager Kinsey, mentions the attack as not being a good enough reason for her mother's drunken neglect of her family. And that's it. No one thinks to send her for counseling or get her help. Ignoring an uncomfortable or traumatic incident in public is one thing, but in private moments - the ones the readers are often privy to - people would consider this, weep over it or wonder how to make things better. All the writers care about is the dead father and people's feelings about him. Because Nina liked to drink (a fact that emerges conveniently - like her needing a crutch - when the writers want to give Kinsey more reason to hate her mother) we are meant to believe that no one will consider her excessive drinking as a sign of her trauma? It irritates me that male writers just can't understand how to write women characters - why must rape be used as a plot device or in this case as a necessary and bygone incident to be used frivolously for plot purposes. Why does Nina have absolutely no personality or agency to act on her own? She has no family or friends of her own to turn to? Only her husband's family exist in this world? I'm so mad at this book it's not even funny.
Why there is no sympathy for Nina is beyond me. Kinsey is so hard on her - especially in the final issue when Nina is attacked by shadows and forced to drink alcohol. Pretty sure there would be obvious signs of the attack, but the creators just use it as an excuse for Kinsey to throw a hissey fit and drag her friends to their eventual deaths.
The sexualisation of the female characters is so all encompassing in this book. We never get to see the female characters imagining their hot classmates naked on a desk, so why do we have to see the male characters' daydreams like this about their female classmates?
The villain of the series is a demon-infested student named Luke/Zach. They uses the gender key to change from female to male and back again. As a male, he pretends to be nice to people and hooks up with Kinsey - in the meantime he is busy terrorizing Ellie Whedon at home, to the point where it is suggested that he is assaulting her as well.
As a female, Luke is always sexually alluring and uses her appeal to get her way. I would one day like to read a comic series where the male version is sexually alluring and the female is the go-getter.
I am surprised it took till volume 4 to draw the female version completely naked and then fighting naked. The male gaze loves it when a woman does a regular act sans clothes. This crops up later with another character. Ty's girlfriend, who is literally there just to be a love interest, takes off her seriously adult looking dress in the middle of the empty quad and proceeds to spend severally pages holding a conversation in her underwear. How did she not freeze to death? I don't think male writers have ever actually tried wearing less than jeans and a tee anywhere beyond their own four walls - if they had I'm pretty sure they would stop drawing women in the tiny excuses they call clothes.
The women characters are also written as being supremely stupid. Most dumb things happen because a female character is made to act impulsively or unthinkingly. Ty on the other hand is virtually invincible - he's the saviour from beginning to end. He caught Lesser and in the end, Kinsey has to wait for him to come save her. And he does. Of course. Nothing can stop the unbeatable straight male protagonist.
There are so many issues with how the women are portrayed and drawn in this series that I can't understand how come no one else has mentioned it. I think my anger comes from the fact that every time I pick up a comic I will find the women to be drawn and written exactly the same way and this series unfortunately did not surprise me.
Other miscellaneous grouses follow:
In the 80s storyline, the black girl, Erin, is in love with Rendell Locke, but he's with the hot, white girl, Kim. Noticeably, both father and son get the hottest girls in their schools because both these guys are such catches, like wow. Rendell is not at all attractive but he may be intelligent. No one points out to him how lucky he is to have got such a catch; Ellie, on the other hand, is made patently aware that she is too unattractive to have Luke and man is she lucky he's into her. The only difference between Ellie and Kim is that the former is a sportsperson with no interest in doing her hair or wearing make up. That's it.
Back to the original point. Rendell does not see Erin's love but at the fag end of their storyline it is suggested that maybe the two are getting close. Kim even says she's been shipping them - good job, since you didn't actually step aside to let that happen. Kim isn't even a nice person, no matter what hogwash the writers make Rendell say - he's so obviously into her because she's conventionally attractive. Anyway, all this talk of inter-racial romance comes to nought because he goes and marries another hot, white girl, anyway.
There are convenient plot devices thrown in to fix some problems and that is poor writing. In book six, suddenly Erin's thoughts appear in the cave and help save the day. Where were they all this while - why did they emerge now?
Duncan is gay, so the writers make him love using the gender key - because of course all gay men just want to be girls actually. I call bullshit to this stereotyping.
Duncan is the reason Luke is infected by a demon and so many people's lives are ruined. What the heck? How come the Locke family don't have to pay for the damage done. Why should we be happy for them after they destroyed so many lives.
The Locke family get the best deal of the series. Aside from the death of Rendell and the attack on Nina (which, as I've mentioned, is really seen as no big deal for some reason) the entire family is together and whole and happy. In both the 80s timeline and the 2000s, they come off fairly unscathed. The writer should have stuck with letting Bode be dead - or as a ghost that turns malicious and comes back to haunt people.
In the 80s storyline, Luke becomes a demon, Erin loses her mind for 30 years, Ellie is a nervous wreck bringing up a mentally disabled child and he one whose boyfriend comes back to assault, terrorize and kill her; Mark and Kim are killed. Rendell goes on to have a happy and successful life till his stupid ass son suggests to a deranged school mate that it would be best for him to kill his father. Deed is done, why the mother had to be raped in the bargain I don't understand.
Oh, and Ellie's kid is sent to a foster home and then a psych ward before he's adopted by the Lockes. Who's to say there won't be trauma from all that happened to him.
In the noughties timeline the family are okay. All the kids' friends (bar one) are killed, as are another 100 unknown kids. The book fails to mention how many are maimed or permanently affected by this - but there are plenty there too.
Can writers just stop equating fantastical attacks with rape. When Luke becomes a demon, they take his memories out - this actually makes no sense but anyway. When they do this Ellie says what they've done to him is worse than rape - what on earth, why would she equate the two? They're nothing like each other. Only stupid male writers would write this.
Why is it that the moment Luke's memories are removed he becomes a cruel misogynistic creep? How does that work? Why isn't he cruel to everyone, why only women. It often feels like the writers have something against women in general, because the violence done to them in the series is all pervading.
Kinsey is the hot chick that everyone wants to get with. Her two friends Scot and Jamal only start talking to her as a way to get in her pants and their sexualisation of her never ends. It continues to be a tussle for Kinsey. Why does she even get with Jamal in the end - it makes no sense aside from the writers not knowing how to write a female character as anything other than hot and a desirable object to be coveted and won by warring men.
I think this series could have been particularly great had it stayed away from the mountain of cliches that it decided to incorporate. Also, the writing became really choppy near the end and ruined the fluidity of the story. Three stars is right for it, but were it not for the creative idea, any other comic would have got one.
I am so concerned about the tv adaptation for this series. I'd love it if they cast a genderqueer or non binary person for the role of Zack, but undoubtedly they'll go with an androgynous woman and then lay claim to representing the LGBTQIA+ community to perfection. If the tv writers can remove the sexist elements of the comics and instead involve valid conversations about sexual assault and it's repercussions on the culprit we may have a better show. Or else, leave that out and just make a ghost story. I'm down with that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2024
What conceptually was a 6-issue limited series became a 33-issue mammoth that kickstarted both artists Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's careers.
My introduction to the series is simply the name Joe Hill. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about him, not just about being Stephen King’s son, but also how he chose to be a writer without the influence of his father. He only became known as King's son years later after he had already proven himself as an author that many people love. After Locke and Key, I'm a part of those people and excited to read more from him. I’m one of those series where it progressively just gets better and better in each entry.
The artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez wasn’t my favourite at first, but you soon realise the versatility of the artist as the series progresses. He is brilliant at depicting varied art styles to suit a mood. Especially certain perspectives that are more childlike in nature, and the imagination is very apparent. He is great at depicting emotion; one of the first panels of the series says it all. I stumbled upon a pretty good interview with the artist talking about his process:
Source - (read this interview if you haven’t yet!)
