Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
The shadows are drawing in and the darkness has claimed yet more lives in the small American town of Lovecraft, the reckoning is yet to happen and it will take an strength that is far beyond the years of the two older Locke children in which to save humanity from a force that will destroy or enslave them forever. Such is the delicious darkness that lives within the final graphic novel by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez in the Locke and Key series that Alpha & Omega could well be the finest finish to a the finest set of graphic novels ever created.
The truth of something that must be considered great, perhaps epic, certainly the blockbuster of all classics is the way it not only captures the imagination, not just the way it inspires you to search out for more but in the way it seeps into your soul. That point where the overwhelming power of words, music and art is such that you cannot but help fall into the arms of someone and let go of all emotion, to open the flood of tears that inevitably fall. For some it’s the first ever record they heard, the most awesome piece of creative work placed on a heavy duty canvas with a brush stroke seemingly added by a frustrated angel with some time on its hands or even the realisation that a television programme such as Lost has been leading you down to the point where your belief is questioned, whichever it is, tears will fall.
The idea perhaps that is belief should not be discounted when it comes to Locke & Key, a belief that should be further nurtured at all costs because faith in something, anything, is crucial if you are ever to survive in life. Belief is the absolute key when it comes to this final part of this intriguing, enthralling and utterly most beautiful of stories. For writer Joe Hill, this is perhaps arguably his The Stand moment, a moment of absolute genius and clarity that to sit back after reading it and ever think you can do better is as ridiculous as teaching an ant how to cook perfect eggs. For Gabriel Rodriguez, each character is so well drawn that they come alive in your hands. Whether it the sight of Bode Locke as an exasperated spirit, Nina Locke being forced into getting drunk after 30 days being sober or the noble suicide of Jordan as she seeks redemption from her own troubled past, there is not one chink of weakness, no one solitary waft of limitation or discouraging fault to be found.
Perfect partnerships are rare, there may be the odd pulse of the seamless collaborations but in many ways you can see where the join begins, where one of the connections is more dominant that the other, in the Locke & Key series, the join is so fine that it would take a hundred lifetimes to find it.
If any other writing/artist partnership ever manages to ever emulate Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s contribution to the world of the graphic novel then they will deserve life time membership to a very elite group. That though is doubtful as how often have you ever read something that you want to read over and over again. Locke & Key might be the first set of books that actually has that effect on your bookcase and your soul.
Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall