Locke & Key
Encyclopedia
Locke & Key is a comic book
series written by Joe Hill
, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez and published by IDW Publishing
.
, Welcome To Lovecraft, was a six-issue limited series
published by IDW Publishing
. The first issue of Welcome To Lovecraft was released on February 20, 2008 and sold out in a single day, requiring a second printing to be done immediately. The second arc of Act One, entitled Head Games, commenced with the release of the first issue on January 22, 2009. The actual Head Games story was printed in four issues, with a standalone prologue ("Intermission" or "The Joe Ridgeway Story") and a standalone conclusion ("Army Of One").
Act Two of the Locke & Key story consists of two limited, six-issue miniseries; the first storyline of Act Two, Crown of Shadows, began in the fall of 2009. The second storyline, Keys to the Kingdom, began in August 2010.
The first storyline of Act Three was initially announced as Time & Tide, but is now titled Clockworks.
The original publication plan for the issues comprising the second, third, fourth, and fifth story arcs to be released monthly, with the final storyline being produced as an original graphic novel
, but these plans have been altered.
have released standard edition hardcover collections of each of the first four volumes: Welcome to Lovecraft (October 8, 2008, ISBN 9781600102370), Head Games (September 30, 2009, ISBN 9781600104831), Crown of Shadows (July 29, 2010, ISBN 9781600106958), and "Keys to the Kingdom" (July 19, 2011, ISBN 978160010860). Softcover editions of Welcome to Lovecraft (March 29, 2009, ISBN 9781600103841) and Head Games (October 19, 2010, ISBN 9781600107610) have also been released.
On November 11, 2007, Subterranean Press
announced a limited edition version of the six-issue run of Welcome To Lovecraft, comprising 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, both of which sold out within 24 hours of being announced. The edition featured exclusive dust jacket art by Vincent Chong and reprinted all 250 pages of Joe Hill
's script in addition to the actual comic work. This was followed by the publication of a similar limited edition run of Head Games. Cloth-bound trade editions of both volumes, each limited to 1000 copies, have also been published.
It won the 2009 British Fantasy Award
for Best Comic or Graphic Novel.
Won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer (Joe Hill), and was nominated for Best Single Issue, Best Continuing Series, and Best Penciller.
acquired the film and television rights for Welcome To Lovecraft from IDW Publishing
with the intent of developing the property as a feature with John Davis producing. In February 2010, it was announced that Dimension had lost the adaptation rights to Dreamworks with Alex Kurtzman
and Roberto Orci
signed on to develop and produce the project. In August 2010 Steven Spielberg
also joined as a producer, and the production became a TV series rather than a movie adaptation, with Josh Friedman
penning episodes for the show and acting as show-runner.
The TV series adaptation then landed at 20th Century Fox Television
. The network greenlit a pilot, produced by Dreamworks TV and K.O. Paper Products through the latter's deal with 20th Century Fox TV.
Miranda Otto
played Nina Locke, Sarah Bolger
was Kinsey Locke and Nick Stahl
co-starred as Duncan Locke. Skylar Gaertner played 6-year old Bode, and Harrison Thomas played a teenager possessed by an evil spirit. Actor and singer Jesse McCartney
appeared as Ty Locke, the series' male lead and Ksenia Solo
was cast as Dodge.
Mark Romanek
directed the pilot episode, which was filmed at the mansion in Hartwood Acres and in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
in February 2011. The pilot was also shot throughout Pittsburgh that same month. In May 2011, Fox announced that the project would not be picked up to series. The studio attempted to sell the project to other networks but eventually ceased efforts due to rising costs. However, the show has been eyed by MTV, though no official talks have been had, as of yet. The pilot was screened at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written by Joe Hill
Joe Hill (writer)
Joseph Hillstrom King , better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American author and comic book writer. He has published two novels—Heart Shaped Box and Horns—and a collection of short stories entitled 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the author of the graphic novel series Locke & Key...
, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez and published by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
.
Publication history
The narrative of Locke & Key is structured in three acts, with each act consisting of two six-issue storylines. Act One's first story arcStory arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
, Welcome To Lovecraft, was a six-issue limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
published by IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
. The first issue of Welcome To Lovecraft was released on February 20, 2008 and sold out in a single day, requiring a second printing to be done immediately. The second arc of Act One, entitled Head Games, commenced with the release of the first issue on January 22, 2009. The actual Head Games story was printed in four issues, with a standalone prologue ("Intermission" or "The Joe Ridgeway Story") and a standalone conclusion ("Army Of One").