Both artists considerably improved upon their craft in each volume. The writing that is written and seen through the art itself. The horror aspects, the coming of age, family, alcoholism, addictions, radical prejudice, and grief and fear isn't a weakness, they are just a couple of the ideas and themes it explores. I haven’t even mentioned that the coolest aspect is just the idea of these Keys. It has such a fascinating mythology. Horror fantasy is just an amazing genre, and here it does an exceptional job at realising why that’s the case.
In conclusion, I would recommend it; I didn’t even really mention the panel work, which had a very interesting storyboard at times. It isn’t too wordy; it flows pretty organically. From new to old comic book fans alike, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
8.5/10
My introduction to the series is simply the name Joe Hill. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about him, not just about being Stephen King’s son, but also how he chose to be a writer without the influence of his father. He only became known as King's son years later after he had already proven himself as an author that many people love. After Locke and Key, I'm a part of those people and excited to read more from him. I’m one of those series where it progressively just gets better and better in each entry.
The artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez wasn’t my favourite at first, but you soon realise the versatility of the artist as the series progresses. He is brilliant at depicting varied art styles to suit a mood. Especially certain perspectives that are more childlike in nature, and the imagination is very apparent. He is great at depicting emotion; one of the first panels of the series says it all. I stumbled upon a pretty good interview with the artist talking about his process:
.“There’s another trick . . . I made the conscious choice of drawing the comic in a more childlike way because I knew that, throughout the story, these kids would be growing up. So, my idea would be to get more and more realistic in the drawing approach as the comic progresses. If you compare the last issues of the six volumes of Locke & Key with the first one, you can see that progression. It was sort of a lucky guess; I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to convey that, but as the series extended way more than we originally planned it, I had enough room to make it part of the narrative story.�
Source - (read this interview if you haven’t yet!)
Both artists considerably improved upon their craft in each volume. The writing that is written and seen through the art itself. The horror aspects, the coming of age, family, alcoholism, addictions, radical prejudice, and grief and fear isn't a weakness, they are just a couple of the ideas and themes it explores. I haven’t even mentioned that the coolest aspect is just the idea of these Keys. It has such a fascinating mythology. Horror fantasy is just an amazing genre, and here it does an exceptional job at realising why that’s the case.
In conclusion, I would recommend it; I didn’t even really mention the panel work, which had a very interesting storyboard at times. It isn’t too wordy; it flows pretty organically. From new to old comic book fans alike, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
8.5/10
March 18, 2023
This was an interesting story and beautiful to boot. I haven't watched the show but I can tell you this volume is worth it. If for no other reason than it's a beauty!
January 5, 2021
Luego de que Rendell Locke haya sido asesinado a manos de Sam Lesser, un adolescente sociópata, su familia se muda a Keyhouse, la casa familiar del padre para vivir con su hermano y poder soportar el duelo en compañía.
En medio de la pérdida, el menor de los hermanos, Bode, encuentra una extraña llave que le permite convertirse en fantasma, solo para descubrir que hay muchos secretos en Keyhouse y tal vez, habría sido mejor que queden guardados.
Empecé el primer tomo con bastante reticencia, no estaba esperando mucho de la historia y entré con pocas expectativas. En un principio no quedé fascinada con la trama, me pareció interesante y bastante macabra pero nada del otro mundo, por lo que no retomé el resto de los cómics hasta pasadas unas dos o tres semanas.
Una vez que agarré Headgames no pude soltar ninguno de los otros tomos. Lo que Welcome to Lovecraft no había logrado captar en mí, lo consiguió el segundo volúmen y a partir de ahí no hubo vuelta atrás. Terminé leyendo todo el resto de la historia en tres días.
Como dije más arriba, es una trama bastante macabra y muy oscura. El villano es excelente, de esos que te hacen odiarlo de principio a fin pero es inevitable no sentirse atraído por cómo va a llevar a cabo las cosas. Es sanguinario y no tiene reparos en asesinar a quien se ponga en su camino.
Y aún así, a pesar de todo el atractivo violento, horrorífico y sobrenatural, lo que realmente resalta es lo humano. Joe logra lo que su Stephen King fue dejando como legado, la capacidad de crear todo un mundo lleno de elementos fantásticos pero haciendo que lo más importante sean las emociones que quedan atrás, y cómo afecta eso a los personajes y al lector.
El duelo es una figura elemental y está muy bien llevada a cabo. Los personajes no siempre hacen lo que uno cree que haría estando en sus lugares, pero ese es el tema con el duelo: no hay una forma correcta de atravesarlo, y cada uno hace lo que puede.
Es la historia de una puerta interdimensional y cientos de llaves mágicas, pero también es la historia de una familia en pedazos que intenta reconstruirse en pequeños pasos. Es sobre encontrar una familia en los amigos, el dolor del paso entre la adolescencia y la adultez, y la pérdida de la inocencia infantil.
Los personajes son de esos con los que en un principio cuesta conectar. Toman decisiones que frustran al lector y las consecuencias terminan siendo graves, pero a medida que todo va avanzando, es inevitable terminar queriéndolos y desear que todo salga bien para ellos. Incluso los personajes secundarios son queribles, y las historias personales de cada uno terminan haciendo que el lector simpatice con ellos.
Mi único problema con estos cómics fue que a veces las cosas parecían salir de la nada y todo quedaba a interpretación del lector. Entiendo que hayan cientos de llaves y que no se pueda mostrar cada una en detalle, pero siquiera una elipsis habría funcionado en vez de que un volumen terminara de cierta forma y en el siguiente los personajes estuvieran volando de la nada. A lo mejor me salté algún cuadro sin querer.
Por el lado del estilo de ilustración, los dibujos de Gabriel Rodríguez no son mi cup of tea, pero van a juego con la trama. Los colores son apagados y realistas, con trazos marcados y gruesos, sin una estética que vaya a suavizar los eventos que se van dando, y aún así no deja de tener su propia belleza. Hay cuadros que son dignos de estar enmarcados, y los personajes están muy bien ilustrados; las facciones son increíbles y todas las emociones están muy bien captadas.
En fin, una lectura que me dejó gratamente sorprendida. El final me gustó mucho y cierra todos los cabos sueltos, además de ser muy emocional (yo sigo en negación, hay algunas cositas que me habría gustado que salieran de otra forma, pero aún así, es un cómic que obtuvo el final indicado y que merecía). Muy recomendado.
En medio de la pérdida, el menor de los hermanos, Bode, encuentra una extraña llave que le permite convertirse en fantasma, solo para descubrir que hay muchos secretos en Keyhouse y tal vez, habría sido mejor que queden guardados.
Empecé el primer tomo con bastante reticencia, no estaba esperando mucho de la historia y entré con pocas expectativas. En un principio no quedé fascinada con la trama, me pareció interesante y bastante macabra pero nada del otro mundo, por lo que no retomé el resto de los cómics hasta pasadas unas dos o tres semanas.
Una vez que agarré Headgames no pude soltar ninguno de los otros tomos. Lo que Welcome to Lovecraft no había logrado captar en mí, lo consiguió el segundo volúmen y a partir de ahí no hubo vuelta atrás. Terminé leyendo todo el resto de la historia en tres días.
Como dije más arriba, es una trama bastante macabra y muy oscura. El villano es excelente, de esos que te hacen odiarlo de principio a fin pero es inevitable no sentirse atraído por cómo va a llevar a cabo las cosas. Es sanguinario y no tiene reparos en asesinar a quien se ponga en su camino.
