Locke n’ Roll
(Yes, yes, I know. That’s a wretched pun. What can I say, I’m all out of clever titles for Locke & Key related posts. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel and I admit it, okay? Can we just move on now?)
A bunch of Locke & Key related items have piled up, and I figured I’d throw the whole bucket of ‘em into one big post. First, revel in the unadaulterated Bode-ness of Gabe’s alternate cover for issue 3:
Issue 3 will be out in early February, and includes an extended preview of the new novel, HORNS.
There were a couple nice things for me under the Christmas tree this year, but my favorite present came from Skeleton Crew Studios:
Does it work? Wouldn’t you like to know.
Israel also finally spilled the truth on another subject: the ghost door is a real and actual door and can be found in my new office. It was handcrafted out of Awesome, and carefully painted in shades of Morbid and Grim. The ghost door was not a Christmas gift, but a birthday present; I’ve been meaning to blog about this since last summer but never got around to it. At some point here (oh yeah, suuuure…) I’ll tell the whole story of how the door came to be and post some photos, but Izzy already has a few pictures up on his site if you don’t want to wait.
Finally, there’s been a gush of further love for Locke & Key in the last couple weeks. Kind things were said on Major Spoilers and Ain’t It Cool News (scroll down). Locke & Key was also on Comic Book Resource’s list of the best comics of 2009 (at #34), while the Comic Book Club picked Locke & Key as their 3rd favorite comic of 2009. The Totally Rad Show took a look at Locke & Key as a whole, beginning with the very first trade, and running right through to the current issues, and said some really embarrassingly generous things about the series. (If you follow the Totally Rad Show link, look for the Locke & Key clip around minute 41).
I’ve got a lot to post about just now, so I figure to be a little more active here on the blog in the coming weeks. Yeah, yeah, try to contain your excitement. Hope everyone had a great holiday.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Joe-
Speaking of HORNS, date in February, if you please. I am really anticipating this, if not particularly for how it should heat up this damn winter chill. This is the best time of year for a finger-burning book as yours.
I hope 2010 holds huge successes for you!
John Liptow
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Joe, I recently bought the first two volumes of Locke and Key after hearing the guys on Totally Rad Show (my favorite podcast) rave about it. I can honestly say that it’s instantly become one of my favorite series. Looking forward to reading more of your work!
Jon Tilton
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Happy new year! I hope you and your family are doing well.
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Wicked door and keys. When we going to get a “top picks” list from your preoccupied azz.lol.
Best to you and yours.
M&M-mostly M
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Awesome cover!!! It’s fun when you just know it’s going to get better and better.
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Speaking of everyone having a great holiday…I thought my brother was going to have a heart attack when he got that movie ‘The Mist’ from me.
He liked it so much, he watched it while everyone was still together.
I didn’t like it. That Carmody woman never shut up with her rants of God and the Apocalypse. I started wondering why the rest of ‘em didn’t just find some duct tape and put it over her mouth. Or, better yet, shove her out into the mist.
I hate when people never shut up about something stupid. And SHE didn’t even shut up after someone hit her in the head with a can of peas.
I still have to get L&K Welcome to Lovecraft, and I have to do it the “old-fashioned” way. Using the store instead of online b/c of all the nonsense surrounding getting my identity stolen.
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Vicki…I gotta say…you crack me up!
Congrats on all the love J & G! Very anxiously awaiting the next L&K and HORNS! Love the variant cover…I’m guessing that Bode’s alter-ego is Peter Pan? Perfect! I’m so glad I get first dibs on it at my LCBS (they only get one and they save it just for moi!). And that head key is gorgeous! Hope Mr. Skelton will be making some for the great unwashed as well. Now I’m off to check out the links.
(P.S. How ’bout “Locke & Load”?)
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Sorry, but I just had to come back and say your ghost door is gorgeous! And that I’d also love to have an anywhere key!
(“Locke & See”?)
January 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Pretty good of Israel Skelton! Pretty cool indeed! Those photographs made me chuckle, too.
I hope that key does open the door that your wife purchased you, Joe.
I take this opportunity to wish EVERY one here a Happy New Year.
January 2nd, 2010 at 11:02 pm
I just viewed your ghost door at Izzy’s site. Wowww!! Made of way awesome that is for sure! Painted of “morbid and greif?”, what may loom inside? I would hate to break the key in that lock, lest we not be able to see all that hellfire and brimstone inside yet to come,huh? I thought the reviews by Spoilers Steve Sleicher and Aint it cool’s “the pull list” by Humphrey Lee were alright, they surely read alot of comic bookery and gave a broad outline of it’s obviously deviant theme. Mebee they haven’t predicted the end of it all as they might believe they have? Comic book club, on the other hand showed me with their body movement and conversation that they are truly intrigued by the whole concept. They’d a sold me had I not already a foot in the doorjam. Didn’t get to see Totally Rad show(yet) I ran out of patience waiting for adobe. Figger it out later.
