Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks Review

Locke & Key 5: Clockworks  

Author/Artist: Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

American release date: July 24, 2012

Format/Genre/ Length: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/152 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Not rated/contains mature themes & graphic violence

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Similar authors to check out: HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison titles

George Sanyana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

The fifth volume of Locke & Key begins in 1775 Massachusetts Bay as Tyler and Kinsey look-alikes Ben and Miranda watch while their parents are hung by the British, who think to oust them from their home and claim it as their own. Their plans are thwarted when they realize that the house is owned by another, so for now the teenagers are allowed to stay. Sneaking out from under their keepers’ watchful eyes, they head to the caves, where a group of patriots awaits, only to learn that their brother Joshua has fallen victim to something most foul indeed.

                       

Synopsis:

One of Bode’s little friends unwisely lets Luke/Bode know that he realizes he isn’t Bode, and suffers the consequences. Bode is determined to find the omega key, but having little luck. While rooting around in Kinsey’s room, he accidentally smashes the bottle containing her tears and fears. They get inside Tyler’s head and mess with him severely. When Bodes confesses to what happened, Kinsey uses the head key to see what’s going on inside Tyler’s head (a very scary place) and removes Ugly and Gloomy, but in the process also reveals valuable information to Bode.

Tyler and Kinsey use a key and the grandfather clock to travel to 1775, where the events of the past unfold before them, including the flooding of the cave. After their return, Kinsey asks what he’d like to see next, and Tyler doesn’t hesitate. He wants to see their father. So it’s off to 1988 they go, to Lovecraft Academy. After the play, everyone is anxious to hear what Mark Cho’s movie-agent uncle thought of the production. Disappointment wells when they learn he never showed up, having skipped out to see The Naked Gun instead. Kim is especially ticked off and makes some very nasty comments before storming off. A distraught Rendell agrees to do what he vowed he’d never do—let a demon through the black door.

Can this possibly end well?

Commentary:

Time is certainly fluid in this volume of Locke & Key, as we move between the far past, the past and the present, watching as the forces that shaped what is came to be, including the forging of the keys. Talk about the sins of the fathers…

We see a lot of Rendell and his group of friends, including the treacherous Luke, and the dynamics of the group, which can be turbulent at times. Who likes who, who loves who, who’s a bitch and who’s just lovesick. There is no doubt that Luke is evil, even if they don’t realize to what extent.  I don’t like Kim at all, either. Not sure what Rendell sees in her. I love seeing Duncan as a little boy as his personality traits are being formed.

I love the ways the characters are drawn, so realistic, so much like people anyone might known, drawn into strange situations and doing their best to handle them. The writing and the drawing of this book work in perfect harmony, one with the other. This one’s definitely a keeper.

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Locke& Key 4: Keys to the Kingdom Review

Locke & Key 4: Kings to the Kingdom  

Author/Artist: Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

American release date: July 19, 2011

Format/Genre/ Length: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/160 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Not rated/contains mature themes & graphic violence

Overall Personal Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Similar authors to check out: HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison titles

Kinsey is trying to get Tyler to share his burden with her, but is it her that wants to know the whereabouts of the omega key, or is it Zack? When Tyler accidentally learns of Zack’s boyfriend status with his sister, things get ugly, and poor Bode is left bemoaning the problem with teenagers.                             

Synopsis:

Bode finds a new key, and this one transforms him into a bird! Not surprisingly, Zack’s animal form is a wolf. When the wolf and his dog friends confront Tyler and Kinsey in the woods, will Bode and his bird friends be able to stave off their destruction?

While taking a walk, Tyler and Kinsey and their respective significant others run into an older black lady who is being pushed about in a wheelchair. She spies the teens and, mistaking Tyler for his father Rendell, tries to cry out a warning. “White!” she cries. The young people assume it’s because of their race. How mistaken they are.

Kinsey learns the woman’s name and she recognizes it from when she was inside the cave, searching for her father’s name on the wall. She wants to talk to her more. Trouble is Erin Voss is a resident of the McClellan Psychiatric Hospital. Kinsey’s determined to get in there, so she brainstorms with her two buddies, Scot and Jamal,  and one of them has an idea. Meanwhile, Zack, in his guise as the Dark Lady, sees another way to get in, by appealing to the baser instincts of one of the lower level employees of the hospital. When Kinsey runs her plan by Bode, he ups it to something that is actually more viable, using another key, and in the process they learn how making themselves appear to be black has rendered them invisible to a lot of people. All Kinsey needs to do is to get to the old lady, and use the head key to learn what she knows. The question is who will get to her first?

As Kinsey and Zack become closer, she wants to do something to seal that closeness—she wants to open up their heads, take one of her happiest thoughts and give it to him, and then do the same with him. When he unequivocally refuses, she breaks up with him. Afterwards, she reveals the secret of the head key to Scot and Jamal. Tyler is horrified to learn what she’s done, not to mention that Bode is being rather loose with key secrets too. Tyler’s love life goes up in flames when he catches Jordan with someone else. It seems that everyone is at loggerheads now.

While spending time with the Lockes, the coach’s son Rufus sees and speaks with the spirit of Sam Lesser, who communicates with him in the military jargon that the young boy understands. Sam warns Rufus of the danger to the Lockes, and to his mother, and gives it a name—Zack. Rufus is not willing to kill the enemy, but Sam has another plan.

Uncle Duncan’s lover Brian has come out of his coma at last, and the two women responsible are behind bars, claiming that there was someone else involved, a young man with a lip ring. Tyler becomes suspicious, thinking that the description they’ve given is too much like a certain someone. When he and Kinsey and Bode go to watch Zack’s fencing championship match at the school, he uses Bode as an excuse to leave early, and on the way home return Rufus’ broken action figure. What he really wants is a chance to question the coach, snoop in Zack’s room, and hopefully get some answers.

All Hell is about to break loose and all bets are off…

Commentary:

The first chapter of this fourth volume of Locke & Key is an homage to Bill Watterson, drawn in the style of Calvin & Hobbes. It utilizes the characters in an unusual way.  I enjoyed this brief change of pace. It was something rather unique, and interesting to read.

As for the rest of the book, it’s like watching a train wreck, one you can see coming but are incapable of doing anything about. When yelling a warning doesn’t do a bit of good—what will be will be. Que sera sera. In this ultimate battle between good and evil, it’s not a foregone conclusion that good will overcome bad. Zack is one slick number and he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Yes there are a lot of allies to be called upon, but numbers alone won’t do it.

This volume of Locke & Key is excellent. It will draw you in, as you rapidly turn the pages to learn what comes next. Hopes are raised—and dashed. The story progresses admirably as we get closer and closer to the whole truth of the matter, and the meaning of the keys. I suspect that the one that Zack wants the most holds that answer. I can’t wait for the next volume, Clockworks.

All I can say is talent certainly runs in that family, and Joe Hill got it in spades from his parents—Stephen and Tabitha King. This is one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read, and Gabriel Rodriguez’s artwork is amazing. Not to be missed.

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Locke & Key 3: Crown of Shadows Review

Locke & Key 3: Crown of Shadows  

Author/Artist: Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

American release date: July 19, 2011

Format/Genre/ Length: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/152 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Not rated/contains mature themes & graphic violence

Overall Personal Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Similar authors to check out: HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison titles

Tyler’s mother is troubled by shadows in the night, so she wakes Tyler, bending his ear with her drunken outpourings, as well as the news that she has to go to Provincetown for a while, as Duncan’s lover was hit by a car. The patient Tyler listens to her ramblings, promises her to take care of things while she’s gone and puts her to bed. Little does he realize that there are indeed problems in the shadows—in the form of Zach/Lucas, and his many keys. But he’s still missing at least one key that he really wants

                                   

Synopsis:

For once, Tyler is on top of his game, and his paper for his ethics class is done. But when he learns that Jordan’s isn’t, he doesn’t hesitate to let her have his. He figures that he can get by because everyone will let him skate, based on his family life being so fucked up, so that technically he is displaying ethics of a sort in letting her have his paper. She happily accepts his offer and thanks him with a kiss. Score one for Tyler!