Act Two of the Locke & Key story consists of two limited, six-issue miniseries; the first storyline of Act Two, Crown of Shadows, began in the fall of 2009. The second storyline, Keys to the Kingdom, began in August 2010.
The first storyline of Act Three was initially announced as Time & Tide, but is now titled Clockworks.
The original publication plan for the issues comprising the second, third, fourth, and fifth story arcs to be released monthly, with the final storyline being produced as an original graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, but these plans have been altered.
Welcome to Lovecraft
| Issue | Release | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | February 20, 2008 | After the murder of their father and the rape of their mother, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke relocate with their mother to the family estate of Keyhouse, located in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Sam Lesser, one of the teens who murdered Mr. Locke, is in a juvenile detention center and, by gazing in water, communicates with a supernatural force that promises to free him. Bode Locke, the youngest of the family, uncovers The Ghost Door, which separates his spirit from his body. |
| #2 | March 26, 2008 | Bode continues to experiment with The Ghost Door and, in his incorporeal form, spies on his brother, sister, and mother. During his journeys, Bode discovers a well that houses a creature who appears as a girl, the supernatural force previously communicating with Sam Lesser. |
| #3 | April 30, 2008 | Sam Lesser uses the tools the girl gave him to escape from the detention center. |
| #4 | May 28, 2008 | Sam Lesser travels across America, traveling towards Keyhouse. His cross-country journey is mirrored by a series of flashbacks into his memories. |
| #5 | June 25, 2008 | The Locke family is taken hostage by Sam Lesser who is seeking the Anywhere Key for his Master, the girl in the well. |
| #6 | July 30, 2008 | Bode uncovers the Anywhere Key and trades it with the girl in the well for a promise that she'll stop Sam Lesser. Freed from her prison, she keeps her promise by throwing Sam through the Ghost Door with no chance to return. |
Head Games
| Issue | Release | Chapter Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | January 28, 2009 | The Joe Ridgeway Story | Professor Joe Ridgeway recognizes Zack Wells as Lucas Caravaggio, a teenager who disappeared over twenty years before, along with several other students, and who has long been presumed dead. Joe soon sets out to dig up the truth on Wells, but Zack proves ruthless in his desire for secrecy. |
| #2 | February 25, 2009 | A shocking death throws Kinsey and Tyler Locke into choppy emotional waters. They turn to Zack Wells for support, not knowing him to be the murderer. Meanwhile, six-year-old Bode Locke tries to puzzle out the secret of the head key, and Uncle Duncan is jarred into the past by a disturbingly familiar face. | |
| #3 | March 4, 2009 | Kinsey, Tyler, and Bode discover the head key allows them to open up people's minds and play with their memories. | |
| #4 | April 8, 2009 | Duncan Locke finds himself faced with a dizzying, impossible revelation; Tyler makes the ill-considered decision to share with others the unlikely powers of the head key; and Kinsey opts to remove troubling emotions from her mind. | |
| #5 | May 20, 2009 | Checkmate | Dodge uses the head key on Duncan Locke, sparing his life but inadvertently leading to the injury of Locke's live-in-boyfriend. |
| #6 | July 1, 2009 | Army of One | We learn how Dodge maintains control of Ellie even without the use of a head key in a flashback sequence. |
Crown of Shadows
| Issue | Release | Chapter Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | November 11, 2009 | The Haunting of Keyhouse | Sam Lesser may be dead and gone, but Dodge still has uses for him, and in the first chill days of October, will make contact with him again. The dead know things the living may not, and Sam's restless spirit has had time to discover the thing Dodge wants to know most of all... where to find the key to the black door. |
| #2 | December 16, 2009 | In the Cave | Far below Keyhouse lies the Drowning Cave, a place where shadows obscure ancient secrets, and the stones are stained with ancient blood. Kinsey Locke descends into the cavern, looking for answers to her family's troubled past, only to discover that it's easier to get in than it is to get out... |
| #3 | February 17, 2010 | Last Light | Dodge takes possession of the crown of shadows, and darkness falls upon Keyhouse... with a vengeance. |