Thinking of Gabe’s advice on making great art, being “Always make your next piece your best piece”, I finished and have copyrighted a cool piece. In my quest to push on for better, I’m learning about licensing. Now I will need 3 more pieces relating to it, then put the collection before the “powers that be” and hope they will want to use it. My nephew just won $1 million scratch ticket..I should be jealous, strangely I am not. His Dad (my bro. in law) passed away only last Sept. Ironically, I’d posted my final comment at his funeral site to say ” Paul, who always looked a million! ” Hope the neph’s do well with the $. It will be interesting and comical to see who will be bending over for a good kick of cash in the crapper.
Locke On Joe!
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:24 am
Joe,
I also heard about Locke & Key after it was raved about on the Totally Rad Show and ordered Welcome to Lovecraft and Head Games a few days later. I was not disappointed! I’ve already burned through them and am looking forward to checking out the rest of the series. Congrats on all the accolades, you and Gabriel deserve them.
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:51 am
hey,
NOT RELATED to L&K… I love them, but the few comics I bought got too expensive to keep up with…
My question, will Horns be released on Amazon’s Kindle Store? I got one for Christmas, and for the most part, love the cheaper costs…
Thanks,
Chris
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the kind words. I really have to thank Joe and Gabe for creating an awesome world filled with so many wonderfully curious items. I’m a comic geek first and a sculptor second, and like a lot of people, Locke & Key is at the top of my “favorite comics” list. It just makes it that much easier to fabricate something I already think is way cool. That being said, I gotta get cracking on that Echo Key for my collection.
Also, I did want to take this opportunity to thank Mike St. Germain and Peter Gill. Not only two great guys, but without their help the Ghost Door would probably just be getting finished now.
Thanks again everyone, and Joe, thanks for giving me a shot.
Israel
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:10 am
Joe
Will IDW be selling any of The Head Key’s signed by your good self as they did with the Ghost Key?
Israel’s handiwork is amazing you really do have such a group of talented people to work with.
Tony
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 am
Ok, I LOVE the door, it’s beautiful!
The new key, have to have one!
The issues with running out of witty openings…
Locke and Rock
Locke and Drop
Locke and File
Locke and Chain
Caught between a Locke and a hard place
Locke and Copy
Locke and Keep
Locke and Keel
Pop, Locke and Drop It
Hope one of those helps
January 3rd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
LOL! Too funny Nerak!
Mr. Skelton…your work is beautiful and I do hope you will consider making all the keys available for us die-hards!
And Joe? The next step is T-shirts!! After that…action figures!
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:03 pm
BTW…I’m totally serious (in case anyone thought I wasn’t). I want an L&K tee!
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 pm
In the spirit of a firefighter, which I’m trained to do, I would add one more to Nerak’s list of punny titles (you can tell I lived with a major punster too long.)
My addition for a witty opening:
Lock, drop and roll with the Key.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
HE HE I was going to do that one, Vicki, but it seemed to obvious!
And I want a t-shirt too!!!
January 4th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Not sure of the best place to put this, but thought you might be interested in a critique/analysis of the L&K, WtL #2 cover I just put out on my art analysis blog:
http://www.scottmcd.net/artanalysis/?p=386
Hope you have a good new year. I’ve been enjoying the series for several months now and look forward to more.
January 4th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Joe could conquer the fashion market.. A pair of shorts with a “lock” design by Gabe on back pocket, like a tattoo!
Then you’ll have a” Lock on your keyster”..
( I wont even start in about key-strings and plumbers keyvage..)
January 6th, 2010 at 1:53 am
Both the door and the key are beautiful, Israel!
Joe, kudos to your wife for such a great present.
Joe and Gabriel, congrats on all the positive reviews and publicity. Of course, to your loyal readers, it all comes as no surprise.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to the next issue. By the way, do you have any readers from Malaysia (if you know)?
Your #1 fan from Malaysia!!!
January 7th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Joe- I haven’t been so good at keeping up with your blog of late but I have to say, when I came here today, scrolled down, and saw the Head Key…I gasped out loud. And then again when I read that you have a ghost door with a working key!!
(Love that it’s made of Awesome and painted in Morbid and Grim shades.) Even your blogs are a descriptive pleasure to read.
But seeing that door……ooooohhhh. So gorgeous. And how wonderful is your wife to commission that for you??
Israel- you are an amazing craftsman and artist. I’ll admit it, I’m insanely jealous. Any chance of that door showing up in the aisles of Home Depot any time soon?
I will keep hoping the Head Key will become available to buy…even if I never have a ghost door. :p
January 7th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
I know my friend’s going to like this comic and comic team. He made a video on You Tube talking about how he didn’t like those stick drawings in online comics. He reads a free online comic by Warren Ellis. He got himself a tote bag that has something to do with the comic. He mentioned that Warren Ellis is one of the best comic writers and that the artist draws real pictures; he referred to the drawings as “good art not those stick figures.”
Wait ’til he sees your writing and Gabriel’s awesome drawings. He isn’t going to be able to say no. I’m going to use the knowledge to try to get him interested enough to buy the second and third issues of L&K after Welcome To Lovecraft. I’m sending him that one for free–gratis to him anyway.