Y aún así, a pesar de todo el atractivo violento, horrorífico y sobrenatural, lo que realmente resalta es lo humano. Joe logra lo que su Stephen King fue dejando como legado, la capacidad de crear todo un mundo lleno de elementos fantásticos pero haciendo que lo más importante sean las emociones que quedan atrás, y cómo afecta eso a los personajes y al lector.
El duelo es una figura elemental y está muy bien llevada a cabo. Los personajes no siempre hacen lo que uno cree que haría estando en sus lugares, pero ese es el tema con el duelo: no hay una forma correcta de atravesarlo, y cada uno hace lo que puede.
Es la historia de una puerta interdimensional y cientos de llaves mágicas, pero también es la historia de una familia en pedazos que intenta reconstruirse en pequeños pasos. Es sobre encontrar una familia en los amigos, el dolor del paso entre la adolescencia y la adultez, y la pérdida de la inocencia infantil.
Los personajes son de esos con los que en un principio cuesta conectar. Toman decisiones que frustran al lector y las consecuencias terminan siendo graves, pero a medida que todo va avanzando, es inevitable terminar queriéndolos y desear que todo salga bien para ellos. Incluso los personajes secundarios son queribles, y las historias personales de cada uno terminan haciendo que el lector simpatice con ellos.
Mi único problema con estos cómics fue que a veces las cosas parecían salir de la nada y todo quedaba a interpretación del lector. Entiendo que hayan cientos de llaves y que no se pueda mostrar cada una en detalle, pero siquiera una elipsis habría funcionado en vez de que un volumen terminara de cierta forma y en el siguiente los personajes estuvieran volando de la nada. A lo mejor me salté algún cuadro sin querer.
Por el lado del estilo de ilustración, los dibujos de Gabriel Rodríguez no son mi cup of tea, pero van a juego con la trama. Los colores son apagados y realistas, con trazos marcados y gruesos, sin una estética que vaya a suavizar los eventos que se van dando, y aún así no deja de tener su propia belleza. Hay cuadros que son dignos de estar enmarcados, y los personajes están muy bien ilustrados; las facciones son increíbles y todas las emociones están muy bien captadas.
En fin, una lectura que me dejó gratamente sorprendida. El final me gustó mucho y cierra todos los cabos sueltos, además de ser muy emocional (yo sigo en negación, hay algunas cositas que me habría gustado que salieran de otra forma, pero aún así, es un cómic que obtuvo el final indicado y que merecía). Muy recomendado.
January 25, 2021
(Zero spoiler review)
First of all, do not watch the horrendous Netflix adaptation. I have tried on two separate occasions. Once before reading the graphic novels, and once after. Both times, I made it to the end of the first episode, and couldn't bring myself for love or money, to click on another. The show will only ruin what will be a memorable and rewarding experience in delving into these books. And should you have already watched the show, then do yourself a favour and read the books, regardless of what you thought of it. The book, as usual, reigns supreme.
Locke and Key was one of the first graphic novels I picked up about six months ago when I found myself discovering the wonderful world of comic books. I'm certainly glad I did, as this was one of the first true gems I discovered, and certainly helped cement my ongoing interest in the medium moving forward. The art style came in for a lot of criticism, at least from the sources I was listening to. Though the art style grew on them over the issues, I was sold on it from day one. Preferring the almost cartoonish, clean lined style of Rodriguez over many of the, admittedly short list of artists I had seen up until that point. Even now, with a great deal more variety under my belt, I still find the art style endlessly appealing. Whilst it may present the intermittent violence and gore in a somewhat less than realistic fashion, or less realistic than other artists perhaps, It always kept me immersed in the story, which is most important in my opinion.
The second strength of this book is the characters. If you want cookie cutter teen cut outs masquerading as horror characters, then the tv show has you covered. If you want a more nuanced, interesting and engaging set of protagonists, then Locke and Key won't disappoint.
Thirdly, the story overall is endlessly entertaining and entrancing, drawing you in with the mystery of the house and the keys, and just where all of this madness is going to end. Whilst a horror book at heart, I wouldn't let the H word turn off people for whom bloody, scary stories aren't really their cup of tea. There is just as much heart in this book as horror, so I'd recommend those of a softer disposition not to let this little gem pass them by.
Whilst I didn't love every place that Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) took the book, the overall ride was well and truly worth the price of admission and the time invested. There are few scary stories in the comic book medium that are this gratifying on levels beyond our baser, bloodier predilections. The last few pages even gave your embittered reviewer a nice little reflective, emotional pause as he closed the book for the first time, but no doubt not the last. So why not allow Key house and the Locke family to share their twisted little tale with you. Methinks you shant regret it. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
First of all, do not watch the horrendous Netflix adaptation. I have tried on two separate occasions. Once before reading the graphic novels, and once after. Both times, I made it to the end of the first episode, and couldn't bring myself for love or money, to click on another. The show will only ruin what will be a memorable and rewarding experience in delving into these books. And should you have already watched the show, then do yourself a favour and read the books, regardless of what you thought of it. The book, as usual, reigns supreme.
Locke and Key was one of the first graphic novels I picked up about six months ago when I found myself discovering the wonderful world of comic books. I'm certainly glad I did, as this was one of the first true gems I discovered, and certainly helped cement my ongoing interest in the medium moving forward. The art style came in for a lot of criticism, at least from the sources I was listening to. Though the art style grew on them over the issues, I was sold on it from day one. Preferring the almost cartoonish, clean lined style of Rodriguez over many of the, admittedly short list of artists I had seen up until that point. Even now, with a great deal more variety under my belt, I still find the art style endlessly appealing. Whilst it may present the intermittent violence and gore in a somewhat less than realistic fashion, or less realistic than other artists perhaps, It always kept me immersed in the story, which is most important in my opinion.
The second strength of this book is the characters. If you want cookie cutter teen cut outs masquerading as horror characters, then the tv show has you covered. If you want a more nuanced, interesting and engaging set of protagonists, then Locke and Key won't disappoint.
Thirdly, the story overall is endlessly entertaining and entrancing, drawing you in with the mystery of the house and the keys, and just where all of this madness is going to end. Whilst a horror book at heart, I wouldn't let the H word turn off people for whom bloody, scary stories aren't really their cup of tea. There is just as much heart in this book as horror, so I'd recommend those of a softer disposition not to let this little gem pass them by.
Whilst I didn't love every place that Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) took the book, the overall ride was well and truly worth the price of admission and the time invested. There are few scary stories in the comic book medium that are this gratifying on levels beyond our baser, bloodier predilections. The last few pages even gave your embittered reviewer a nice little reflective, emotional pause as he closed the book for the first time, but no doubt not the last. So why not allow Key house and the Locke family to share their twisted little tale with you. Methinks you shant regret it. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
March 4, 2020
My first real exposure to the graphic novel world, and I might be hooked. It was fascinating how much the illustrations elevated the story, especially the frames without any text at all. I was a bit disappointed and a touch confused by the conclusion, but still very much enjoyed it.
September 29, 2016
Twisted, violent, evil! I had a lot of fun with this series. What an imagination to create this! I love the idea of all these locks and keys that have special effects on the users. Most inventive! There is a lot of death. VIolent, bloody death. Mature, sexual content (nothing too heavy though) and lots of cursing so readers beware! I loved the exploration, revenge, and self discovery this series offers. It messes with both characters and readers in SO many ways! I really liked most of the characters. Tyler took awhile to grow on me but Kinsley and Bode were instant likes. Even the main villain was pretty cool.
February 13, 2015
Brīnišķīgs stāsts. Ja nu tikai beigas tādas mazliet par maigu.
