Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom
Ratings111
Average rating4.3
4.5 stars
The action is still present in this one as well. We also get some action without dialogue which I actually enjoyed. I feel like if the dialogue was included in those parts it was have been to much and it would have made the book drag for me. There are some things that happened in this one that made me feel like I missed something in the previous book but I didn't it was just a big jump from what happened between book 3 and this one. I feel like there should have been more dialogue in those instances. The graphics in this one are a lot more gory which I personally don't mind. Also there is a little humor thrown in which I really enjoyed as well.
Another day, another volume! This one started off on a bit of a misstep for me, but the ending was the strongest issue yet. Needless to say, I'm still hooked!
And here we have the epic nod to Bill Watterson with the single issue called Sparrow. Rodriguez is pitch perfect in his drawing and Joe Hill even gets in on the action having Bode adopt more of the effusive language typical of Calvin. I love that the comic medium allows for this leeway and tangential diversion. Even better is that this seemingly random diversion is still brought back around in the final volume. Hill and Rodriguez are hitting their stride and showing a high degree of confidence in what they're doing here. There's a lot of moving pieces across the board in preparation for the climax and the volume ends with a violent bang. One hell of a cliff-hanger.
This one seemed to have a lot more violence, but a lot of secrets were revealed!
Story
This book has Nazi Dinosaurs. Need I really say anything else? Of course we got more keys, each one unique and interesting. Things really escalate in this book and it was hard for me to stop here for the night. I can only image people who had to stop and wait for the next issue.
I also really like how they did each day of February in a single panel or two. That was a particularly good issue.
Artwork
While I appreciate the nod to Calvin and Hobbs, it went on far too long. I really like Mr. Rodriguez's style, but I was annoyed for the entire first issue when he kept swapping back to that art style. It would have been fine if it was a single page like the comic book cover he does for Bode and Rufus.
This isn't holding my interest anymore. I guess I'm at the stage of the overall story where the scene is being set of how the keys are harming their lives but the story should be moving along. Maybe it's just me though: I read the first three whilst travelling so I don't have to like the story as much for it to hold my interest
Just when things start to look up for the Locke kids....
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