This week, on the Major Spoilers Podcast, the Major Spoilers Crew goes back to Joe Hill’s Locke and Key series, to check in on the madness in Lovecraft.
New York Times bestselling writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, the creators behind the acclaimed Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, return with the next chapter in the ongoing tale, Head Games. Following a shocking death that dredges up memories of their father’s murder, Kinsey and Tyler Locke are thrown into choppy emotional waters, and turn to their new friend, Zack Wells, for support, little suspecting Zack’s dark secret. Meanwhile, six-year-old Bode Locke tries to puzzle out the secret of the head key, and Uncle Duncan is jarred into the past by a disturbingly familiar face. Open your mind – the head games are just getting started!
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2 Comments
I devoured this series; absolutely loved it. It was actually one of the first things I picked up after reading a review on the site.
I think the world Joe Hill creates is amazing, fantastic and whimsical, yet dark and sinister, which reminds me of old Fairy Tales before they were sanitized for children. He builds a mythos from the ground up and despite its fantastic and outlandish nature, it feels lived-in, real and complete.
I think the thing that really sucks you in to this volume is the fact that the reader knows Zack is behind everything, yet Kinsey and Tyler have no idea, and every time some character realizes what Zack is, it’s too late. A good horror movie has you shouting at the screen “DON’T GO IN THERE!” and that’s the feeling Head Games gives you. You’re rooting for the heroes while cursing their narrow vision.
I also love the idea of the different magical keys – it’s a concept that could seem like something that belongs better in a video game or a children’s “Gotta Catch ’em All” type show, but instead of letting the heroes get the keys 1 by 1 and become more powerful, giving them to the villain(who is always 2 steps ahead of the Locke Kids) gives it an even more desperate, nail-biting suspense.
I really enjoyed the 1st arc of Locke & Key, sad to say I had a lot of trouble/issues with this arc.
I was glad to see the beautiful art return but that is all I can say that was good.
I feel the story lost much of its magic with the main key of the story pretty much working anywhere. I thought the original concept was these keys worked on the home property only, but seeing “head” key working on any head anywhere lessen my enjoyment greatly. In the 1st arc the key were introduced with Bode’s adventures and I liked this introduction. We see the same thing here but only briefly in this arc, quickly the key is taken from Bode and used by the other Locke kids and Zack. In one panel Tyler is yelling at Bode for opening his head and in the next one he is opening his head and showing a girl from school who freaks out and runs away. Zack gets the key and starts pulling memories from whoever he chooses, this I won’t even comment on. I don’t think we saw the characters grow as much as been manipulated by Zack. The villain manipulating the heroes is a common thing but I think the heroes need to be somewhat matured for it to have actual affect on the reader, otherwise I think it is as affected as death in the DC universe. I would have preferred this story to be more focused on the Locke kids and less on Zack and his history. I was willing to continue reading this series until they threw in the dam “forbidden love” crap. I am tired of this being added in for an extra level of drama or as another hook and hate it being added as a cliff hanger. I enjoyed the 1st arc a lot but after reading this arc I pulled Locke & Key off my read list. I had high hopes for this series, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.