Keeping Up With Family Traditions

Locke & Key Vol. 1 hardcover: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008)
IDW Publishing
Joe Hill, writer
Gabriel Rodriguez, artist

This book has been around for a while, but it wasn't even on my radar when it debuted in 2008. I'd later heard some good things about the title without ever learning much about the plot beyond the fact that it was a horror series. That I'd already kind of suspected from the subtitle of the first story arc.

I enjoy horror movies — not gore-fests, mind you, but really good scary, suspenseful pieces — but I've read a few horror comics that just didn't seem to work. That generalized rule only made it better when I happened to find a comic horror series that I felt genuinely DID work. Sorrow from Image Comics, Skinwalker from Oni Press and Rachel Rising from Abstract Studios would be some examples of some good, scary comics stories I've tried and really enjoyed. But they continue to be the exception, not the rule, from my own experience.

Enter a friend of my wife's from her college days, Todd. She thought he and I shared some broad interests in sci-fi, television and comics, and introduced me to him through his blog several years ago. One of the comics that he talked up quite a bit was Locke & Key, which I learned from him was a series of limited series — six of them to date with a seventh in the works. Based on how much Todd liked the series and talked it up, I finally added it to my list of things to try at some point. For several more years, however, there was always something I wanted more or could get a little cheaper when placing orders or going shopping.

That is, until I decided to start getting serious about getting some of my books, especially things I was trying out to see how much interest I'd really have, from the library instead of the store.

Well, I recently asked our local librarian — a very nice lady named Charlotte — to request the first Locke & Key trade via interlibrary loan, and she came through with the hardcover version of the book. Man, am I glad I finally tried this series! I have to say, this first volume is so good, I was tempted to just buy an entire set of trades to read the rest. I like it that much. Well, that is until I did some quick web-surfing and found that bargain hunting this series would take a while. There are plenty of the books for sale, but most of them carry a pretty hefty price tag, even for used copies. So, I've decided to stick with the library for now, but if future volumes continue to be this good, I may be tempted to start looking to buy again.

The story starts out on the west coast where the Locke family lives. There's the father, Rendell Locke, a high school guidance counselor; his wife, Nina; and their three children, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode. Tyler and Kinsey are high-schoolers; Bode is in elementary school. But after Mr. Locke is killed during a home invasion, the family packs up and moves to the Locke family home, currently occupied by the kids' Uncle Duncan, in Lovecraft, Maine.

That family home is a sprawling structure with a rather large number of rooms and doors, many of them with their own keys — hence the second half of the series' title. Hints are dropped along the way that the house may have a supernatural aspect. Rendell and Duncan have long told the children about their own childhood in Lovecraft and the fantastical adventures they shared there, doorways that led to far-away places and mystical lands. The two adult brothers tell the stories as remembered play, but the stories have the air of more truth just beneath the surface.

Bode is the first of the next generation of Locke children to uncover some of the property's secrets. First, he finds a locked well house with a rather unusual echo. Shortly afterward, while exploring the house itself, Bode makes another discovery: "I found a secret door and when you go thru you turn into a gowst. It's fun to be a ded persin," he writes for a school project.

Before long, other family members discover strange things about their new home. But before they can learn much, they must contend with another danger: the young man who killed Rendell Locke has escaped from prison and is making his way across the country, tracking the family's movements east.

Joe Hill has crafted a very engaging narrative with characters a reader can connect with easily. This feels like a satisfying chunk of story while still being Hill's opening salvo only. There is still much more to learn from the Locke house, and I fear, much more for this family to endure.

And Gabriel Rodriguez's artwork is clear and easy to follow. Despite some of the graphic violence in the story itself, Rodriguez does not illustrate too much gore. He doesn't shy away from showing the violence at times, but I never had an issue with feeling like the depictions were overly graphic.

In case you couldn't tell already, I say give this book a try if you haven't already!

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Side note: It wasn't planned this way, but Locke & Key makes for a nice Halloween week post. But just in case the spookiness in this title isn't enough to put you in the Halloween mood, then check out this Monster Pin Up Girls kickstarter project I came across last week. There's still time to back the project, so give it a look.

Pass The Popcorn; I'm Ready To Watch

Velvet 6
Image Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Steve Epting, artist

Another short post today. I've praised this series before, and it continues to be a solid read.

Ed Brubaker is crafting an intriguing story about a former spy who re-enters the game after one of her colleagues turns up dead. Complicating her search for answers, Velvet Pendleton quickly finds herself framed for the murder she is trying to investigate. And along the way, she is finding out that much of her life has revolved around lies she never suspected as untrue before. It is a story that I was quickly sucked into and am thoroughly enjoying.

Add to that Steve Epting's wonderful, cinematic art, and this series is like watching a favorite old action movie for the very first time.

In fact, my only real complaint about this title to date has been the lag between this issue and the previous one. This title seems to be following the Image trend of taking a break from the single issues during the month that a new trade comes out. If it gives the creative team a break, that's great; but I want my Velvet every month, if possible.

Well Done, Good Sirs

Star Trek Special: Flesh and Stone
IDW Publishing
Scott and David Tipton, writers
Sharp Brothers, artists

 
I don't have a whole lot to say about this "Star Trek" one-shot, but wanted to take a post to extend my kudos to the creative team all around for not taking the easy way out with this story. Of course, why even do the darn thing if you're not planning to "do it right."