January 24, 2019
Rendell Locke always told his wife Nina that if anything were to happen to him she should take the kids and leave San Francisco, pack up and go back to Lovecraft, Massachusetts, to the family home, to Keyhouse. When Rendell is killed by a disgruntled student Rendell's eldest son, Tyler, can't help but wonder if his father always knew that something like this would happen. That there would come a time when he would no longer be able to protect them and Keyhouse would. That a Sam Lesser would enter their lives and ruin everything. Now a world away from the lives they led, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, have to decide who they'll be. This is a new start and going to the high school their father attended, Tyler and Kinsey don't want to have the label of victim hanging around their necks. But when Sam Lesser breaks out of juvenile detention hellbent on finishing what he started with their father the Locke siblings realize their lives will forever be entwined with tragedy. Though they will choose if they are the victims or the victors, and the house will help. Because Keyhouse isn't just the family ancestral seat that prosperous locksmiths built... it's so much more as Bode soon discovers.
Bode has been finding keys about the house. These aren't just skeleton keys to open any door in the house, they are keys with specific and unique abilities. One key allows you to walk through a door and become a ghost, another will open a door to anywhere in the world so long as you can picture it in your mind. At first these keys seem a gift, but Sam knows about the keys too. How could a disturbed youth who's lived his whole life on the other side of the country know about the secrets of Keyhouse that even the Locke kids didn't know about? Echoes through time... When Rendell was Tyler's age he used the keys with his friends. He used them for fun. Then one day he decided to use them for personal gain. Everything changed. A dangerous creature was unleashed and Rendell knew one day there would be a reckoning. He didn't send his children to safety, he set them to a warzone and they were oblivious to their danger. Though surviving Sam Lesser's attack has made the Locke kids oddly ready for this otherworldly battle. They can wield the keys for good. With the help of their friends they will set right what their father set in motion all those years ago.
Who hasn't dreamt of living in a big Gothic mansion with magical keys that open doors? There's a magic to childhood where big houses are full of secrets to be uncovered and old keys could open a door to adventure. The Locke and Key series taps into these memories and fantasies of youth and revitalized in me my love of reading. I was having all these feels. I was flashing back to reading Judy Blume's Fudge-a-Mania and the Hatcher family's vacation to Maine where the house had the separate taps in the bathroom, just like in my house. Because the quirks and personalities of houses are something I've always reveled in when reading books. All these callbacks to my childhood and how Keyhouse only lets the young, those who will do no harm with it's powers, uncover it's magic just made me want to pack a bag and move to Lovecraft, no matter it's H.P. overtones. But there's also a darker magic, an adult nature to Locke and Key that is taking what we love and remember from our childhood and subverting it, making it for adult readers. This is the perfect tale of terror in my mind, the nostalgia of youth combined with the horrors of the real world and I wouldn't have it any other way.
What makes this series so unique is that all these fantastical and Cthulhu originated elements are secondary to the journey of the characters and one family's struggle to survive. You care so much about the characters that the fantastical elements are almost a side note, yet one that you readily accept without qualms because if one aspect of your story is so rooted in reality you can't help but accept the fantastical as real as well. Re-reading this series over the last week while getting ready to write this review I was struck by something I didn't notice while reading the series over the course of a month last summer and I really should have because I think it's why the series speaks so strongly to me. This series taps into the same storytelling elements of one of my favorite television series ever, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy had a way of making the fantastical monsters of the week be about the daily struggles of being a teen in high school. Here we have the magic of Keyhouse shining a light on the humanity and struggles of the Locke family. They are two sides of the same coin. This was really brought home to me in the epic final battle, which occurs after Prom, a more Buffy plot device I couldn't think of. Plus, Joe Hill's wiliness to indiscriminately kill characters we've come to know and love? What's more Buffy than that?
Though there is one aspect of the narrative I question and that's this somewhat blanket forgiveness of the baddies. Sam Lesser not only murdered Rendell Locke but indiscriminately murdered his own parents and anyone that helped him in his journey across the United States to finish off the Locke family and because he helps to warn of the ultimate evil that tricked him he's kind of given a free pass. Excuse me? One act of kindness doesn't make up for all the horrors wrought! What's more that "act of kindness" was more an act of revenge. He felt tricked and cheated and would do anything to bring down the person who destroyed him. So how can vengeance be kindness? It's self-serving and therefore not an act of benevolence and therefore Sam Lesser should burn in hell. Forever. And as for that ultimate evil? The fact that a very human person was corrupted by an elder god from H.P. Lovecraft's plain of Leng from the Cthulhu Mythos gives this other human a free pass? As said human, and can I say how hard this is to write without spoilers, lays dying they say that the evil was within them all along, the Lovecraftian creature just flipped a switch to make bad feel oh so good. But the evil was there all along! How does that warrant forgiveness? Yes, it's nice to think we, as humans, can be magnanimous in our ability to forgive, but someone responsible for killing forty-five teenagers in one night isn't worthy of any understanding OR forgiveness. It just sits wrong with me.
While I usually spend most reviews dissecting every aspect of the story the truth is with Locke and Key, more than any other series I've read, the art perfectly balances the narrative so that one without the other wouldn't be Locke and Key. Therefore I have to discuss Gabriel Rodriguez. He has a very detail oriented style, at first I was strongly reminded of this series my grade school library had. In it all the great classics were lovingly drawn out as comics in exacting detail to ensnare reluctant readers like myself. In fact, thanks to these comics I am far more knowledgeable with regards to the plays of Shakespeare and the great classics of literature than I should be. The thing is that while that art style captured my imagination as a child my personal aesthetics have changed over time, so while I admire those capable of that level of detail, the watercolors of Tyler Crook in Harrow County, or Sean Phillips's work from Fatale to Criminal, have mood-oriented styles I can't help but adore. Rodriguez therefore had to overcome my own artistic prejudices and it literally only took a few pages. What makes Rodriguez stand out is his ability to not only draw amazing and lifelike detail but he is able to capture familial resemblances. So much of this comic is the dynamic relationships of the Locke family, and by God, you can tell they are related. Not just siblings, but ancestors, and parents. This is a feat that I don't think enough people applaud. Rodriguez's abilities are what make these characters real people and makes me pity the casting directors at Netflix as they work on the upcoming adaptation.
After leaving a book or television show behind they linger in your imagination but there is rarely something tangible that you can hold onto in the real world. As shows like Game of Thrones and Doctor Who and the fandoms that surround them have become bigger and more and more popular this isn't really the case anymore. There are prop replicas and tie-ins aplenty. Yes, I do personally have an Orb of Thesulah and it does make a rather nice paperweight, but there's a part of me that longs for books to have this same rabid fandom that television shows do. There are certain authors that have inspired merchandise, such as Terry Pratchett, where you can get everything from currency to postage for Discworld, and believe me, I have both. So I was more than a little excited to discover that the world that Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez have created with Locke and Key has developed such a rabid following that we have our own name, and yes, I consider myself one based on the number of Facebook groups I belong to to be a Keyhead. But what's more, thanks to the the keys are real. THE KEYS ARE REAL PEOPLE! So while I haven't found out how to properly work my Anywhere Key, just being able to hold it in my hand makes me so happy and makes this series that much more real.
Bode has been finding keys about the house. These aren't just skeleton keys to open any door in the house, they are keys with specific and unique abilities. One key allows you to walk through a door and become a ghost, another will open a door to anywhere in the world so long as you can picture it in your mind. At first these keys seem a gift, but Sam knows about the keys too. How could a disturbed youth who's lived his whole life on the other side of the country know about the secrets of Keyhouse that even the Locke kids didn't know about? Echoes through time... When Rendell was Tyler's age he used the keys with his friends. He used them for fun. Then one day he decided to use them for personal gain. Everything changed. A dangerous creature was unleashed and Rendell knew one day there would be a reckoning. He didn't send his children to safety, he set them to a warzone and they were oblivious to their danger. Though surviving Sam Lesser's attack has made the Locke kids oddly ready for this otherworldly battle. They can wield the keys for good. With the help of their friends they will set right what their father set in motion all those years ago.
