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A review by stephen_arvidson
Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill
5.0
Keys to the Kingdom, the fourth full-length installment of the captivating Locke & Key series, raises the stakes to terrifying levels. Life continues to get stranger and more dangerous for the three Locke children as they endeavor to unlock the mysteries of Keyhouse. Meanwhile, Dodge steps up his pursuit of the Omega Key. Several storylines rise and fall, new keys are uncovered, battles are waged, relationships are jeopardized—and yes, there are even some casualties along the way.
Locke & Key is strikingly dark and wickedly funny. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez cut loose and experiment with different styles of storytelling and art, respectively. The inaugural story, "Sparrow," spotlights young Bode as he unearths the Animal Key capable of transforming its user into, you guessed it, an animal—in Bode’s case, a sparrow. Dodge, on the other hand, uses the Animal Key to take on a more wolfish form in order to extract the Omega Key's whereabouts from Tyler and Kinsey. What distinguishes this issue from the others is that a potentially horrifying series of events is toned down by a clever use of humor and artistic chic. While portions of the episode are drawn in familiar Locke & Key fashion, Rodriguez conveys the "Sparrow" story from Bode’s perspective in a "Calvin and Hobbes" pastiche that’s worthy of Bill Watterson, and intersperses the illustrative styles in a way that is both playful and unexpected. Every panel is a pleasure.
The subsequent episode, "February", covers an entire month in just a handful of panels. The small calendar pages alongside the panels deftly bridge several key events (pun intended) and hard-fought battles in rapid succession. Most readers will appreciate seeing the ongoing war between the Lockes and their shadowy nemesis played out in a brisk series of vignettes, though others might feel cheated in that several increasingly bizarre keys—the Music Box Key, the Angels Key, the Hercules Key, and a bizarre toy key—are introduced way too quickly without the details of their discovery or the specifics of their use being disclosed. The pacing here is either masterful or sporadic depending on your outlook.
Locke & Key is unlike any other graphic novel series. Here you have a horror/fantasy comic featuring an issue-long tribute to “Calvin and Hobbes” and another issue that dips into pulp war comics. Joe Hill even takes the time to delve into racial politics in a well-handed manner, skillfully blending real-world problems with the supernatural, while propelling the story forward and still managing to deliver some massive shocks.
Major events are brought to a head in the final pages, casting the central characters in a new morass of confusion. And with that absolute beast of a cliffhanger—I’m telling you, it’s a real jaw-dropper—readers won’t want to wait long to find out what happens next!
Locke & Key is strikingly dark and wickedly funny. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez cut loose and experiment with different styles of storytelling and art, respectively. The inaugural story, "Sparrow," spotlights young Bode as he unearths the Animal Key capable of transforming its user into, you guessed it, an animal—in Bode’s case, a sparrow. Dodge, on the other hand, uses the Animal Key to take on a more wolfish form in order to extract the Omega Key's whereabouts from Tyler and Kinsey. What distinguishes this issue from the others is that a potentially horrifying series of events is toned down by a clever use of humor and artistic chic. While portions of the episode are drawn in familiar Locke & Key fashion, Rodriguez conveys the "Sparrow" story from Bode’s perspective in a "Calvin and Hobbes" pastiche that’s worthy of Bill Watterson, and intersperses the illustrative styles in a way that is both playful and unexpected. Every panel is a pleasure.
The subsequent episode, "February", covers an entire month in just a handful of panels. The small calendar pages alongside the panels deftly bridge several key events (pun intended) and hard-fought battles in rapid succession. Most readers will appreciate seeing the ongoing war between the Lockes and their shadowy nemesis played out in a brisk series of vignettes, though others might feel cheated in that several increasingly bizarre keys—the Music Box Key, the Angels Key, the Hercules Key, and a bizarre toy key—are introduced way too quickly without the details of their discovery or the specifics of their use being disclosed. The pacing here is either masterful or sporadic depending on your outlook.
Locke & Key is unlike any other graphic novel series. Here you have a horror/fantasy comic featuring an issue-long tribute to “Calvin and Hobbes” and another issue that dips into pulp war comics. Joe Hill even takes the time to delve into racial politics in a well-handed manner, skillfully blending real-world problems with the supernatural, while propelling the story forward and still managing to deliver some massive shocks.
Major events are brought to a head in the final pages, casting the central characters in a new morass of confusion. And with that absolute beast of a cliffhanger—I’m telling you, it’s a real jaw-dropper—readers won’t want to wait long to find out what happens next!