This was solicited as a "Star Trek" special that incorporated all of the doctors from every incarnation of Trek television program ever aired. (Technically, they didn't include Dr. Mark Piper from the second Original Series pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," or Dr. Philip Boyce from the first Original Series pilot, "The Cage," but since neither of those gentlemen appeared for more than one episode, I have no problem with glossing over them.)

I fully expected the special to take place in the era that would allow the easiest access to the most Trek doctors. The "Next Generation," "Deep Space 9" and "Voyager" television programs all happened around the same time frame, so Drs. Beverly Crusher and Katherine Pulaski (TNG) were contemporaries of Dr. Julian Bashir (DS9) and the Emergency Medical Hologram program that gained sentience while serving on the lost Voyager.

The problem would be including Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy from the original series. McCoy is shown briefly in the first episode of "The Next Generation" hitching a ride aboard the latest version of the Enterprise, but he is at that time an honorary admiral and 137 years old. I expected the main medical problem that brings together the other contemporary docs in this story would force that team to turn to some notes or case files left behind from the now-deceased McCoy.

That's close to what happens, but these guys not only found an even better way to incorporate McCoy into the medical mystery threatening the entire Federation, but they also used that clever ploy to include Dr. Phlox, the ship's physician from "Enterprise," the "Star Trek" prequel, which I had completely forgotten about when anticipating this one-shot. (Slams his forehead with the heel of his hand while saying, "D'oh!") No, I'm not going to tell you how the Tiptons and Sharps pulled it off; I'll just say again that I was pleasantly surprised by their solution and encourage you to read the issue for yourselves. It's not like you have to invest in a 20-issue epic to find out.

My only complaint, and its a minor one, with the issue is once the medical mystery is solved, there is still a bit of detective work left to do, the final resolution of which feels a bit rushed — particularly a single sequence of panels near the end where a button is pushed. One can assume what happened from the artwork, and maybe this was a production error or something, but there is no dialogue in the panel where the button is pushed or labels on the buttons or anything else to directly clue readers in to what is being done by the pushing of that button. Again, I can make a pretty good assumption from the next panels, but some more visual direction would have been nice.

Overall, a good issue though, and one I recommend to fans of Trek.

I Admit I Continue To Be Curious

Teen Titans 1
DC Comics
Will Pfeifer, writer
Kenneth Rocafort, artist

I grew up with the members of The New Teen Titans in the 1980s. I don't pretend that I followed the team in their Silver Age incarnation (1966-1978), although I have since read and enjoyed most of those issues. I wasn't even on board in 1980 when the New team debuted in DC Comics Presents No. 26 between the pages of a Superman/Green Lantern tale. But I discovered the title in 1983 in a story I've told here before and followed the title going both forward and backward, eventually collecting the entire run.

I decided to try the next incarnation of the team (1996-98) led by a de-aged Ray Palmer Atom when Dan Jurgens relaunched the title shortly after Zero Hour, and I enjoyed the new characters he introduced to the team name, although in all honesty, my favorite issues were the later ones when the original team members came back into the narrative.

I liked even more when Geoff Johns relaunched the title (2003-2011) with the next generation of Teen Titans. A big part of the appeal of that version was the continuity that was established with the formation of Young Justice, and then those characters' "graduation" to the name Teen Titans, while the original group members dropped the no-longer-accurate modifier and became just the Titans for a couple more iterations.

But I dropped out when the New 52 came along. One of the goals of the relaunch was to shake things up and draw in new readers. Teen Titans was one of the titles that changed the most. Despite some early confusion, the entire history of the group was jettisoned, and the personalities of the existing characters were changed pretty drastically along with bringing in a number of newer characters. I'm not going to say the title after the makeover was bad, but I'd lost my connection to the characters and thus, the title.

Then, a few months ago, I reread the H.E.R.O. series from DC written by Will Pfeifer. Not long before that, I'd reread his fantastic run on Catwoman. After both those titles, I decided to give the fresh relaunch of the New 52 version of Teen Titans a try with Pfeifer at the helm. It's too soon to know much about the direction of Pfeifer's run with only one issue under my belt, but he does have me curious.

As far as I know, not having read more than an issue or two of the previous series, it seems that Pfeifer has elected not to drastically reboot the team again to start his run. I know some of the names, but that is about it with the members of the team so far. But in this age where real teens' lives are consumed by electronic devices, Pfeifer has chosen to make said devices a commanding presence in his story — the Titans use social media and electronic gadgetry to communicate with each other as they take down a group of terrorists holding a school bus of students hostage. Bystanders on the street also record many of the events using their own cellphones and tablets. It even seems that the leader of the terror group is using tech-savvy to lead and control his or her own minions (the lead villain's gender wasn't clear to me from the art, but I think the character was referred to as "she" once).

While I'm not familiar with the revamped history of older characters like Beast Boy, Red Robin, Raven and Wonder Girl or the back story for New 52 newcomer Bunker, I liked what I read in this issue. And Kenneth Rocafort's art, while not always to my liking, works in many scenes of this book. I'm sticking around for more before passing any kind of final judgment, but I'm sticking around.