The comic "Locke & Key," which ended its monthly run in 2013, is part supernatural thriller, part puzzle box, and a heap of good old-fashioned horror. Series creators Joe Hill _ who just published the bestselling novel "The Fireman" _ and artist Gabriel Rodriguez are returning with a one-off comic, "Small World."
The first six books were centered on the Locke kids and their ancestral home, a winding New England manor containing hidden magical keys. They can unlock doors that lead to the heart's desire, turn people into ghosts and even drill into another person's mind. Naturally, as with all things magic, there are evil forces at work trying to harness the power from the keys. It's up to the children of the Locke family to solve each little mystery as it is revealed.
"Small World" goes back in time to tell a new story from one of the many keepers-of-the-keys in the Locke family, Mary Locke, who is one of Rodriguez's all-time favorite characters to draw.
We spoke with Hill (both over the phone and via email) and Rodriguez about returning to their spooky series. IDW will release "Small World" in December.
Q: Tell us about "Small World."
Joe Hill: I had written a couple stand-alone "Locke & Key" stories that had never been collected until the book. They were only released as individual comics. Both of those stories, "Open the Moon" and "Grindhouse," took place in the past. "Locke & Key" is the story of a haunted New England mansion full of enchanted keys that open different doors and activate different supernatural powers. The stories that I told, over the six books of "Locke & Key," take place in the present day. But there's 250 years of history there. The Locke family has looked after Keyhouse and its many enchanted keys, almost since the beginning of the nation. I always wanted to go back and tell some of those stories. And that's what I'm doing in "Small World." "Small World" is a return to the beginning of the 20th century and some of the stories that I've already told, set in that era.
Q: Who is the character on the front?
JH: She did not appear in any of the modern-day tales. She does appear in "Open the Moon" and in "Grindhouse." There are two boys and two girls living in the Locke house who are the children of Chamberlain Locke. And if I remember correctly and the one on the cover is Mary ... both the cover and the title were sort of a shout-out to a novel by Tabitha King called "Small World." (Tabitha King is Hill's mother; his father is Stephen King.)
Q: And there's a new key on the cover. Can you tell us what that key unlocks?
JH: I don't know if we're going to call it the Small World Key or the Doll House Key. But it is a key which brings to life an incredible doll house.
Q: What story did you want to tell in "Small World" that you didn't get to tell in "Locke & Key?"
JH: The penultimate book in the original "Locke & Key" series, "Clockworks," hints at all the other dramas that have taken place in Keyhouse. There's a lot of blood soaked in those old floorboards. I'm a frustrated historical writer. I love to think about what it was like to be alive in other eras, but historicals are threatening: There are so many ways to screw them up. Exploring the American past in the context of "Locke & Key" feels much more doable.
Q: The comic is bloody. Will there be blood in the planned TV adaptation? If yes, how much?
JH: Well. It's a horror show. The color red goes with the territory. More importantly, it'll have characters you can root for and love and identify with, which is something other horror shows sometimes lack.
Q: The audio book for "Locke & Key" had great voice talent involved _ Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew and Haley Joel Osment. Have any of them expressed interest in working on the new TV series?
JH: We haven't reached the point of casting yet, but when we get there, I've got a part for Kate Mulgrew, if she wants to deal herself in.
Q: What was it like returning to "Locke & Key?"
Gabriel Rodriguez: Did we ever leave "Locke & Key?" Since we've finished the series, we've been still, from time to time, discussing ideas, planning a couple stories we want to do whenever possible, etc. Plus, the fact that I've been working in the design of the Master Edition volumes of "Locke & Key," I feel it has always been around me, if you consider that it was something I devoted almost the entirety of my life to during a six-year productive marathon. Certainly there is an interesting challenge in returning to draw new story pages for the comic, and I'm really happy that I had the chance to polish my drawing and storytelling skills in other projects before returning to hang out with the Lockes, so it could be great to finally find out how that plays out. But I can't imagine how it's going to be for our devoted readers to return to new stories in the "Locke & Key" universe, and their reactions are something I'm both nervous and excited about.
Q: The new key unlocks a smaller world. How do you illustrate a character in a smaller world when they're already in it?
GR: The magic in "Locke & Key" has always had a weird twist about the way it works, and this is NO exception ... I can't explain too much about the "Small World" key without spoilers, but I think it's safe to say it will bring both wonder and horror in a new scale we have never witnessed before, being also probably the magic key most tightly related to Keyhouse itself. So, visually, I think it's one of the most challenging issues I'll ever have to draw. Hope to be up to the task; wait and see for yourselves.
Q: There's a lot of blood in "Locke & Key." What's the key to making something horrific visually but not grotesque?
GR: When facing violence and horror/gore in the story, what we have tried are basically two things: One, be respectful about the treatment of the characters. Even with freaky situations, not making the characters feel like plot points or triggers but trying to give them depth and identity even if they appear in a few panels. And second, trying ALWAYS to develop the idea that violence has consequences you can't take for granted. In both the characters and development of events, blood and violence have a deep, noticeable impact.
