Wow. Wow. Just, wow. I’m not sure this issue’s actually better than the last great issue a few ago, but it’s incredibly impressive. Instead of resolving anything big, Hill goes after something small and makes it as big as possible. It doesn’t start off seeming so incredible, of course. It’s already different because the mom…

Hill’s resolution to the cliffhanger leaves a lot to be desired. Rodriguez does full page panels of this fight scene and… Rodriguez isn’t very good at fight scenes. He’s also not good at high concept fight scenes. And believing the good guys wouldn’t see the bad guy slinking away in defeat? Well, Hill needed Rodriguez…

Now there’s an unexpected conclusion. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, since it suggests Ty would know what all the keys do, which he doesn’t… but it’s a cool conclusion. And, unlike some of Hill’s other approaches, is geared only for a comic book. It’s an all-action issue and it’s a good one. Hill…

So the sister’s name is Kinsey. The mom’s name, I don’t know. I also don’t know the cop’s name. I don’t really remember him or why he’s important. Hill just introduced two new characters to the supporting cast–Kinsey’s male friends from the near death experience–yet he brings back the cop. Locke & Key has become…

Hill more than makes up for the previous issue with this one. He starts out with the older brother–Ty, right?–before moving to the sister. I can’t remember her name. He brings in some other teenagers and traps them in a cave and almost kills them. It’s a completely unpredictable turn of events since Hill sets…

This issue is exactly the kind of thing I wouldn’t expect from Joe Hill. It’s the ghost of Sam Lesser–who Hill turns into an extremely sympathetic character (who knew Locke & Key would be such a good example of feminist storytelling)–versus Dodge in his (or her) ghost-state. They talk a lot, they fight a lot,…

Hill’s fluidity of Zack’s gender is once again striking. The issue’s a flashback to before the first series and so Dodge (how many names does the character have, anyway?) is still the female. I wonder how it’ll all play out. There are no Lockes in this issue (except a cameo from Duncan in the flashback)…

Interesting. Hill completely surprising this issue at every turn. The opening’s a little disjointed, however, as it presents a more genial “hang out” night at the Locke house than Hill’s ever suggested before. He also starts making Zack a mildly sympathetic character. Maybe mildly is too strong a word. Hill makes sure to show Zack…

Small big happenings this issue. Hill opens it with Uncle Duncan, who’s starting to remember where he’s seen Zack before. Not to jump around too much, but the next issue’s preview cover suggests Hill’s bringing back the homoeroticism in Zack and Tyler’s friendship. That return should be interesting. It’s juxtaposed against Duncan’s arc this issue,…

With this issue, Head Games finally feels like Locke & Key again. The kids are doing something they probably shouldn’t, while talking about how they’re coping with their tragedies. And Mom isn’t paying enough attention to it. Hill could probably do an entire series around Nina’s days. The thing they shouldn’t be doing this issue…

Hill spends a lot of time with deceptive bad ghost guy “Zack” again this issue. It’s a problem not just because it refocuses the series on him–Bode gets some page time, but he’s on a micro-quest; it’s not particularly interesting (until the cliffhanger). But Hill’s emphasis on Zack also cuts down on the expectations for…

I really wish this issue had a better colorist. Well, I guess Jay Fotos isn’t bad overall, he just doesn’t seem comfortable making the lead character, who’s black, have black skin. Instead it’s a shiny tan; the guy looks like Tyrone Power. There are a bunch of puzzling lines about race until halfway through, when…