Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom

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

The coils of the plot tighten with a dreadful inevitability as the kids are beset by the attacks of the Dark lady from the outside and their own mistakes and uncertainties on the inside, not to mention the insidious Zack. Ty Kinsey and Bode are stronger than they know, however, even when n the dark, and they're slowly putting the ices together. Will they be in time. The horror mounts, the brilliant baroque fantasy of the powered keys set against the claustrophobic sense of pitiless and manipulative forces and the uncontrollable urges and pains of teenage emotions - or the absence of them, in Kinsey' case, which is even worse. Amazing writing and art create a compelling, driving, twisting narrative.

This fourth collection of the Locke & Key series is clearly moving into the climax of the entire series arc. (There are two more volumes to go.) The pace is often much faster than in earlier parts of the series; chapter three ("February") in particular barrels through a whole mess of events, often realizing an entire complicated day's adventure in a single panel. Over the course of this collection, six new magic keys are introduced, a pace that more than doubles the rate of the earlier numbers. The graphic violence is probably more extreme than in any of the prior volumes as well.

The motivation of our prime villain Dodge becomes clearer to the reader in these stories, at the same time as his culpability starts to become evident to the show more Locke family. It appears that the stakes may be far higher than the well-being of the Lockes or Keyhouse. But not all the evil in these comics is supernatural. The commentary on homophobia that had been introduced earlier in the series is supplemented with some candid observations of/on racism. Some readers might find these a little preachy, but I thought they were handled artfully, and they speak to the tenor of the times.

In the first chapter of Keys to the Kingdom Hill and Rodriguez pay very overt tribute to Bill Watterson, with Bode Locke as an obvious stand-in for Calvin. And in "Casualties" (#22 of the original comic) Bode and Rufus Whedon populate another homage to earlier comics in the form of an invented Squadron Strange action adventure. The Locke & Key series has such beautiful art and rich storytelling that I'm sure it will someday be the object of such admirations and acknowledgements from a younger generation of comics creators. 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.

Keys to the Kingdom introduces a number of new keys, including the Animal Key, the Music Box Key, and the Skin Key. As the Locke siblings use these keys, and the strange and dangerous happenings at Keyhouse continue, Tyler at least begins to suspect that his "friend" Zach Wells might be more than he appears. But can he convince his siblings in time to stop Dodge from getting what he's after?

Review: This series is so, so good. It's crazy good. It's creepy and show more 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 4 picked things up again after Volume 3. First of all, it starts with Bode discovering the Animal Key, and the entire first issue is drawn and written as an homage to Calvin & Hobbes. For C&H fans, it's absolutely brilliant, and the great thing is, it's completely within the scope of Bode's character as previously written. The rest of the volume is also really good, with the action ticking along, and more clues being dropped not only for the readers but also for the characters... plus it's got one hell of an ending. 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

The “Keys to the Kingdom” is the fourth installment of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's excellent dark fantasy detailing the adventures of the Locke children as the explore the mysterious powers of the keys that are hidden all around the lovecraft manor and fight a dark force trying to unleash hell. Once again Hill and Rodriquez have managed to find the pitch perfect balance of innovative concepts, character development, and awesome artwork to construct just the right atmosphere for a great ride with a cliff hanger that just begs a great sequel. Told as a series of individual character arcs that form a larger more coherent storyline,allowing the authors to reveal an outstanding number of keys while keeping the overall story intact. show more It really was an inspired and risky choice to speed the story along that worked.

I think this is the best yet of the Locke & Key Series. From the homage to Calvin and Hobbes in “Sparrow” to the minimalist story telling in “February,” Hill and Rodriguez have not only shown their versatility as story tellers, but have also pushed the envelope for what we as readers can expect from this series in the future. The thing I fear the most about this series is that they have built my expectations up to a level that anything less than spectacular is going to be a let down. I can't shake that feeling that a Star Wars Episode 1-like repeat is just around the corner. show less

Damn son! This series just keeps getting better and better! I was at the edge of my seat reading this! The Locke children are starting to wise up (at least their older brother is) and Zack Wells (aka Lucas Caravaggio aka The Dark Lady) is starting to let his guard down around the kids. How long will it be until they catch on to who he really is? Dark, funny, and impeccably drawn; this is THE comic series to read. I can't wait to read the next one!

Fantastic artwork, fantastic plot, and wow does this series move. The pace is fast, but not overwhelming - the script is concise, and no words are wasted. The artwork is gorgeous, intricate, and often hearkening back to previous artists. I particularly enjoyed the homage to Calvin and Hobbes in the first issue.

All in all, Locke and Key just keeps getting better. I'm very much looking forward to the next volume [b:Locke and Key Vol. 5: Clockworks] and to see what will happen now that Zack has... ah, changed his current home.

Also, I'd like readers to note how effective the use of gore is in these pages. While Preacher and The Invisibles both used gore to get some of their points across, the understated nature of the gore in this series is show more more effective than the overuse of it in the aforementioned texts.

Given, the overuse was also to prove a point (in Preacher as a homage to Westerns and in The Invisibles as both a homage to Preacher and a homage to American media in general...) Still, the gore in these issues was pleasantly disquieting and wonderfully gross.

Good job. Keep up the work, Joe. show less