Locke & Key Vol.
3: Crown of Shadows
written
by Joe Hill
illustrated
by Gabriel Rodriguez
IDW
Publishing (2010)
152
pages
I have been waiting over a year to get back into the
Locke & Key series. I was wowed by the first volume,
Welcome to Lovecraft, and I thought the followup, HeadGames, was nearly as great. I'll just say right off the bat that
Crown of Shadows is my favorite in the series thus far. I'm
just amazed at what Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez have done with
this book.
The hardships the Locke family has had to face in the
wake are finally taking their toll, especially on the mother who had
started drinking quite regularly towards the end of the second
volume, and at the beginning of this third volume she is a wreck. She
is not coping well at all with the murder of her husband, and she's
nearly lost her children to a madman again, so it's kind of a wonder
she can function at all. As for the three Locke children, Tyler,
Kinsey, and Bode, they are coping remarkably well considering the
absolute shit-twister they have each been through ever since their
father was murdered.
In Crown of Shadows, Nina's depression and
alcoholism have taken a toll on her, to the point where she's barely
functioning as a mother and guardian for her three kids. Her oldest
son, Tyler, wants to be her rock, but even he is being worn down by
picking up her slack. Kinsey, meanwhile, has nearly given up on her
mother and is instead focusing her time in learning about her
father's past when he grew up in Lovecraft. As for the youngest,
Bode, he's still actively looking for the keys in Keyhouse and for
ways to thwart Dodge's plans to find the Black Key.
I already love this series, so maybe absence makes the
heart grow fonder in this case, because I thought Crown of Shadows
was about as close to a masterpiece as the series has reached.
Gabriel Rodriguez's artwork is spellbinding yet again, aided greatly
by Jay Fotos and Robbie Robbins who did coloring and lettering
respectively. Almost every page crackles with a electric tinge that
gives the characters life, and there's a fight scene in the first
chapter between two ghosts that exemplifies that--loved that
scene. Joe Hill's writing meanwhile is captivating in a way in
another medium would be very good, but in the comic book settings
seemed to have found its home. Some of the stuff involving the
alcoholism threatened to get overwrought and a bit maudlin at one
point, but it was saved by the end of the book.
And I haven't even mentioned the awesomeness that is the
variety of fantastical keys that have emerged inside Keyhouse. The
two that take center stage in this volume were monumental and helped
an already riveting climax hit an epic level. I mean, when the third
chapter reveals a giant wooden key hidden in the floorboards, you
can't help but wonder what kind of crazy-ass door it's supposed to
open--and then when that door finally does open, you're jaw drops.
Mine did.
You might not be the kind of person who reads comic
books, but if you love fantasy and wonder and discovery and suspense,
then you need to read Locke & Key.
This book sounds really good! I usually don't read graphic novels, but it's a genre I'd like to explore more. Great review (:
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