| #4 | March 17, 2010 | Shadow Play | Kinsey and Bode find themselves in a desperate, seemingly unwinnable battle against a rising army of living shadows, while Tyler faces down Dodge in a terrifying duel of wits and wills. |
| #5 | April 28, 2010 | Light of Day | Four words: "Giants hitting each other." Don't miss the most smash-tastic fight issue of the year! |
| #6 | July 14, 2010 | Beyond Repair | In a terrible night of grief and rage, Nina Locke discovers a new key, one which opens a cabinet capable of mending smashed objects; but some things, she will learn, are beyond repair... |
Keys to the Kingdom
| Issue | Release | Chapter Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | August 11, 2010 | Sparrow | As the new arc begins, Bode Locke discovers a key that unlocks the world of tooth, fang, claw, and feather, in a story that leaves hundreds dead! Hundreds of birds, that is. |
| #2 | October 20, 2010 | White | On a bitter winter day, Kinsey Locke encounters a madwoman who just might be able to unlock the darkest secrets of Keyhouse. But forcing the truth out of her won't be easy, and besides... Dodge has no intention of ever giving Erin Voss a chance to tell what she knows. |
| #3 | November 24, 2010 | February | 28 spell-binding and skin-crawling issues of Locke & Key — crammed into one. |
| #4 | January 26, 2011 | Casualties | When Squadron Strange accept a mission from a ghost, they find themselves on their most perilous raid ever... straight into the heart of a haunted mansion. Sgt. Rufus Whedon and Corporal Bode Locke have a terrifying lesson to learn: if you're dealing with a dead man, you better think fast and fight hard, if you don't want to wind up one yourself. |
| #5 | March 2, 2011 | Detectives, Part 1 | Tyler Locke begins, finally, to consider what he knows about the terrifying but mysterious enemy that has harrowed the Locke family for months—only to find that all the evidence points to a single suspect: Zack Wells. |
| #6 | April 27, 2011 | Detectives, Part 2 | 'Keys to the Kingdom' comes to a close as Dodge and Tyler Locke confront one another at last. Tyler came armed with the truth; Dodge prefers sharper instruments, and shows his willingness to use them. |
Clockworks
| Issue | Release | Chapter Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | July 20, 2011 | The Locksmith's Son | Colonel Adam Crais's minutemen are literally trapped between a rock and a hard place; in the first days of the Revolutionary War, they find themselves hiding beneath 120 feet of New England stone, with a full regiment of redcoats waiting for them in the daylight... and a door into hell in the cavern below. The black door is open, and it's up to a 16-year-old smith named Ben Locke to find a way to close it. The biggest mysteries of the Locke & Key series are resolved as Clockworks opens, not with a bang, but with the thunderous crash of English cannons. |
| #2 | August 31, 2011 | SMASH! | Terror runs wild, and the Locke family comes to grief in the smash-ingest story of the series yet! |
| #3 | December 21, 2011 | The Keepers of the Keys | The Omega Key to The Black Door has been found by the one, who calls himself The Legion. |
| #4 | December 21, 2011 | The Whispering Iron | The tamers of The Tempest -- Rendell Locke, Dodge Caravaggio, and their friends -- descend into the Drowning Cave to open the Black Door, hoping to get their hands on some of the fabled whispering iron, the material from which all of the keys are forged. And everything goes according to plan! Not. |
| #5 | January 25, 2012 | Unknown Title | Lucas "Dodge" Caravaggio returns from the Drowning Cave, infected by a parasite of the soul; the good and loving friend has been left behind, and replaced by something free of all human feeling. Searching for a way to control him, the Keepers of the Keys make a dreadful choice... and set off a chain of events that will end in an unimaginable slaughter. |
Collected editions
IDW PublishingIDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
have released standard edition hardcover collections of each of the first four volumes: Welcome to Lovecraft (October 8, 2008, ISBN 9781600102370), Head Games (September 30, 2009, ISBN 9781600104831), Crown of Shadows (July 29, 2010, ISBN 9781600106958), and "Keys to the Kingdom" (July 19, 2011, ISBN 978160010860). Softcover editions of Welcome to Lovecraft (March 29, 2009, ISBN 9781600103841) and Head Games (October 19, 2010, ISBN 9781600107610) have also been released.
