Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #1
by Crystal Alonzo
In Lovecraft, Massachusetts there is a mansion known as Keyhouse, home to the Locke family, the place where Tyson, Kinsey, and Bode’s father grew up. This is a place full of mystery, with doors that lead to places that aren’t in this world, and keys that unlock places that one wouldn’t think could be opened.
Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #1, 32 pgs., published by IDW, and written by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) is the third installment in the Locke & Key series. The first two story arcs: Locke & Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft and Locke & Key Vol. 2: Head Games have been released in trades. Volume 1 is in hardcover and TPB while vol.2 is only available in hardcover.
In Welcome to Lovecraft we were introduced to the Locke children as they were about to experience an event that would change all of their lives and result in their move to their father’s childhood home – The Keyhouse, and we, the readers, begin to learn about the secrets of Keyhouse, what has been living in the well, and what can happen when a key is turned.
In Head Games we learned more about the Locke family, as well as the people and the past goings on in the town of Lovecraft. There is a new face that isn’t so new at Lovecraft Senior High school, making friends with Tyson & Kinsey, and having a strong affect on the faculty.
A familiar and unwelcome visitor arrives and puts the Lockes, who are still reeling from their earlier tragedy, into another traumatic experience. And an unexpected place is opened when another key is turned.
Crown of Shadows #1, which hit store shelves on November 11th, takes us back into the Keyhouse. Nina Locke: Tyson, Kinsey, and Bode’s mother is dealing with her grief and fear with alcohol. She shares her fears with her oldest son and informs him that she going to have to go out of town and needs him to watch over his younger brother. We can see the pressure and responsibility that oldest child Tyson is bearing, but the focus of this book is on our two antagonists, and a battle for a body and control.They battle in a place that can be reached, with a key, through one of the mansions doors, but it is not a room, and when someone walks through it they are not the same while there. Nina is certain she is hearing things and while roaming the halls of her new home, a victor from the fight in the room that is not a room steps back through the door. Nina finds a key on the floor, a key that somebody else wants very badly, a key that somebody hopes will open a black door. a key that somebody will do anything for.
Joe Hill’s (Fanboyz, Spider-Man Unlimited #8) writing takes us into the town of Lovecraft and the Keyhouse, aplace filled with the supernatural. He lets us share in the Locke family’s lives, and the harsh realities of adjusting to their major changes, as they try to heal from trauma, cope with grief, support one another, and be the new kids in school. He has written characters that feel real, handle what comes at them believably, from the way Kinsey changes her hair and makes a conscious decision on how and what she will feel, the guilt Tyson carries for careless words that can’t be taken back, to showing us what is really (I mean really!) on youngest sibling Bode’s mind. He moves the reader through the story, jumping back in time and to the present, at a pace that keeps the pages turning while still keeping a leisurely, no rush needed feel.
Gabriel Rodriguez’s (Angel #18-20) art is beautiful. He makes a very supernatural event come to life in pictures and colors that express the other-worldliness of the “other” places in Keyhouse, and when in the “real” world of our characters his work gives the reader a visual experience that conveys their feeling and emotions through large eyes, and small expressive touches that give each character personality traits that add to the readers ability to connect with and care for them.
If you enjoy reading horror, suspense, and fantasy comics then I recommend reading the Locke & Key series. It’s probably best to start from the beginning, but starting with Crown of Shadows would still give a fulfilling read.
So check out Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #1. Just turn the key and come inside….
