Locke & Key Master Edition Volume 1 HC Joe Hill NM 2nd print Netflix TV Season 2

Description

LOCKE & KEY MASTER EDITION HC VOL 01

PUBLISHER IDW Publishing
WRITER Joe Hill
ARTIST Gabriel Rodriguez
COVER ARTIST Gabriel Rodriguez
PAGES 328 pages.
COLOR Full Color.
SIZE 7×11
FORMAT Graphic Novel

Named a ‘modern masterpiece’ by The A.V. Club, the critically acclaimed series takes on new life in a reformatted hardcover collection. The Locke & Key Master Edition, Vol. 1 features the first two arcs, ‘Welcome to Lovecraft’ and ‘Headgames,’ with all-new cover art and design by co-creator Gabriel Rodriguez.

The narrative of Locke & Key is structured in three acts, with each act consisting of two six-issue storylines. Act One’s first story arc, Welcome to Lovecraft, was a six-issue limited series published by IDW Publishing. The first issue of Welcome to Lovecraft was released on February 20, 2008 and sold out in a single day, requiring a second printing to be done immediately. The second arc of Act One, entitled Head Games, commenced with the release of the first issue on January 22, 2009. The actual Head Games story was printed in four issues, with a standalone prologue (“Intermission” or “The Joe Ridgeway Story”) and a standalone conclusion (“Army Of One”). All twelve of the above issues are collected in this hardcover.

I’m harder to scare these days than when I was a kid and horror movies were still black and white and filled with trademark Hollywood monsters. Currently, I’ve been through a plethora of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and ghost movies and their spawn. It takes a lot to scare me these days.

Then Hollywood introduced me to FRIDAY THE 13TH, HALLOWEEN, and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. George C. Scott’s THE CHANGELING totally creeped me out, and Steven Spielberg’s POLTERGEIST taught me to fear my television. Then I watched adaptations of Thomas Harris’s novels, RED DRAGON and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and learned to fear serial killers that were really among us.

However, I have to admit that somewhere in there I became jaded. I started watching horror movies for special effects and the snappy one-liners that became so popular. I ended up laughing through most of them.

Like I said, I’m hard to scare. Of course, I can still scare myself pretty good. Let me curl up at night with a Stephen King book or one of Joseph Delaney’s THE LAST APPRENTICE YA novels, and I can give myself a case of the willies. These books, thankfully, still deliver the sheer, enervating atmosphere necessary to amp up my adrenaline gland.

But I found a new fear-inducer in Joe Hill. I discovered him in HEART-SHAPED BOX and got totally weirded out listening to that novel on audiobook. Then I got my hands on the first issue of his comic book series, LOCKE & KEY.

Imagine a family that falls victim to what appears to be a deranged teenager looking for some payback. That’s pretty horrific by today’s standards because the news is full of lethal teens – and others. This could happen, so I wasn’t immediately getting the spook vibe.

The story is harsh and emotional. I felt Ty, Kinsey, and Bodie’s pain over losing their father to violence. The way that Joe cut the action between the past and present really upped the suspense and impending feeling of doom. Gabriel Rodriguez’s art is loose and captivating, and he plays with angles that pulled me right into the frames and turned them into movies. I was THERE, inside the story on several occasions. And I wasn’t comfortable being there. Especially in the scenes when Bodie was talking to the thing in the wellhouse!

As it turns out, though, the teen that planned the murder of Papa Locke wasn’t entirely there out of vengeance. He had made a pact with the thing in the wellhouse, and that just spins the whole story on its ear.

After their father’s murder, the kids end up at the Locke House, a place so riddled with mysteries that Joe says he’s got 70 issues plotted out for those bewitched doors, nooks, and crannies already. Personally, I can’t wait. I love the puzzles and the mysteries, as well as the fact that THINGS are lurking inside the house and waiting to spring out on unwary victims.

Joe and Gabriel have created a whole WORLD of spine-chilling entertainment to come. It’s no surprise that Dimension Films has already snapped up the film rights to the property, or that IDW publishing had to reprint the issues several times. I expect they’ll have to reprint the new hardcover graphic novel as well, but I didn’t take any chances – I’ve got my copy already.

In the various issues, Joe shifts the point of view around from Ty to Bodie to Kinsey, and all of them achieve a distinct voice that bring a different flavor to the emerging story. When I read the graphic novel all at once, the voices didn’t quite stand out as much as waiting a month between, but that’s only because I was trying to get to the end of the story faster and faster. I’d read the first three issues, then couldn’t get my hands on the last three, so I was desperate to know what happened next.

The suspense ratchets up like a whipsaw rollercoaster cresting the top of the final plunge leading to a white-knuckled grip (thank God the book is a hardcover or it wouldn’t have survived the read!).

I couldn’t stop reading, and now I can’t wait for the next volume in the Locke family’s adventures. The old house as a lot of life (and UNLIFE) still waiting to be discovered and feared.

Horror fans will love this book because it delivers every delicious thrill and chill a reader could want. And Gabriel’s art is absolutely eye-popping, alternately beautiful and then gruesome. LOCKE & Key is a definite, pulses-pounding winner.

Locke & Key Season 3 – What We Know So Far
APRIL 1, 2022 5:32 PM EDT

Netflix’s “Locke & Key” is one of the numerous projects “Lost” co-showrunner Carlton Cuse has produced since that iconic ABC show ended in 2010, in addition to successful adaptations like “Bates Motel” and Amazon’s “Jack Ryan.” “Locke & Key” is based on comics of the same name written by Joe Hill. The story follows the Locke children after they move into the Keyhouse and discover magical keys that unlock both wonders and dangers.

“Locke & Key” has been a success for Netflix, evidenced by the fact that a Season 3 was ordered ahead of the Season 2 premiere last year. Both seasons of the series have been viewed by Netflix subscribers for over one billion minutes, so it should go without saying that more than a few fans are anticipating the return of the series (per Cheat Sheet). Here is everything we know so far about the confirmed Season 3 of “Locke & Key.”

Locke & Key Season 3 filming has wrapped
Season 3 of “Locke & Key” has been in production for some time, with producer Carlton Cuse saying “a good chunk” had been written before Season 2 even premiered in 2021 (via Collider). With the production confirmed since last year, it’s likely “Locke & Key” will drop sometime this year, but Netflix has not announced a release date. Author Joe Hill even confirmed in October that filming had already wrapped on the series (via Twitter). Thankfully, no major cast members have announced anything that would lead fans to believe they weren’t returning for Season 3.

One big bit of casting news is that actress Sherri Saum has been promoted to a series regular for the upcoming Season 3 after being featured as recurring character Ellie Whedon since the show premiered in 2020. Saum has mastered her craft appearing on popular shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Season 2 appropriately ended with an episode titled “Cliffhanger” and teased a possessed Revolutionary War soldier played by “Lost” veteran Kevin Durand as the new primary antagonist. It’s another exciting addition to the cast as Durand is something of an expert at onscreen villains at this point. On top of his work on “Lost,” he’s also appeared in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood”.

Collects Locke & Key Welcome to Lovecraft 1-6 and Locke & Key Headgames 1-6. Near mint, 2nd print. More pictures in description.