Locke & Key: Head Games 4 (April 2009)

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, where he and his boyfriend get assaulted by some crazy redneck women. Props to Hill for confronting homophobia in such a direct manner. Sadly, it’s far more interesting than the main content.

Tyler shows his friends the head key. It freaks out the girl, who’s still just a caricature. Then Kinsey decides she wants her fear extracted. There’s the implication next issue will have some pay-off, but it’s not enough.

Hill’s overstuffing Head Games, especially with Luke/Zack content; Duncan’s story is a relief because it feels organic and not painfully outlined and planned.

Locke & Key: Head Games 3 (March 2009)

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 is unlocking their heads (get it, Head Games) with one of the keys. They’re able to extract memories and insert knowledge. It’s a disturbing visual–the opened head–and Rodriguez does a great job of making it infinitely uncomfortable without making it gross.

The idea is one of Hill’s best for the series so far, as one can see the advantages. Bad memories can go away, knowledge can be immediately acquired.

The other reason the issue feels familiar again is because Tyler’s a moron.

If he had an iota of sense, Hill wouldn’t have a comic.

Locke & Key: Head Games (2009) #1

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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 he says he’s Black.

He just doesn’t look Black.

Anyway.

For the first issue of the second series, Joe Hill does an “intermission.” He introduces the protagonist, a teacher at the local high school, who figures out something’s going on when he sees the bad guy. It’s been a while since I’ve read Locke & Key and the brief recap doesn’t cut it, so it was an uphill read.

The regular cast doesn’t even appear. It’s a texture issue and a good one. Hill does a fine job with the protagonist. The issue’s engaging and unsettling.

Locke & Key: Head Games 2 (February 2009)

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 the Locke family’s experiences. If we always know Zack is out to get them and his plans… their success over him isn’t going to be as fresh as it could be.

I’m just assuming there will be success over him, since there’s not much of a story if the bad guy wins.

The issue feels like a lot of water treading. There are the repercussions from the last issue, with Kinsey reacting to her teacher’s death but she’s not the issue’s main character.

The issue’s not weak, it’s just not engaging at all.

Locke & Key: Head Games 1 (January 2009)

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 he says he’s black.

He just doesn’t look black.

Anyway.

The regular cast doesn’t even appear. It’s a texture issue and a good one. Hill does a fine job with the protagonist. The issue’s engaging and unsettling.

Locke & Key (2008) #6

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Hmm.

Right after I say something nice about Rodriguez, this issue happens.

Actually, it’s not Rodriguez’s fault. Hill gives him something impossible to draw as static images (a transformation) and it just flops.

As for the rest of the issue, Hill does a pretty good job wrapping up some of the story and laying the groundwork for future series. There’s one problem where he contradicts himself. In dialogue, the villain explains the story as the finish, mocking Bode’s youthful idea the story is just starting.

Obviously, the story is just starting, which makes the villain just seem a little dumb and pointless and Hill’s dialogue superficial and thoughtless.

Hill brings back the narration, this time from Ty, the oldest brother, and it’s a mistake. Bode’s the series’s best “good” character, maybe because he’s the only one Hill’s spent any time developing.

Still, those complaints aside, it’s a decent enough finish.

Locke & Key (2008) #5

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I think this issue is Hill’s first without any narration. It opens with the psycho—Sam—then flip-flops between him and Bode. Bode’s got his friend in the well, who reveals she’s not a friend this issue.

Hill and Rodriguez get gratuitously violent when Sam attacks the daughter (still don’t remember her name), to the point it’s way too rough for the comic. Locke & Key has been disturbing, but even with all the violence, it’s never been too much.

Here, they take it too far. So far, in fact, it’s unbelievable later when the dialogue suggests the daughter survived the assault.

It’s also Hill’s first all-action issue and he does pretty well. The colorist screws up the time of day for a bit.

And I might finally be willing to say I’m liking Rodriguez’s art. He really makes this issue work.

Maybe the best issue overall (so far).

Locke & Key (2008) #4

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Hill really goes all out this issue; it’s a wholly unlikable issue and probably the series’s best in terms of writing. Hill’s not concerned with writing likable characters or even really developing the big mystery behind Locke & Key. Instead, he focuses mostly on the psychotic murderer who’s out to get the family again—there’s some fill-in, revealing the kid’s motivation was uncanny and supernatural, not just a psychopathic kid (his sidekick, who barely has a place, probably was just a nutter).

And when Hill does go to the family, he’s just doing little stuff. The youngest one, Bode, is annoying people with a joke (to remind the reader of everything going on with him). But what’s more interesting is how Hill momentarily gets into the older son… who seems almost as disturbed as the murderer.

The issue makes the reader feel creeped out and sick, which means Hill succeeds.

Locke & Key (2008) #3

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And now Hill dedicated a whole issue to the girl. Again, I like his approach, but it’s just not believable. He’s got the little brother, Bode, I think, showing the sister his out of body experience and the sister thinks he’s playing. Maybe if they were regular kids, but not after the trauma they’d been through. Maybe the lack of post-traumatic stress is where Hill goes off the rails. His characters only work if you see them a little, like during a comic book. He forgets the other characters see them all the time.

Still, it’s a compelling read (maybe because Hill ups the foreboding ante again). I’m probably the only one, but the conclusion to the issue–Hill has a nice, trite finish to make it upbeat–is rather homoerotic.

And Rodriguez? His art still isn’t growing on me. He has a good sense of composition, but his details are loose.

Locke & Key (2008) #2

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Hill tells most of the issue from the perspective of a ten year-old. Maybe ten. He might even be younger.

Hill’s not particularly good at writing the character, because his vocabulary is way too mature. Still, it’s a likable character (maybe it would work if he were thirteen… or if Hill had established him as a smarty-pants in the first issue).

There’s more stuff with the mom and the uncle this issue (the second half feels like there are no adults around at all, which sort of fits—Rodriguez draws the uncle about the same age as the oldest kid). The mom’s a problem; Hill can’t seem to make her real.

Still, his plotting is excellent. Even though it’s a fast read, he does manage to introduce a new character and a connection to the first issue.

Hopefully, the rest of the cast gets page time pretty soon.