Locke & Key Free Comic Book Day Edition 2011

June 1, 2011 

Writer: Joe Hill
Art: Gabriel Rodriguez
Colorist: Jay Fotos
Letterer: Robbie Robbins
Cover: Gabriel Rodriguez
Editor: Chris Ryall               
Publisher: IDW Publishing

Locke & Key is one of those comics I’ve wanted to sample for a long time, but I’ve never quite gotten around to it. Thank goodness for Free Comic Book Day, right? This free issue gives us a quick summary of the book’s premise – a family living in a house full of incredible keys, each of which opens a door to something different, bizarre, and somewhat disturbing. In this issue (which apparently is reprinted from the third volume of the trade paperback collections), a killer named Dodge finds an artifact that gives him power over shadow, which he uses to help aid in his quest to find the key that unlocks the Black Door, possibly the most powerful of all the doors in Keyhouse. The Locke family, which has taken up residence in the house to act as its defenders, is forced to stand against Dodge, and in one case, does so rather spectacularly. It seemed odd to me that IDW would choose an issue from the third book as their free giveaway instead of the opening chapter, but their gamble really did pay off. The text page at the beginning of the book gave me everything I needed to know, and the confrontation we see in this issue is taut and exciting. We quickly get a feeling for the characters and the rules of this universe, and what I imagine is the flavor of the series as a whole. I really loved this special, and I’m more interested than ever in picking up the trade paperbacks of this series.

Rating: 8/10

Doom Patrol (2004 Series) #18

November 29, 2005

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Convergence Conclusion

Is this the end of the Doom Patrol?

Writer: John Byrne
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Doug Hazlewood
Colors: Alex Bleyaert
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Carlin
Cover Art: John Byrne
Publisher: DC Comics

The newest incarnation of the Doom Patrol comes to a fairly anticlimactic end. Frankly, I’ve felt the whole experiment was doomed from the start – not because John Byrne doesn’t still have talent given the right project, but because he alienated virtually every Doom Patrol fan on the planet by ignoring every previous incarnation and starting over from the ground-up. In this issue, as Elasti-Girl’s power leaves her close to death and the bizarre mingling of Negative Man and Vortex wreaks havoc, special guest star Metamorpho faces off against an intruder in Doom Patrol headquarters.

In and of itself, there’s really nothing wrong with this issue (except for DC’s continued lack of a “Previously” page to clue in new readers – but then, final issues don’t get a lot of those, do they?). It’s a perfectly adequate superhero story, and Byrne is still one of the best pure superhero artists in the business. It just suffered from the same problems this title has had since day one – the longtime fans feel snubbed and the characters aren’t unique or interesting enough to garner a lot of new readers.

Byrne’s skills absolutely still have a place in comics – his Blood of the Demon is quite good – but this book isn’t a fit. Chances are it will be forgotten as a part of DC continuity as completely as Byrne himself forgot the Doom Patrol incarnations of the past.

Rating: 6/10

Avengers: The Initiative #4

July 16, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Green Zone (A World War Hulk tie-in)
Rating: T+

When the Hulk invades, can the Initiative kids just stand by and watch?

Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Stefano Caselli
Colors: Daniele Rudoni
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Jim Cheung
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As Hardball carries out his top-secret assignment, Justice takes Cloud 9 on a trip to find some peace. What they find instead is something terrifying – but before they have time to deal with it they’ve got to move. The Hulk has invaded New York.

This is the kind of crossover issue that works for me. It advances many of the ongoing storylines of this title, but still fits perfectly within the framework of the World War Hulk storyline. Watching the Initiative recruits stuck on crowd control really helps demonstrate each of their personalities. It’s also nice to see Rage point out that, um, yeah, he actually was an Avenger. He may be young, but he’s not exactly a rookie. Some of the others who haven’t gotten much of a spotlight get a little more play here, and we’re given a missing piece to the Hulk/Iron Man fight from World War Hulk #1.

This issue seems to hover in time between the first and second issues of the main crossover, making me wonder when the next issue will come out and fill in some of these blanks (it’s this week, right?). Regardless of that, this is a strong issue that has significance both for this title and for the overall crossover, and it’s well worth reading.

Rating: 8/10