Who hasn't dreamt of living in a big Gothic mansion with magical keys that open doors? There's a magic to childhood where big houses are full of secrets to be uncovered and old keys could open a door to adventure. The Locke and Key series taps into these memories and fantasies of youth and revitalized in me my love of reading. I was having all these feels. I was flashing back to reading Judy Blume's Fudge-a-Mania and the Hatcher family's vacation to Maine where the house had the separate taps in the bathroom, just like in my house. Because the quirks and personalities of houses are something I've always reveled in when reading books. All these callbacks to my childhood and how Keyhouse only lets the young, those who will do no harm with it's powers, uncover it's magic just made me want to pack a bag and move to Lovecraft, no matter it's H.P. overtones. But there's also a darker magic, an adult nature to Locke and Key that is taking what we love and remember from our childhood and subverting it, making it for adult readers. This is the perfect tale of terror in my mind, the nostalgia of youth combined with the horrors of the real world and I wouldn't have it any other way.
What makes this series so unique is that all these fantastical and Cthulhu originated elements are secondary to the journey of the characters and one family's struggle to survive. You care so much about the characters that the fantastical elements are almost a side note, yet one that you readily accept without qualms because if one aspect of your story is so rooted in reality you can't help but accept the fantastical as real as well. Re-reading this series over the last week while getting ready to write this review I was struck by something I didn't notice while reading the series over the course of a month last summer and I really should have because I think it's why the series speaks so strongly to me. This series taps into the same storytelling elements of one of my favorite television series ever, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy had a way of making the fantastical monsters of the week be about the daily struggles of being a teen in high school. Here we have the magic of Keyhouse shining a light on the humanity and struggles of the Locke family. They are two sides of the same coin. This was really brought home to me in the epic final battle, which occurs after Prom, a more Buffy plot device I couldn't think of. Plus, Joe Hill's wiliness to indiscriminately kill characters we've come to know and love? What's more Buffy than that?
Though there is one aspect of the narrative I question and that's this somewhat blanket forgiveness of the baddies. Sam Lesser not only murdered Rendell Locke but indiscriminately murdered his own parents and anyone that helped him in his journey across the United States to finish off the Locke family and because he helps to warn of the ultimate evil that tricked him he's kind of given a free pass. Excuse me? One act of kindness doesn't make up for all the horrors wrought! What's more that "act of kindness" was more an act of revenge. He felt tricked and cheated and would do anything to bring down the person who destroyed him. So how can vengeance be kindness? It's self-serving and therefore not an act of benevolence and therefore Sam Lesser should burn in hell. Forever. And as for that ultimate evil? The fact that a very human person was corrupted by an elder god from H.P. Lovecraft's plain of Leng from the Cthulhu Mythos gives this other human a free pass? As said human, and can I say how hard this is to write without spoilers, lays dying they say that the evil was within them all along, the Lovecraftian creature just flipped a switch to make bad feel oh so good. But the evil was there all along! How does that warrant forgiveness? Yes, it's nice to think we, as humans, can be magnanimous in our ability to forgive, but someone responsible for killing forty-five teenagers in one night isn't worthy of any understanding OR forgiveness. It just sits wrong with me.
While I usually spend most reviews dissecting every aspect of the story the truth is with Locke and Key, more than any other series I've read, the art perfectly balances the narrative so that one without the other wouldn't be Locke and Key. Therefore I have to discuss Gabriel Rodriguez. He has a very detail oriented style, at first I was strongly reminded of this series my grade school library had. In it all the great classics were lovingly drawn out as comics in exacting detail to ensnare reluctant readers like myself. In fact, thanks to these comics I am far more knowledgeable with regards to the plays of Shakespeare and the great classics of literature than I should be. The thing is that while that art style captured my imagination as a child my personal aesthetics have changed over time, so while I admire those capable of that level of detail, the watercolors of Tyler Crook in Harrow County, or Sean Phillips's work from Fatale to Criminal, have mood-oriented styles I can't help but adore. Rodriguez therefore had to overcome my own artistic prejudices and it literally only took a few pages. What makes Rodriguez stand out is his ability to not only draw amazing and lifelike detail but he is able to capture familial resemblances. So much of this comic is the dynamic relationships of the Locke family, and by God, you can tell they are related. Not just siblings, but ancestors, and parents. This is a feat that I don't think enough people applaud. Rodriguez's abilities are what make these characters real people and makes me pity the casting directors at Netflix as they work on the upcoming adaptation.
After leaving a book or television show behind they linger in your imagination but there is rarely something tangible that you can hold onto in the real world. As shows like Game of Thrones and Doctor Who and the fandoms that surround them have become bigger and more and more popular this isn't really the case anymore. There are prop replicas and tie-ins aplenty. Yes, I do personally have an Orb of Thesulah and it does make a rather nice paperweight, but there's a part of me that longs for books to have this same rabid fandom that television shows do. There are certain authors that have inspired merchandise, such as Terry Pratchett, where you can get everything from currency to postage for Discworld, and believe me, I have both. So I was more than a little excited to discover that the world that Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez have created with Locke and Key has developed such a rabid following that we have our own name, and yes, I consider myself one based on the number of Facebook groups I belong to to be a Keyhead. But what's more, thanks to the the keys are real. THE KEYS ARE REAL PEOPLE! So while I haven't found out how to properly work my Anywhere Key, just being able to hold it in my hand makes me so happy and makes this series that much more real.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2022
This is my foray into the world of Joe Hill. I have heard of his name through several people I follow on Instagram but had yet to read anything he had written. I initially set out to read these awhile back when the Netflix show was on but they ended up on my TBR instead. Needing a quick read to catch up on my reading list, I picked these up and was not disappointed.
The story focuses on three kids whose father has been murdered and they along with their mother move across country to live in his childhood home Keyhouse. Keyhouse is located in Lovecraft, MA and is full of mystery and secrets. As the years have gone by the magic has evolved even going so far as to have a spell that once you turn 18 you forget about the magic and the keys. Trey, Kinsey and Bode soon discover that the house also holds numerous keys that all have magical qualities. The youngest gets sucked in by a demon, named Dodge, who he unwittingly lets out and things start getting pretty crazy once that happens. The demon is looking for the Omega key, the key that allows him to open the door to allow more of his kind out into our world. Can Trey, Kinsey and Bode join forces to defeat Dodge and save the world?
Im not typically a graphic novel reader but when something piques my interest, I will give it a try. Overall, this is a fantastic series. The idea of keys that can do crazy things like make you a giant, open up your mind, literally, so you can add or take stuff out and one that as long as you can envision the door it'll instantly take you there, I was hooked just from those ideas. In this slipcase there are six volumes and they all stand out. Gut wrenching, poignant and a definite page turner, you will not want to put this series down. I was able to read all 6 in two days.
I'm not an expert on art styles but I did enjoy the look of these books overall. Each one with in depth drawing that you will just sit and stare at until you make sure you've seen everything on the page. The characters are strong and well developed with room to grow. You could definitely feel the emotions of the characters coming off the page from the mother's grief at losing her husband to the daughter who wants to take fear and crying out of herself so she never has to feel either again. The villain in this series is relentless and there were times I was sure that he would win. The ending is strong and had me in tears. I believe this is just the beginning of my ride into the world of Joe Hill.