Kinsey and Zach seem rather cozy these days. She makes the acquaintance of Scot Kavanaugh, whom she almost threw up on before, who has some observations to make regarding Zach. He tells her about the cave, a local place where kids have died trying to get out of the flooded lower levels, and where he says Rendell Locke’s name is written on a wall there. So naturally, Kinsey wants to see it, and a group sets out to do just that. Because you know teenagers have no sense of mortality—they know they’ll live forever, right?

A furious Tyler chases his little brother underneath his bed, and thus discovers the strangest key yet, which is in the floorboard, and has a human figure on it. What the hell are they supposed to do with that?

Kinsey is losing patience with their mother and her alcoholism, while Tyler is trying to help, but nothing is getting through to her, and she refuses to discuss what happened to her the day Rendell died. Meanwhile, Zach is still intent on getting the black key, but he manages to discover the shadow key, and doesn’t that open up a whole new can of worms? One that might just destroy the Lockes!

While Mom is busy pickling herself, Bode hurts himself, trying to retrieve something he thought he saw. With Mom’s help, she retrieves it; it turns out to be another key. This one is to the cabinet in the bathroom. It turns out to have some very interesting properties. Will Mom press her luck in seeing what it can do?

Commentary:

More battle lines are drawn as the Locke children find themselves getting in deeper and deeper, and their foe just keeps on coming. Mom is worse than useless, caught up in the depths of her own self-pity, unable to come to grips with what has happened. Potential allies are dropping like flies. Ultimately, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode will only have themselves to rely upon, I think.

The lines between dark and light, good and evil, are certainly blurred here, as the action continues to get more and more intense. Another great volume in the series, with a surprising twist towards the end that will have you cheering—I know I did! Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez have certainly raised the bar for graphic novels, and continue to do so. Can’t wait for the next one!

Locke & Key 2: Head Games review

Locke & Key 2: Head Games   

Author/Artist: Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

American release date: October 19, 2010

Format/Genre/ Length: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/156 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Not rated/contains mature themes & graphic violence

Overall Personal Rating: A

Similar authors to check out: HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison titles

Joe Ridgeway thinks he’s seeing a ghost, as he watches Tyler Locke walking down the hall with the new student, one who looks eerily like…  But that can’t be, ‘cause he died some twenty years ago. Back when Tyler’s dad was a student. In fact he was Rendell Locke’s goodest and bestest buddy, Lucas Caravaggio. So who is this Zack—and why is he staying with Ellie Whedon?

Synopsis:

Lucas/Zach tells Ellie they have problems—he’s pretty sure their old drama sponsor recognizes him. It’s a simple enough matter to use the key to get into the old man’s house and tie up some loose ends.

Meanwhile, Bode is trying to find a use for the strange key he’s dredged up from the pond. Surely it fits something in Keyhouse, right?  His sister Kinsey is deeply affected by the death of Joe Ridgeway, even though she barely knew him. Tyler and Zach try to cheer her up with pistachio ice cream. As for Tyler, he’s way behind on his homework, but his teachers are cutting him some slack because of everything he’s been through. Still, he doesn’t like being behind. He meets a cute girl with a motorcycle, but he doesn’t get anywhere with her.

Tyler and Kinsey are more than a little alarmed when Bode shows them what he has learned about the strange key—it fits into the back of the neck and opens up the skull! And even as they look inside Bode’s head, another Bode is standing there, looking inside with them too. How weird is that?

Bode shows them how he can learn anything by simply putting it into his head. For example, he shoves a cook book inside and now he knows the recipe for fettuccine alfredo! Very useful, as his mother is attempting to make it. With her incessant tippling, her memory isn’t what it used to be. Looking inside Bode’s skull, they spot the creature from the well-house and pull it out to look at it. But they discover that memory and reality do not always jibe, so the creature is safe—for now. Hmmm, Tyler thinks there might be a use for this thing, after all. He is behind on his reading. And when he sees a chance to impress motorcycle girl—and Zack—he foolishly goes for it.

Duncan has returned to his neglected lover, Brian. They live in a town a couple of hours away from Lovecraft. The two of them are having trouble with a couple of homophobic  local women who hate them being in their town. But they have worse problems than that, considering that Zack thinks Duncan recognized him, and he can’t have that, now can he?

