IDW Reveiws: Locke & Key: Clockworks #6

Locke & Key: Clockworks #6
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
Cover: Gabriel Rodriguez

Dodge has his memories back and he’s going to make sure that nothing stops his quest for the Omega Key. Even if he has to kill a few of his closest friends to do it. Hill has decided to allow us a trip to the past, which reveals the events that have been hinted at and gives us a deeper look at Rendell Locke and his friends. As important as the Locke children have been, this shift to see how their father’s actions have impacted their lives so many years later has been excellent.

It’s the consistently fantastic storytelling fueling Clockworks that has made it one of the best installments in the Locke & Key series so far. If mainly for the fact that it has not only maintained but exceeded the previous volumes on every level. Dodge’s systematic destruction of his friends along with Rendell’s dedication to save them makes for one very intense confrontation. There’s also the fact that even as Hill is revealing different layers of the story, he’s adding to them, as well. This enriches the entire issue, and you just know you’re going to get a few surprises along the way.

As can be expected, Rodriguez and Fotos continue to tell one fantastic visual story time and time again. There hasn’t been one issue where they’ve not given the fans the quality they’ve come to expect since the beginning of the Locke & Key series. There is no way you just won’t keep going over the panels to see if you missed anything integral to the story, or just to look at how awesome everything is. Especially when they get to show off the power of the keys. From the few emotional moments to the bursts of action, there is that consistent thread of awesome that is in every panel.

Locke & Key is one of those comics that clearly breaks the stereotype of what a comic book is. No superheroes in tights or women with unbelievable cup sizes. Just a great story that is told both through words and art. With the final act approaching, the anticipation of what will happen with the Locke children is at an all time high. One thing is for certain, and that’s August can’t get here fast enough to see what this creative team will bring us!

Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Sarah

    And in this issue Dodge uses memories like horcruxes, only strengthening my theory that joe hill may have borrowed the core storyline of JK Rowling’s “Harry Potter” to drive “L &K.” Not accusing him…but it’s hard to ignore the glaring similarities when you take off the window dressing.

    Tyler/Harry; dodge/voldemort; rendell locke (deceased father)/Lily Potter ( deceased mother); keepers of the keys/order of phoenix members

    (Betcha rendell’s spirit comes back in the final arc to help tyler kill dodge.)

    1. InfiniteSpeech

      Since I’ve never read anything past the first HP book I can’t compare the two. Though from watching the films (except the last) and reading L&K I never saw any similarities between the two. Maybe I’ll check out the books and compare the two.

      If the core storyline is Harry finding out who he is over the course of several years while mastering magical powers, avenging dead parents, and meeting loyal friends who take up his cause….that sounds a lot like Star Wars if you ask me.

      1. Sarah

        You have to be able to peel away the outer layers and understand story at its core.

        L&K, essentially, is a story about growing up. About discovering death, leaving childhood behind, and shaping your own self. About facing your fears.

        And you don’t necessarily need to have read all HP books, if you’ve seen the films. Just plug-in the characters in the aforementioned pairings, most notably the Triangle of Death (Tyler, Rendell, Dodge—each a main ingredient to the overall storyline), from which I expect will come full circle by the end of OMEGA. Where Rendell’s spirit will play the role of Lily Potter to tie-in the two story lines—past Keyhouse, present Keyhouse—and help his son defeat Dodge.

        That said, I actually feel Hill has improved on Rowling’s story…but could it have happened without hers? No.

        *By the by, this isn’t the first time Hill’s work has mirrored another. His novella “Gundpowder” is basically his father’s “Firestarter” in space.

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