Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows

Locke & Key has been nothing but spectacular since it's inception. Hill and Rodriguez, despite crafting a series about keys that literally do the impossible, have created these very relatable characters that are both memorable and seemingly real. You hurt when they hurt, cheer when they overcome and anticipate what happens next when the story ends. These are all feelings that an author wants to pull from their audience and Hill does it so well that it's hard to believe that he's still so young in his career.

As the story continues in Crown of Shadows, we're met with the discovery of more keys and the further deteroration of Nina. Nina's decent is heartbreaking to say the least. I've experienced the effect she's having on her kids through show more the actions of my own mother when I was a child. It never got to a point of physical violence but the alcohol abuse and hurtful words certainly had an effect on me.

A lot happens here but with Rodriguez's skillful hand, the panels are constructed tightly and the suspense is built adquately. Aside from Sean Phillips, Rodriguez might be my favorite artist at the moment.

On a side note, there's a great foreward written by Brian K. Vaughn (Y: The Last Man). To receive praises from a guy who wrote one of the most critically acclaimed series of the last decade is not a bad review at all. show less

The continuing adventures of the Locke family include Kinsey making new friends at school, Nina struggling harder than ever with her alcoholism, oh, and a bunch of shadows coming to life and attacking the children.

This book definitely doesn't stand on its own but instead continues where the last volume left off. This volume had a lot going on in it, although generally it was all handled well. There were some new characters introduced but mostly we see the same folks we've been seeing. A couple of new keys are discovered here, along with their powers. The lore of the keys continues to be an interesting mystery (particularly if, unlike me, you haven't watched the TV show based on this series already) but I find the personal relationships show more and growth of the Locke family members to be the most compelling parts of the story.

While this wasn't my favorite volume so far, I'm invested enough in the story to want to proceed to the next volume. show less

Excellent art, extended interlocking story that makes promises and keeps them. This is a perfect example of what modern comics can do—so much creativity and power in here—all created without dependence on some pre-existing comic characters—without dependence, even, on a pre-existing mythos or worldview. This is a horror comic. The only problem with it is that it doesn’t need to be. Children are murdered for the storyline, and I’m not convinced they all needed to be. However, part of this series’s charm is that no punches are pulled—adolescents say and do things that adolescents say and do—as adults, we forget that world. This comic doesn’t forget. That’s a major theme of the book, too. I love it and recommend it, but show more the story and impact and power of this comic could have worked with a little less horror. Okay... maybe just cut the kite-bus moment and I’d be set? show less

Alas, this definitely wasn't my favorite volume in this series so far. Let me tell you, things have gone to a very dark place at Keyhouse. While the first volume had me a little on edge because of all the violence, this one had me feeling a little icky because of all the darkness.

I guess it's probably only fair to mention that I have this weird tick when it comes to children and danger or violence. It's hard for me to like a character at all, even if I know what their motivations are, if they're mistreating a child. Right now, Bode's mother is not my favorite person. In fact, if I had the capability to reach into this graphic novel I would have slapped her repeatedly across the face already. I kind of had an inkling that dark days were show more coming for this family. I knew eventually things would stop being whimsical, and start being real. I just wasn't prepared.

That being said, this is all my own bias because the arc is still going strong in this series! There were some great new keys introduced, one of which broke my heart, and we finally see the true nature of our villain. You know what makes the villain in this series so gut-wrenchingly terrible? That I actually feel sorry for him/her sometimes. Joe Hill is an amazing writer, and I both love and hate him for it. As for the illustrations? You know the deal! I'm in love with Gabriel Rodriguez's expert work. It shines through here, even within the darkness, and it's going to keep me reading on.

I need to know what happens to this family. show less

Summary: The Locke kids are never going to recover from the violent death of their father, but they’re slowly starting to adjust to their new life in their father’s childhood home in Lovecraft, and to learn the secrets behind the various magical keys that inhabit their new home.

In Crown of Shadows, Dodge is using his knowledge of the keys and their powers in his quest to find the Omega key, which he will use to unleash unspeakable evil. Kinsey and her friends venture into the flooded caves on the Keyhouse property, and discover that the danger they hold is quite real. But none the Locke kids are unaccustomed to danger, although when Dodge manages to turn very darkness of Keyhouse against them, it's unlike any threat they've faced show more before.

Review: This series is so, so good. It's crazy good. It's creepy and imaginative and legitimately scary in parts and incredibly creative. It's an interesting and complex world, which is great, and definitely something I look for in fantasy, but what makes it so great are the characters. They're rich and multidimensional and believable and heartbreakingly sympathetic and easy to fall in love with, and as a result, this series strikes the perfect balance between worldbuilding, action, and character development.

Volume 3 was probably my least favorite so far, because the bulk of the main storyline shifts away from that balance, and focuses primarily on the kids fighting the army of shadows. The art in this section is particularly beautiful (although it's uniformly great throughout), albeit beautiful in a thoroughly creepy and nightmare inducing way. But the story itself didn't feel like much was happening. That's not true of the first part of the volume, which has a lot of good clues about what's going on in the caves, nor is it true of the last issue in this volume, in which Nina Locke finds the Mending Key, to emotionally devastating effect. But I didn't feel like the pieces fit together as well as they could have. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of darker, more mature comics - like The Unwritten or Sandman - or anyone who likes creepy character-driven fantasy should definitely be reading Locke & Key. show less

My only complaint about the Locke & Key series is that each new volume is just too short. I want these stories to go on forever, but alas, the quality would probably deteriorate if they did. Either that or I simply would be incapable of processing the sheer cleverness of such a fantastic series. One or the other, I'm sure.

The third entry is both darker than the last two and a bit more fantastic. The incredible artwork of The Tempest performance in Volume 2 is formed into the evil shadows in this entry. Duncan, my favorite character thus far, is absent - but enter Scott Kavanaugh, a character that harks back to, say, Cassidy in the Preacher series. In characterization, at least, as I am fairly certain he's not going to admit to being a show more vampire anytime soon.

The pace of the series is picking up, even as the content becomes a bit less dense. You can almost feel the world of Locke and Key become larger and larger, even as the focus becomes narrower and narrower and the characters deeper. I can't wait to pick up the next volume, and only wish that they were being released far faster than they currently are. show less

As I read through the Locke & Key volumes in sequence, this is the best one yet. My only complaint is that it was so seamless and efficient that it read too fast! (In particular, the solid eleven pages of full-page panels in chapter five is likely to have reduced the time needed to read the book, but wow!) Still, it's so well-done that I'm sure I'll read it again. This series will obviously need an integral re-read once I've reached its end.

The characters who see the most fresh development in this arc are Jamal and Scot. There are a variety of imaginative magicks introduced: the Shadow Key doesn't dominate this part the way that the Head Key did the previous one. Brian Vaughan's foreword chides readers like me for only getting to these show more comics once they've been collected in "trade" format, but I don't regret the approach; these IDW books are gorgeous. show less