On November 11, 2007, Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
announced a limited edition version of the six-issue run of Welcome To Lovecraft, comprising 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, both of which sold out within 24 hours of being announced. The edition featured exclusive dust jacket art by Vincent Chong and reprinted all 250 pages of Joe Hill
Joe Hill (writer)
Joseph Hillstrom King , better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American author and comic book writer. He has published two novels—Heart Shaped Box and Horns—and a collection of short stories entitled 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the author of the graphic novel series Locke & Key...
's script in addition to the actual comic work. This was followed by the publication of a similar limited edition run of Head Games. Cloth-bound trade editions of both volumes, each limited to 1000 copies, have also been published.
Awards and nominations
At the 2009 Eisner Awards, Locke & Key is nominated for "Best Limited Series" and Joe Hill is nominated for "Best Writer".It won the 2009 British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
for Best Comic or Graphic Novel.
Won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Writer (Joe Hill), and was nominated for Best Single Issue, Best Continuing Series, and Best Penciller.
Television series
Dimension FilmsDimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
acquired the film and television rights for Welcome To Lovecraft from IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
with the intent of developing the property as a feature with John Davis producing. In February 2010, it was announced that Dimension had lost the adaptation rights to Dreamworks with Alex Kurtzman
Alex Kurtzman
Alex Kurtzman is an American film and television screenwriter and producer.Kurtzman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he met his high school friend and long time collaborator Roberto Orci...
and Roberto Orci
Roberto Orci
Roberto Gaston Orci is a Mexican-American film producer, television producer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Orci was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother. His mother had left Cuba for Mexico after Fidel Castro came to power. He is the older brother of screenwriter-producer J....
signed on to develop and produce the project. In August 2010 Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
also joined as a producer, and the production became a TV series rather than a movie adaptation, with Josh Friedman
Josh Friedman
Josh Friedman is an American screenwriter best known as screenwriter of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and as the writer of the 2005 film adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds....
penning episodes for the show and acting as show-runner.
The TV series adaptation then landed at 20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
. The network greenlit a pilot, produced by Dreamworks TV and K.O. Paper Products through the latter's deal with 20th Century Fox TV.
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. The daughter of actors Lindsay and Barry Otto and the sister of actress Gracie Otto, she began acting at age eighteen, and has performed in a variety of independent and major studio films....
played Nina Locke, Sarah Bolger
Sarah Bolger
Sarah Lee Bolger is an Irish actress. She is known for her role as Princess / Lady Mary Tudor on The Tudors and for her role as Mallory Grace in The Spiderwick Chronicles.-Early life:...
was Kinsey Locke and Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
co-starred as Duncan Locke. Skylar Gaertner played 6-year old Bode, and Harrison Thomas played a teenager possessed by an evil spirit. Actor and singer Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney is an American singer-songwriter, actor and voice actor. McCartney achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama All My Children as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo musical career...
appeared as Ty Locke, the series' male lead and Ksenia Solo
Ksenia Solo
Ksenia Solo is a Latvian-born Canadian actress, best known for her roles as Tasha on Life Unexpected and as Kenzi on Lost Girl.- Career :...
was cast as Dodge.
Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek is an American filmmaker, whose directing work includes feature films, music videos and commercials.He wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 2002 film One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams...
directed the pilot episode, which was filmed at the mansion in Hartwood Acres and in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
Ellwood City is a borough in Beaver and Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Ellwood City is 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh and some 8 miles south by southeast of New Castle...
in February 2011. The pilot was also shot throughout Pittsburgh that same month. In May 2011, Fox announced that the project would not be picked up to series. The studio attempted to sell the project to other networks but eventually ceased efforts due to rising costs. However, the show has been eyed by MTV, though no official talks have been had, as of yet. The pilot was screened at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International.
External links
- Locke & Key section at Joe HillJoe Hill (writer)Joseph Hillstrom King , better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American author and comic book writer. He has published two novels—Heart Shaped Box and Horns—and a collection of short stories entitled 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the author of the graphic novel series Locke & Key...
's website - Gabriel Rodriquez's online gallery at DeviantArtDeviantArtdeviantART is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, Angelo Sotira and others. deviantArt, Inc...
- Locke & Key section at IDW PublishingIDW PublishingIDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
's website - Interview with Joe Hill about the series at NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
- Writer Joe Hill Talks to TFAW.com About Locke & Key From IDW