What is the true story behind the death of Ellie Whedon’s mother? And what is the hold that Lucas/Zack continues to have on her? And what kind of peril is Bode Locke going to find himself in?

Commentary:

The second volume in the Locke & Key series is every bit as good as its predecessor. Now we have some idea who the Lockes are up against, even if we don’t know why, or how they can combat him, since he’s been dead for twenty years. The Locke family is a family in crisis and have been since the death of Rendell, if not before. They’ll have to pull together to make it through this one, and right now, they aren’t in very good shape to do that.

Until recently, Free Comic Book day to be precise, I was totally unaware of who Joe Hill is, and perhaps that was a good thing, as I came to appreciate him on his own merits before learning of his pedigree. We were at the Fantasy Shop, getting our free comics and some other stuff, when the clerk asked did I know who Joe’s father was. Turns out he’s the son of Stephen King! Which explains the dedication in the first volume to Tabitha King. Very impressive. But as I said, I learned to appreciate him for himself, so that’s cool. Being Stephen King’s son can’t suck, right?

The plot to Locke & Key is very thorough and well written, the graphics are excellent, and painstakingly detailed. This series is a definite keeper, and a great addition to your collection. I look forward to reading further volumes.

Locke & Key 1: Welcome to Lovecraft Review

Locke & Key 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

Author/Artist: Joe Hill/Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

American release date: August 18, 2009

Format/Genre/ Length: Graphic Novel/Fantasy/158 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: Not rated/contains mature themes & graphic violence

Overall Personal Rating: A

Similar authors to check out: HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Harlan Ellison titles

Tyler, Kinsey and Bode Locke are ripped from the only home they know and uprooted, along with their mother, to their father’s family home—Keyhouse, in Lovecraft, Massachusetts—following his brutal murder by former guidance counselee Sam Lesser. Sam is locked up in juvie now and the kids are adrift without a paddle. And living in a house that has its own name, how creepy is that?

Synopsis:

Rendell Locke had always told his wife that if anything ever happened to him that they needed to go to Keyhouse, to his brother Duncan; he told her that the house chose Duncan, not him. Whatever that means.

The house is not only old and mysterious but it contains secrets of its own. Young Bode finds a special door which allows him to become a ghost. Once in his ethereal form he is free to go to the other inhabitants of the house, either by thinking of them or by being thought of by them. When he draws a graphic representation of his summer vacation, including the murder of his father and his newfound ability to become a ghost, his teacher and classmates are disturbed, and his mother hears about it, warning him to keep that kind of stuff at home.

Tyler has issues of his own to deal with, concerning his father’s death, and the part he may have played in it, and he takes a lot of cold showers. Kinsey, in an effort to not stand out in this new place, has removed her dreads, and tried to remold herself in a way that is her and yet not too much her.  Nina Locke copes by drinking heavily. And Bode has the echo.

Although warned not to, Bode finds himself drawn to the locked well house, where he becomes acquainted with the voice inside the well, which calls itself his echo. The echo talks to Bode about the house and its special doors, and its special keys. If you walk through one door, it will turn you from a young person to an old one; another will take a girl and make her into a boy and vice versa. And then there is the anywhere key. The anywhere key opens almost any door, and you can step through it to anywhere you like, as long as you have a clear image of that place in your mind. But that key hasn’t been seen for a very long time.

When it’s learned that Sam Lesser has escaped from juvenile detention, the Bodes are naturally concerned, although the authorities assure them that Sam has no way of finding them all the way on the East Coast. He has no way of knowing where they are, or any way of reaching them. But to be safe, they are given police protection.

Sam isn’t all there, you see. He’s on a mission—and he has help. Will he find the Bodes? Will he get what he wants from them? Will their world come crashing down around them once more?

Where is the Anywhere Key?

Commentary:

This is a great start to a new series, written in the style of HP Lovecraft and Stephen King.  It combines horror with mystery and fantasy to produce a riveting tale of a family whose life has gone horribly wrong. The artwork is great, very well done, and the characters are certainly memorable. I honestly could not put this down, I was so riveted on the story.

This reminds me of the old horror magazines that were once prolific but are no longer to be found. The story is certainly imaginative and very creative. I hope it continues in this same vein, and I look forward to reading more of the series.