Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the first volume of what quickly became a runaway hit for Joe Hill. I originally read this a few years ago, but recently picked up the whole series to reread, and I'm glad I did.
This volume introduces us to the Locke family (Rendell and Nina, as well as their three children Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode), as they spend a summer afternoon together working on a small cabin. Unfortunately, Rendell and Nina are attacked by Sam, who demands two keys: the Anywhere Key and the Omega Key. When Rendell refuses to hand over the keys, Sam kills him.
Let it be said, this is not a book for the squeamish; this is a horror story at its heart, and Hill doesn't waste any time making it clear that people can, and will, die here. Gabriel Rodriguez's art is, likewise, pretty gory at times.
Since this is the first volume, there's a lot of ground laying that happens. After the initial shock of the murder, Hill spends some time establishing what the characters are like and how they're dealing with the tragedy. We're also introduced to the villain of our tragedy, the evil and manipulative Dodge.
What can I say that hasn't already been said? The characters are interesting (like many other readers, I was particularly attached to Bode) and the premise is interesting. There's a strong sense, even after one volume, that the story has a destination. By the end of the first volume, I was hooked.
Rodriguez's art is, at times, a little "cartoony" (especially in the faces, I think), but his attention to detail and the imaginative work he does here is incredible.
I'd definitely recommend this to anyone interested in horror or dark fantasy, whether they're normally graphic novel readers or not.
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