Read This Comic! Locke & Key: Master Edition Vol. 1

A couple weeks back we took a look at Marvel’s launch of its newly launching event epic, Secret Wars , but today our recommendation goes out on a series that is already complete.

, but today our recommendation goes out on a series that is already complete. Locke & Key’s rich fiction plays out across nearly 40 issues collected into six discrete arcs, but this new hardcover gathers the first third of the entire story in one beautiful book. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s story melds horror, fantasy, and a mature variation on coming-of-age stories, resulting in one of the most emotionally packed and intriguing premises in years.

Locke & Key follows the three children of the Locke family, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, as they adjust to life in their family’s ancestral home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, after they move back following the grisly murder of their father. The old manor is awash in secrets, particularly involving a number of mysterious, seemingly magical keys that are uncovered in connection with the aptly named Keyhouse.

While most of Locke & Key’s protagonists are children or teenagers, the series is unapologetic in exploring mature issues like depression, grief, romantic obsession, and murder. Hill’s characterization, not just of a single lead, but of a whole ensemble cast, keeps the series spinning along at lightning pace; new revelations about characters, their emotions, and their pasts are constantly coming to light. While Hill's writing is distinct from his father's familiar style, the family relationships and horrors that the children face remind me of a great deal of some of Stephen King’s best novels, in which young heroes come to life as much through their flaws as their strengths.

Equally important, as the story continues, Hill teases out more about the deep history of Keyhouse and the many strange keys and their powers. Given the fictional setting of Lovecraft, MA, it should come as no surprise that both writer and artist have drawn heavily on Lovecraftian inspiration to sketch out the terrifying mythology of the series. Hill clearly crafted the series with this complex backdrop already fully formed, and it shows through a tantalizingly slow reveal of the horrible truth behind what’s going on.

Rodriguez’s art is stellar throughout this collected edition, introducing each character through their evocative and distinct facial expressions, which goes a long way towards establishing who they are as individuals. I love the way the members of the Locke family share a family resemblance, but their ages and emotions ensure you never mistake one for the other.

Grief-tinged scenes of a family coming to terms with a lost father are juxtaposed against cuts to brutally violent imagery as the killer slowly zeroes in on the rest of the family, lending a tension to these early volumes that is only set to ratchet up in later issues when the real villain’s intentions become clear. Muted environment colors communicate the glum Massachusetts town, while the characters themselves pop off the panel thanks to sharp, dark lines and big, expressive eyes. Rodriguez also outdoes himself in the visualization of the keys and their various effects, lending a fantastical quality to these early issues in what otherwise might seem like a more mundane family crime drama.

Locke & Key is troubling and tense, and one always has a sense that something horrible is about to happen when you turn the page. (It often is.) But beyond the sense of impending doom, the series paints a rich tapestry of fiction and characters that is hard not to fall for. If you have yet to give it a try, this Master Edition, released just last week, is the perfect opportunity.