Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft #1 (Special Edition)

June 14, 2011

Title: Welcome to Lovecraft & Freddy Wertham Goes to Hell

Writer: Joe Hill
Art: Gabriel Rodriguez, Seth Fisher, Langdon Foss
Colorist: Jay Fotos & Langdon Foss
Letterer: Robbie Robbins
Cover: Gabriel Rodriguez
Editor: Chris Ryall               
Publisher: IDW Publishing

I picked up this special mistakenly thinking it was the first volume of the Locke and Key series. Instead, it turns out to be the first issue, the script for the same issue, and a new back-up story. Not quite what I wanted, but it was my mistake, so I won’t fault the publisher for that.

Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft #1 focuses on the three Locke siblings. After a family tragedy, they’re forced to relocate cross the country to the family’s ancestral home, the Keyhouse. It soon becomes clear that the Keyhouse is much more than just an old mansion, and the Locke siblings are more than just ordinary kids. Joe Hill has clearly built up a very big, expansive mythology in this series, and even in this first issue, you get the impression that the scope of the series is much larger than is readily apparent. Gabriel Rodriguez steps up to deliver some great artwork, depicting the tragic origin in a way that’s tasteful, but still horrifying.

The back-up story is a nice homage to the old Tales From the Crypt series, with the infamous Dr. Frederick Wertham himself being exposed to three people whose lives were ruined following his crusade against comics. The story isn’t bad, and actually less of an all-out attack on Wertham than you might think. The real draw here is that the story contains the final work of artist Seth Fisher, who died tragically before the tale was complete. Langdon Foss finishes the story in as close an approximation of Fisher’s style is possible, and the story serves better as a tribute to Fisher than an indictment of Wertham.

I’ve really got to find the actual trade paperback of Welcome to Lovecraft, because this first issue is great.

Rating: 9/10

Hard Time #2

February 28, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Big House

Ethan Harrow begins his 50-to-life sentence… and prison life will live up to the name of this series.

Writer: Steve Gerber
Art: Brian Hurtt
Colors: Brian Haberlin
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Joan Hilty
Cover Art: Tomer Hanuka
Publisher: DC Focus

In our first issue Ethan Harrow was given 50 to life in the state pen for a murder he didn’t, technically, commit. Twice, however, a strange power erupted from his body with deadly results. Without knowing what this power is or, perhaps, without even knowing it exists, Ethan prepares to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The superpowered aspect of this title does come into play in this issue, but not until late. Most of the book is about Ethan’s life in prison, and that much is fairly standard stuff for a prison drama. We get the grizzled old con, the inmate who tries to give him advice, the whimpering newcomer and the nasty thugs who make rape a recreational activity when behind bars. It’s all done okay, but it’s all stuff we’ve seen before.

The artwork by Brian Hurtt is pretty good – each con has a distinctive look and each character can be told from all the others pretty easily. Artwise, though, the star of this issue has to be Brian Haberlin with the colors – he uses very few colors but he uses all of them to their best effect. Outside scenes are orange, prison scenes are blue, and scenes of anger, violence and power are all in shades of red. The art team on this book makes a rather run-of-the-mill script a lot better.

Steve Gerber has an interesting idea – the superpowered teenager in prison for the rest of his life – but I have serious doubts as to whether there is enough in this idea to sustain an ongoing series. Fans of the book, or of Gerber himself, will most certainly hope there is. For their sake, I hope he fills those promises.

Rating: 7/10

Ultimate Spider-Man #65

September 5, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Detention

Peter Parker and the gang are thrown into detention… what landed them there?

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: J.D. Smith
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Cover Art: Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel Comics

In the aftermath of Gwen Stacy’s death, Peter Parker and several of his classmates – both friends and enemies – have been tossed in detention. The reason they’re there and how they handle their punishment combine to make one of the best issues of Ultimate Spider-Man since the infamous Aunt May in therapy issue.

In truth, this is a, extremely fitting, effective memorial to Gwen. We see exactly how her death has impacted her classmates, both in the obvious ways (Peter), and the utterly unexpected ways (you’ll know it when you see it). What’s more, it becomes a launching pad to understand more about what makes some of the satellite characters tick – Flash Thompson and Kong each get some serious development in this issue. Bendis even works in a little action just at the end, and again, it’s not gratuitous action, but action that shows how Peter has been affected and changed by events of the last few issues.

Mark Bagley does a very good job with the artwork, especially since so much of the issue takes place in a tiny little detention all, with characters sitting in their desks and talking to each other. Each character has his or her own look, and there is a lot of real, genuine emotion in their faces. He even manages to play with the layout a bit so that each page isn’t just a standard, boring grid.

This is, in short, one of the best issues of Ultimate Spider-Man in a very long time. I’m very relieved to learn that the next several issues will be a series of one or two-issue stories, though – the longer arcs, frequently dragging on longer than the story demands – have hurt the book quite a bit since the 50th issue, perhaps even earlier. Bendis seems to be pulling back and getting a bit more into the character side of things, which is where he really shines. I hope he manages to keep it up.

Rating: 8/10