#CBR6 Review #08: Locke & Key, vol. 2: Head Games by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

This series keeps drawing me in with so many questions and little mysteries about all of the different characters, and if someone hadn’t already borrowed my sister’s copy, I would have kept on with the 3rd volume in this series immediately after finishing Head Games. There is something really refreshing about the familial mystery to be found in Locke & Key, with cleanly detailed artwork that just adds to the overall appeal.

This second volume, Head Games, picks up with the Locke family, and the eerie new friend of Tyler’s, Zach, who was previously in the form of the woman in their old well house. Zach is recognized at the high school by one of the old professors, who identifies him as an old student that had disappeared over twenty years earlier. Zach sees this information as threatening his plans, and decides to “deal with” anyone who seems to recognize him even in the slightest. He does this all while posing as the nephew of the high school gym teacher, who appears to have known Zach back when he went by Lucas, as was a student at the school herself.

Meanwhile, young Bode Locke at the Keyhouse estate continues to explore and discover new areas of the large house. At the end of the previous volume, Bode had found a key at the bottom of the pond on the estate, and works to figure out what the key’s purpose is. When he realizes it’s somewhat magical abilities, he rushes to show his family, and yet, his mother appears to not even notice what is going on. There are many instances where it is hinted that adults may not be able to see the magical properties of the world like children, which begs the question as to whether or not the Locke kids are going to have to deal with some kind of attack or threat from Zach on their own in the near future. With each discovery at Keyhouse, Zach appears to make new and evolving plans, though what exactly his endgame is, we don’t know at this point.

Overall, I’ve been finding Locke & Key to be very interesting so far, and it’s not afraid to be a little gruesome and dark at times (yet as of now, it hasn’t been too over-the-top, which is always good). I would highly recommend it to fans of the graphic-novel genre, particularly things that are a little mysterious, and I hope to read some more soon, as always.  

[Be sure to visit the Cannonball Read main site!]

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