SPOILERS AHEAD - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN"T ALREADY READ THE COMICS!I'm a massive fan of the original volumes of the "Locke and Key" comic art so couldn't wait to snaffle up the latest 3-comic miniseries delving into the mysterious doors and turnkeys of the Locke Family.
Spinning back in time to the turn of the 20th Century, this is once again based in the sprawling family mansion, albeit with a twist. As with the previous L & K stories, it's the younger male member of the family who falls foul of the mysterious keys. It's 1915, the First World War is under way and young John Locke - eldest son of Chamberlain - is too young to serve in the army but has a plan to use the keys to forward the allied efforts against the Germans.
A plan doomed to failure.
Volume 1 sets the scene as we see John trying to sign up for action, retrieved by his father using one of the keys before he can do something really stupid. But the boy is determined, and after a draw is left open in a locked room, the boy nabs the Shadow and Wing keys, also prematurely ages himself with another key, and is on his way to the front.
Surely given the dark power of the keys and their might, he'll be almost indestructible?
Needless to say, things begin to unravel in Volume 2 - as a German officer gets hold of the keys, and before John can be rescued, a squad of German troops find themselves in Locke Mansion, wondering where the hell they are and what the mysterious powers are that the keys hold.
The officer is quick to realise that these are exquisite tools of chaos and destruction. His squad of troops are hell bent on slaughter but haven't reckoned with other keys (including the youngest daughter's 'stuffed toy protectors' brought to life in grisly fashion with other keys to serve as her bodyguards).
As soon as the action bares its teeth, Volume 2 is over - and it almost feels like a huge chunk of the story goes missing at one point, which was confusing and had me reading through both volumes again to see if I'd missed anything obvious (I hadn't).
Suffice to say that by the time you start digging into Volume 3, the whole thing begins to peel apart - almost as if it needed four comics instead of three to properly polish the storyline up.
John's self-inflicted punishment for his misuse of the keys feels like a bit of a cop-out, and left me wondering what the purpose of Volume 3 was at all, its only point being to underline things already covered in the main "Locke and Key" series previously. The keys are dark, demonic and chaotic and the use of them will only end in tragedy.
Chamberlain is distraught, losing his son and wife, but the keys aren't done yet - and in fact the series isn't either, as Hill and Rodriguez will soon cross over with another mighty comics universe, that of "The Sandman" and though I'm seriously disappointed with how this mini series went, I seriously cannot wait to find out what happens when Gaiman and Hill lock(e) horns.
"Locke and Key: In Pale Battalions Go" is available now from IDW Publishing with the Sandman crossover being released in April 2021.
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