Locke & Key

Locke & Key
Cover of Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft 1 (February 2008). Art by Gabriel Rodriguez.
Publication information
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Schedule	Monthly
Title(s)	Welcome to Lovecraft Head Games Crown of Shadows Keys to the Kingdom Clockworks Omega
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a set of limited series.
Genre	Horror
Publication date	Welcome to Lovecraft February–July 2008 Head Games January–June 2009 Crown of Shadows November 2009 – April 2010 Keys to the Kingdom August 2010 – March 2011 Clockworks June 2011 – April 2012 Omega November 2012 – December 2013
Number of issues	6 per miniseries (7 in Omega), plus three one-shots: The Guide to Known Keys, Grindhouse, and "Small World"
Creative team
Writer(s)	Joe Hill
Artist(s)	Gabriel Rodríguez
Letterer(s)	Robbie Robbins
Colorist(s)	Jay Fotos
Editor(s)	Chris Ryall
Reprints
Collected editions
Welcome to Lovecraft	ISBN
Head Games	ISBN
Crown of Shadows	ISBN

Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez and published by IDW Publishing.

This plot is presented in chronological order. During the American Revolution, a group of Rebels, hiding beneath the future Keyhouse, discover a portal to another dimension, the plains of Leng filled with demons which can mesmerize any who see them and possess through touch. However, when the demons attempt to enter the real world, they collapse into lumps of "whispering iron", which young smith Benjamin Locke forges into a variety of magical keys, including the Omega Key, which seals the entrance to the dimension. The magic of the Keyhouse gradually evolves over the years, including a spell which causes occupants to forget about the keys and the magic of the house when they pass their 18th birthday. In 1988, a group of teenagers, having used the keys extensively in their high school years to their great delight, decide to open the black door with the Omega Key, hoping to trick a demon into entering the real world in order to provide more metal with which to make more keys. However, Rendell Locke's younger brother follows the group and is mesmerized by the door. Attempting to walk through it, he is stopped by Dodge, who accidentally puts his hand through the door, becoming possessed. After plotting to kill his friends and enslave the others at the behest of the Child of Leng possessing him, Rendell kills Dodge, trapping his possessed soul in the well.

Many years later, Dodge's spirit reaches out to a young abused prodigy, Sam Lesser, and convinces him to attack the Lockes and kill Rendell, looking for the Omega Key, as well as the Anywhere Key, which is capable of freeing Dodge from the well. After the gruesome murder of their father, the Locke kids, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode move with their mother Nina across the country to Keyhouse and begin discovering its secrets. Sam escapes prison and follows the Lockes to Massachusetts. He attacks the family again at Keyhouse, at which time Dodge tricks Bode into bringing him the Anywhere Key. Dodge escapes from the well, kills Sam and returns to Lovecraft in the same body as he had thirty years before.

Dodge re-enters high school under the guise of a new student, intimidating his way into the home of one of Kinsey's teachers and Dodge's former friends. Over the next year, Dodge secretly tries to recover the various keys - in particular the Omega Key - from the children, collecting many though hindered by Tyler and Kinsey. Dodge is eventually discovered but manages to switch bodies and possess Bode before they can kill him. Now free to explore the house as Bode, Dodge finally finds the Omega Key and plans his takeover after-prom party in the caves. Releasing several demons, many of the students are killed. Dodge is ultimately undone by Tyler and Dodge's spirit is forced back into the well, though Bode's empty body is cremated before Bode's soul has a chance to return to it. In the epilogue, Tyler returns to the well to finally free Dodge's spirit from the demon, having used a sliver of whispering iron inherited from his father to forge an "Alpha Key" capable of undoing possession. Tyler is able to speak with his father one last time, and restore Bode's physical form.