Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Locke & Key 1: Welcome to Lovecraft // Locke & Key 2: Head Games

Locke & Key 1: Welcome to Lovecraft // Locke & Key 2: Head Games by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez, 167 pages & 159 pages

I'm not really much of a graphic novel person, even though I was a big comic book reader when I was a kid, since my dad had a huge collection himself. However, several other bloggers here have read this series and I do have a fondness for Joe Hill, and horror in general, so I thought I would check them out. Some of my favorite comics as a kid WERE Tales from the Crypt, so...
The name of this series is a play on words, as the family's name is Locke and they live in a place called Keyhouse, located in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. They've moved there to get away from their previous home, where the father of the family was murdered. Their new home, however, comes with its own quirks. A strange well with a living echo within, keys that open strange supernatural doors, or even better, one's own mind. The story bounces around a little, between the family now, in Lovecraft, and the family before the death of the father, to give you some background. The first two books have been hard to put down and the second was more bizarre than the first. Looking forward to the next 4.
The artwork of Gabriel Rodriguez goes well with Joe Hill's writing. I just realized that Mr. Rodriguez did the artwork contained within Hill's book NOS4A2 and I had already been fond of that. I especially like the way he does the characters' eyes. He captures real emotion in those eyes.
P.S. These are most definitely adult graphic novels.

2 comments:

  1. Yessssss, more people reading Locke & Key makes me happy. Now we just have to crush the resolve of the last ones holding out on reading Shades of Grey.

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  2. Steve, I agree with you on all counts, and I will happily help you crush that resolve. Also, can we start working on Jasper Fforde to finally write a sequel?

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