Joe Hill Writes a Fantastic Comic Book

and that is, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft

BY COLIN ENQUIST

I was never aware of Joe Hill’s work until this mini series. Hill wrote a collection of short stories titled 20th Century Ghosts and the novel Heart-Shaped Box both with critical acclaim. After reading the plot summary before issue one was released I wasn’t completely sold but thought it could be interesting. With this being Hill’s first time writing a comic book I planned on waiting for the story to be collected in one volume. I am glad I did, as the presentation of the hardcover version is gorgeous.

The main enjoyment for me on any horror film or book is the atmosphere. You can scare a person with the moments of blood splatter and random killing. Or making you jump with a quick scare tactic that isn’t really making you frightened but just caught off guard. But if you are actually making a person quiver while they are reading it takes some talent. At times I feel Hill has that talent, but other times not so much as Locke & Key doesn’t quite deliver consistent atmosphere. Now that does not mean the book was a failure. The pace of the story worked well like any great story. Jumping from each characters perspective over each issue brought us more details towards the big picture and helps bring the story together.

Gabriel Rodriguez pencils are good and very descriptive of catching the characters emotions from panel to panel. Jay Fotos who provides the colours really helps sell certain pages. When Bode first walks through the magical door that “kills” him you see a colour change in his skin which was very creepy. We see Bode’s skin change become its natural colour as he “lives” again. The panel layout made the book very easy and quick to read, never getting confused on what panel comes next.

The book does tell a complete story but it leaves lots of questions for future volumes (which Hill has stated this is the prologue to a three act story with act one and two being 24 issues total and the final act will be an original graphic novel). I would recommend this book but knowing that the next mini series is just around the corner means more reading in your future.

3 out of 5 stars