The story focuses on three kids whose father has been murdered and they along with their mother move across country to live in his childhood home Keyhouse. Keyhouse is located in Lovecraft, MA and is full of mystery and secrets. As the years have gone by the magic has evolved even going so far as to have a spell that once you turn 18 you forget about the magic and the keys. Trey, Kinsey and Bode soon discover that the house also holds numerous keys that all have magical qualities. The youngest gets sucked in by a demon, named Dodge, who he unwittingly lets out and things start getting pretty crazy once that happens. The demon is looking for the Omega key, the key that allows him to open the door to allow more of his kind out into our world. Can Trey, Kinsey and Bode join forces to defeat Dodge and save the world?
Im not typically a graphic novel reader but when something piques my interest, I will give it a try. Overall, this is a fantastic series. The idea of keys that can do crazy things like make you a giant, open up your mind, literally, so you can add or take stuff out and one that as long as you can envision the door it'll instantly take you there, I was hooked just from those ideas. In this slipcase there are six volumes and they all stand out. Gut wrenching, poignant and a definite page turner, you will not want to put this series down. I was able to read all 6 in two days.
I'm not an expert on art styles but I did enjoy the look of these books overall. Each one with in depth drawing that you will just sit and stare at until you make sure you've seen everything on the page. The characters are strong and well developed with room to grow. You could definitely feel the emotions of the characters coming off the page from the mother's grief at losing her husband to the daughter who wants to take fear and crying out of herself so she never has to feel either again. The villain in this series is relentless and there were times I was sure that he would win. The ending is strong and had me in tears. I believe this is just the beginning of my ride into the world of Joe Hill.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2020
Wow.
My wife picked this up for me after I saw an intriguing trailer for the Netflix series, and now that I've read it, I'm left wondering how the hell they're going to make the series even 10% as great as the graphic novel series is.
Super imaginative mythology, really dark and borderline cringe-worthy psychological horror, and tragic characters abound in this tale of a house filled with keys (some of which you don't want to know what they unlock).
I don't want to give any spoilers away, but if you're looking for a gruesome, addictive series (I burned through all six books in about two weeks, including a few late nights because I just couldn't put it down), take a closer look.
And whatever you do, do NOT go into the Wellhouse.
My wife picked this up for me after I saw an intriguing trailer for the Netflix series, and now that I've read it, I'm left wondering how the hell they're going to make the series even 10% as great as the graphic novel series is.
Super imaginative mythology, really dark and borderline cringe-worthy psychological horror, and tragic characters abound in this tale of a house filled with keys (some of which you don't want to know what they unlock).
I don't want to give any spoilers away, but if you're looking for a gruesome, addictive series (I burned through all six books in about two weeks, including a few late nights because I just couldn't put it down), take a closer look.
And whatever you do, do NOT go into the Wellhouse.
May 6, 2021
I'm not exactly someone who's a sucker for happy endings. I found I'm more drawn to tales of tragedy or adventures ending in bittersweet conclusions, I even like open endings sometimes, but happy endings? They are unrealistic in oh-so-many ways and make the hardships feel cheap somehow. In this case however I found the happy end to fit just right: every character had a great arc, every plot-line had a conclusion that was both satisfying and right in the given context. All in all I this was one hell of a ride that I'm glad I took.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2019
Amazing graphic novel! I really appreciate the art as well as the plot, that just kept me wanting to know what's next. Can't believe I have been sleeping on graphic novels!
October 13, 2019
4,5 stars!
August 10, 2024
This was the best book ever! I also watched the tv show of this book too. I recommend this book to people that like creepy stuff. There was a lot of blood in this as well.
March 17, 2025
SPIRITUAL GHOSTS & SPIRITED TEENS-&-TWINKS
You’re going to tell me I am late with this enormous work. But better late than never, and to be late on such a very mobile work of graphic fiction enables you to see more perspective. Eleven years are pushing this work of art and fiction into history.
The six volumes are titled,
� Vol 1 Welcome to Lovecraft,
� Vol 2 Head Games,
� Vol 3 Crown of Shadows,
� Vol 4 Keys to the Kingdom,
� Vol 5 Clockworks, and
� Vol 6 Alpha and Omega.
These titles give you one essential element to understand the whole set. Joe Hill as the author is trying to bring together at least one good century of fantastic, fantasy, horror, or non-horror literature and imagination in this haunted house that looks more like some castle of a crazy German king, duke, or emperor. On the German side of Europe, there are so many emperors or noble figures that were marked by some insanity that the whole set of this set of six comic books, originally published in some small and light fascicules, seems to be coming directly from the deranged depth of the Grimm Brothers� nightmarish children’s tales where wolves eat grandmothers, stepmothers are forced to dance in melting hot metal shoes till they die, and a few more horrors of these types, and some even worse than you can imagine.
The first volume is welcoming us to Lovecraft, a place where this haunted house is built, but Howard Phillips Lovecraft is the most deranged American science fiction author who can only compete along this line with Edgar Allan Poe. We push the door of this castle and enter this Lovecraftian world and we lose all equilibrium and we are taken down like Newton’s apple and we discover the heavy gravitational sinful perdition that leads us directly into Hell, and gets us ready to be carbonized, to be horrified, to be terrorized, to be dehumanized, to be spit-roasted, and I will try not to get into anything sexual but there is so much perversion at this hormonal level that we may think we could donate them with some genes and hormones, defined and refined as normal, for them to get back on earth, well balanced and happy.
Happy? Let me laugh! The third model, pattern, or topic is the signature of the sixth volume, ALPHA & OMEGA, like the Alpha of the beginning and the Omega of the end, not only of the alphabet but also of any prediction from the gods, like Saint John’s Apocalypse. �12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.� (Book of Revelation, 22:12-13) Of course, it does not work in Hebrew, which is normal since the Jewish John was in some kind of prison in Greece, and the Book of Revelation was supposedly written in Greek, hence alpha and omega. The last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is Tav and its meaning is mark, sign, omen, or seal, it is the symbol of truth, perfection, and completion, hence the meaning of the end of a prediction like the Greek omega that denotes the last, the end, or the ultimate limit of a set, but is all the more bizarre in this Book of Revelation, in this prediction about the end of the world by the Jewish god Yahweh who spoke Hebrew, a Semitic language that has NO vowels, except alef that is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet but this unique vowel can only be at the initial of any Hebrew tri-consonantal root that does not write vowels sounds that are only discursive elements added to the consonants to enable the consonantal roots to make sense in a discoursive utterance. This last volume is the completion of the whole trip and it is inscribed inside the basic Christian ternary rhythm of the whole Christian vision of life, the world, the cosmos, of humanity as a whole that was made in the image of the ternary God and his (or is it her?) trinity.
In fact, there is a Hindu inspiration in this vision, a vision of the Trimurti, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. But Joe Hill and his graphic accomplice go a lot farther than this simple triad. They bring together the present of frustration and fear but also life, with many visions of the past crimes of human history, and the surreal universe of the shadows, the ghosts, the dead, and the undead. Along this line, the models are so numerous that you get lost in exactly what kind of monstrous spirits the two artists (who should be three to be divine, two is too Jewish, God and his spirit in Genesis 1:1-2) are bringing to life, are bringing out of their surrealistic closets to haunt the characters of all the past periods we cross and jump over every single era or age to end up in any other infinite eon. Hence the ternary structure of time is Beginning-Middle-End, which becomes in Greek letters Alpha-Mu/Nu-Omega. Joe Hill takes us into that evil ternary spanning of time along this diabolical vision of the timeless, hence time-enslaved nightmarish exploration.
