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.

The Ring Review

Sometimes it’s the seemingly unimportant choices that we make that can change our lives in unimaginable ways.  If Asakawa hadn’t been so tired, if he hadn’t let his commuter pass expire, if he hadn’t taken a taxi that day and listened to the story of the cab driver’s strange encounter with the dead-for-no-apparent-reason motorcycle rider and connected it with the death of his wife’s niece, then would anything that happened after that have happened? Or was it simply meant to be?

This is the book that began it all, the story of reporter Asakawa’s search for the truth. You may think you know what happened, but you’ll find out parts of the story that the movie doesn’t touch. Yes it’s about Sadako and the well and the infamous video that will kill any who watch it in 7 days time, but it’s also much more. Asakawa’s tenacity is the driving force behind the story, but it’s also the story of his family and his odd co-conspirator Ryuji, the confessed rapist.

Asakawa is convinced that the deaths of the motorcycle rider and his wife’s niece are no coincidence, and in researching them, he discovers the deaths of all four young people, and delves into what they might have had in common, which leads him to the cabin and the video tape. If you enjoy the movies, you’ll certainly appreciate the book, which lays a strong foundation for the next volumes. It’s well written and chills you in a way that the movies cannot.