(Alpha, Mu {Mu is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced bilabial nasal: [m], hence the movement of the lips of the baby sucking their mother’s breast.}-Nu {Nu (uppercase Ν lowercase ν) is the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet. And it has the value of 50 in the Greek number system. The letter came from the Semitic Phoenician language nun (or nūn), which was used to mean serpent. The minuscule nu is used in many areas like statistics, thermodynamics, physics, material science, and chemistry.}, Omega)
But there is, apparently, no purgatory. Either you are lost and sacrificed for the good of the whole humanity, or you are saved, and in the end, you might be able to have come peaceful life, yet without any predictable future.
That’s where Gabriel Rodriguez is the genius of the comic strips and books, both in his drawing and in his coloring, if he is the colorist of the comic books. He transcends the text and takes us to a comic-book world where the boxes are of all sorts and connections, smaller ones encroaching onto bigger ones, and some being as big as at least two pages, with at times some continuation on a third page, some with a lot of bubbles, and some others without one single word or even simple moan for a couple of pages or more. The colors are drowning us in some heftily alcoholic and inebriating liquor, and the spirits are either black monsters seeping out of any fissure in the drawing out of any hole in the bodies of the characters, or they are some silvery vapor or fume floating around the living characters and evoking some kind of realistic, at least recognizable, form of the characters these dead spirits used to be. Yet I defy you to only “read� the drawings and skip the words in the bubbles. The two are glued together and the meaning, if there is a meaning can only come from the commerce and conjugation of the two together. More than a comic strip, it is a work of art, and the meaning is transcending every detail and globalizing some enormous constellations of myriads of details thrown into the witch’s pot of some magical potion or diabolical curse. In a way, we are in a world of artifacts, and that leads us to the last powerful metaphorical element: the KEYS of course since Ms. Locke, or rather Ms. Locke’s house, is only a pretext to look for keys.
The full list of keys is provided at the end of the fifth volume, from page 154 to page 159. This list of old flashcards that were conceived and illustrated by Benjamin Pierce Locke (1757-1799) who lived 42 years in the 18th century (which is 13 years over the life expectancy of any laborer, then provides us a clear list of exactly eighteen flashcards. Eighteen is twice nine, hence the Apocalypse. It could also be the beast of this apocalypse represented by the number 666, hence 18. Without explaining what these keys open in this collection of comic books, let me give the list of them with some remarks.
1- The Omega Key [The key of the end is at the beginning. You start your exploration from the present, hence you go back to the past, to the beginning to understand the present which is then the diving plank for the future.].
2- the Ghost Key.
3- The Echo Key.
4- The Anywhere Key.
5- The Head Key [This key is essential since it enables the user to make a subject passive, then to open up their skulls, and to take out or put in memories, real or fictitious, freely, thus modifying the personality of the concerned character since his or her personality is nothing but what he or she remembers, and yet, the things he has forgotten or that have been taken out of his head, still exist and he may get an echo of them or from them in the well building, coming up from the depth of this well.].
6- The Gender Key [A modern theme, since the author envisages a trans person].
7- The Shadow Key [It brings shadow “beings� to life in this world.].
8- The Giant Key.
9- The Mending Key [The best key but you have to use it fast. It can bring a thing or a person that have recently been broken or died, back to; life.].
10- The Animal Key.
11- The Music Box Key.
12- The Skin Key.
13- The Chain Key and The Great Lock.
14- The Key to the Moon.
15- The Timeshift Key [This one is essential since it enables the user to shift from one time to another period. It is time travel. Time travel has become, since the Time Machine of H.G. Wells {Note H.G. Wells has been resuscitated in the series Warehouse 13 as a woman with special powers, which is amazing since H.G. Wells was very hostile to women} a real obsession, fascination, and compulsion in our modern world: we have to travel in time, go back to the past, and eventually discover the future in our modern world of fast change. What’s more, intense use of the Internet erases the distance in time between events. Time can only be felt if it is visually specified by costumes and machines.].
16- The Engles Schlüssel [This one is in German, The Angel’s Key].
17- The philosophoscope Key. [The barbaric word philosophoscope is just what it is a barbaric word like the periscope of some philosophical submarine.]
18- Herkules Schlüssel [This one is in German too, Hercules� Key.].
I have thus insisted on these keys because here we have to deal with an essential element that is the symbolic value of the concept and object designated by the word “KEY.� We are living in a world of keys that are often called today “passcodes� or “access codes.� We have to sign up or sign in if we want to enter any geographical, archival, artistic, musical, or service zone of our virtual or real world all governed by or in or from the clouds. We are always contained, refrained, stopped, managed, and controlled with zip codes, passcodes, QRs, ISBNs, Identity numbers, Social Security numbers, IRS numbers, etc., and with a false number you can be considered crazy, or worse arrested by some Secret Service personnel. My village in France has the 63880 zip code. In the USA, this zipcode corresponds to the City of Whiteoak in Missouri. I have literally been harassed, hassled, if not bullied for now something like three years, by all sorts of organizations about any possible problem or petition in this city or its Dunklin county . The choice is very symbolic. I am white but Whiteoak is an all-Black community, despite its name. I am a married man but the population in Whiteoak is 79.4 male. I have two PhDs but Whiteopak has no college-educated people. The average family size is 7.75 people, hence 4.75 children per family if we consider there are no single mothers or fathers. And 32.4 % of the population has no Health Care insurance or coverage. Yes keys have become a real hassle.
To conclude I will say that I know Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son and I have absolutely avoided listing the allusions to his father’s very large and diverse works. It’s a choice because we are not what are parents are, were, or have been. Luckily so.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
You’re going to tell me I am late with this enormous work. But better late than never, and to be late on such a very mobile work of graphic fiction enables you to see more perspective. Eleven years are pushing this work of art and fiction into history.
The six volumes are titled,
� Vol 1 Welcome to Lovecraft,
� Vol 2 Head Games,
� Vol 3 Crown of Shadows,
� Vol 4 Keys to the Kingdom,
� Vol 5 Clockworks, and
� Vol 6 Alpha and Omega.
These titles give you one essential element to understand the whole set. Joe Hill as the author is trying to bring together at least one good century of fantastic, fantasy, horror, or non-horror literature and imagination in this haunted house that looks more like some castle of a crazy German king, duke, or emperor. On the German side of Europe, there are so many emperors or noble figures that were marked by some insanity that the whole set of this set of six comic books, originally published in some small and light fascicules, seems to be coming directly from the deranged depth of the Grimm Brothers� nightmarish children’s tales where wolves eat grandmothers, stepmothers are forced to dance in melting hot metal shoes till they die, and a few more horrors of these types, and some even worse than you can imagine.
The first volume is welcoming us to Lovecraft, a place where this haunted house is built, but Howard Phillips Lovecraft is the most deranged American science fiction author who can only compete along this line with Edgar Allan Poe. We push the door of this castle and enter this Lovecraftian world and we lose all equilibrium and we are taken down like Newton’s apple and we discover the heavy gravitational sinful perdition that leads us directly into Hell, and gets us ready to be carbonized, to be horrified, to be terrorized, to be dehumanized, to be spit-roasted, and I will try not to get into anything sexual but there is so much perversion at this hormonal level that we may think we could donate them with some genes and hormones, defined and refined as normal, for them to get back on earth, well balanced and happy.
Happy? Let me laugh! The third model, pattern, or topic is the signature of the sixth volume, ALPHA & OMEGA, like the Alpha of the beginning and the Omega of the end, not only of the alphabet but also of any prediction from the gods, like Saint John’s Apocalypse. �12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.� (Book of Revelation, 22:12-13) Of course, it does not work in Hebrew, which is normal since the Jewish John was in some kind of prison in Greece, and the Book of Revelation was supposedly written in Greek, hence alpha and omega. The last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is Tav and its meaning is mark, sign, omen, or seal, it is the symbol of truth, perfection, and completion, hence the meaning of the end of a prediction like the Greek omega that denotes the last, the end, or the ultimate limit of a set, but is all the more bizarre in this Book of Revelation, in this prediction about the end of the world by the Jewish god Yahweh who spoke Hebrew, a Semitic language that has NO vowels, except alef that is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet but this unique vowel can only be at the initial of any Hebrew tri-consonantal root that does not write vowels sounds that are only discursive elements added to the consonants to enable the consonantal roots to make sense in a discoursive utterance. This last volume is the completion of the whole trip and it is inscribed inside the basic Christian ternary rhythm of the whole Christian vision of life, the world, the cosmos, of humanity as a whole that was made in the image of the ternary God and his (or is it her?) trinity.
In fact, there is a Hindu inspiration in this vision, a vision of the Trimurti, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. But Joe Hill and his graphic accomplice go a lot farther than this simple triad. They bring together the present of frustration and fear but also life, with many visions of the past crimes of human history, and the surreal universe of the shadows, the ghosts, the dead, and the undead. Along this line, the models are so numerous that you get lost in exactly what kind of monstrous spirits the two artists (who should be three to be divine, two is too Jewish, God and his spirit in Genesis 1:1-2) are bringing to life, are bringing out of their surrealistic closets to haunt the characters of all the past periods we cross and jump over every single era or age to end up in any other infinite eon. Hence the ternary structure of time is Beginning-Middle-End, which becomes in Greek letters Alpha-Mu/Nu-Omega. Joe Hill takes us into that evil ternary spanning of time along this diabolical vision of the timeless, hence time-enslaved nightmarish exploration.
(Alpha, Mu {Mu is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiced bilabial nasal: [m], hence the movement of the lips of the baby sucking their mother’s breast.}-Nu {Nu (uppercase Ν lowercase ν) is the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet. And it has the value of 50 in the Greek number system. The letter came from the Semitic Phoenician language nun (or nūn), which was used to mean serpent. The minuscule nu is used in many areas like statistics, thermodynamics, physics, material science, and chemistry.}, Omega)
But there is, apparently, no purgatory. Either you are lost and sacrificed for the good of the whole humanity, or you are saved, and in the end, you might be able to have come peaceful life, yet without any predictable future.
That’s where Gabriel Rodriguez is the genius of the comic strips and books, both in his drawing and in his coloring, if he is the colorist of the comic books. He transcends the text and takes us to a comic-book world where the boxes are of all sorts and connections, smaller ones encroaching onto bigger ones, and some being as big as at least two pages, with at times some continuation on a third page, some with a lot of bubbles, and some others without one single word or even simple moan for a couple of pages or more. The colors are drowning us in some heftily alcoholic and inebriating liquor, and the spirits are either black monsters seeping out of any fissure in the drawing out of any hole in the bodies of the characters, or they are some silvery vapor or fume floating around the living characters and evoking some kind of realistic, at least recognizable, form of the characters these dead spirits used to be. Yet I defy you to only “read� the drawings and skip the words in the bubbles. The two are glued together and the meaning, if there is a meaning can only come from the commerce and conjugation of the two together. More than a comic strip, it is a work of art, and the meaning is transcending every detail and globalizing some enormous constellations of myriads of details thrown into the witch’s pot of some magical potion or diabolical curse. In a way, we are in a world of artifacts, and that leads us to the last powerful metaphorical element: the KEYS of course since Ms. Locke, or rather Ms. Locke’s house, is only a pretext to look for keys.
The full list of keys is provided at the end of the fifth volume, from page 154 to page 159. This list of old flashcards that were conceived and illustrated by Benjamin Pierce Locke (1757-1799) who lived 42 years in the 18th century (which is 13 years over the life expectancy of any laborer, then provides us a clear list of exactly eighteen flashcards. Eighteen is twice nine, hence the Apocalypse. It could also be the beast of this apocalypse represented by the number 666, hence 18. Without explaining what these keys open in this collection of comic books, let me give the list of them with some remarks.
1- The Omega Key [The key of the end is at the beginning. You start your exploration from the present, hence you go back to the past, to the beginning to understand the present which is then the diving plank for the future.].
2- the Ghost Key.
3- The Echo Key.
4- The Anywhere Key.
5- The Head Key [This key is essential since it enables the user to make a subject passive, then to open up their skulls, and to take out or put in memories, real or fictitious, freely, thus modifying the personality of the concerned character since his or her personality is nothing but what he or she remembers, and yet, the things he has forgotten or that have been taken out of his head, still exist and he may get an echo of them or from them in the well building, coming up from the depth of this well.].
6- The Gender Key [A modern theme, since the author envisages a trans person].
7- The Shadow Key [It brings shadow “beings� to life in this world.].
8- The Giant Key.
9- The Mending Key [The best key but you have to use it fast. It can bring a thing or a person that have recently been broken or died, back to; life.].
10- The Animal Key.
11- The Music Box Key.
12- The Skin Key.
13- The Chain Key and The Great Lock.
14- The Key to the Moon.
15- The Timeshift Key [This one is essential since it enables the user to shift from one time to another period. It is time travel. Time travel has become, since the Time Machine of H.G. Wells {Note H.G. Wells has been resuscitated in the series Warehouse 13 as a woman with special powers, which is amazing since H.G. Wells was very hostile to women} a real obsession, fascination, and compulsion in our modern world: we have to travel in time, go back to the past, and eventually discover the future in our modern world of fast change. What’s more, intense use of the Internet erases the distance in time between events. Time can only be felt if it is visually specified by costumes and machines.].
16- The Engles Schlüssel [This one is in German, The Angel’s Key].
17- The philosophoscope Key. [The barbaric word philosophoscope is just what it is a barbaric word like the periscope of some philosophical submarine.]
18- Herkules Schlüssel [This one is in German too, Hercules� Key.].
I have thus insisted on these keys because here we have to deal with an essential element that is the symbolic value of the concept and object designated by the word “KEY.� We are living in a world of keys that are often called today “passcodes� or “access codes.� We have to sign up or sign in if we want to enter any geographical, archival, artistic, musical, or service zone of our virtual or real world all governed by or in or from the clouds. We are always contained, refrained, stopped, managed, and controlled with zip codes, passcodes, QRs, ISBNs, Identity numbers, Social Security numbers, IRS numbers, etc., and with a false number you can be considered crazy, or worse arrested by some Secret Service personnel. My village in France has the 63880 zip code. In the USA, this zipcode corresponds to the City of Whiteoak in Missouri. I have literally been harassed, hassled, if not bullied for now something like three years, by all sorts of organizations about any possible problem or petition in this city or its Dunklin county . The choice is very symbolic. I am white but Whiteoak is an all-Black community, despite its name. I am a married man but the population in Whiteoak is 79.4 male. I have two PhDs but Whiteopak has no college-educated people. The average family size is 7.75 people, hence 4.75 children per family if we consider there are no single mothers or fathers. And 32.4 % of the population has no Health Care insurance or coverage. Yes keys have become a real hassle.
To conclude I will say that I know Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son and I have absolutely avoided listing the allusions to his father’s very large and diverse works. It’s a choice because we are not what are parents are, were, or have been. Luckily so.
Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU
January 31, 2023
Soy culpable de haber visto la serie antes de leer la novela gráfica, simplemente porque desconocía de su existencia, y por ende me impacto un poco lo sanguinaria que era en comparación con el audiovisual.
Sentí que la serie ató mejor los hilos de la historia pero de todos modos el libro no dejó de ser muy bueno.
Sentí que la serie ató mejor los hilos de la historia pero de todos modos el libro no dejó de ser muy bueno.
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