SURPRISE! One of my all time favorite comics Locke & Key is getting a Netflix series. I know, not much of a surprise at all. The adaptation came from a comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez and published by IDW Publishing starting in 2008 and the main story ending in 2013. In addition there were additional miniseries and one shots. Interestingly, the first issue was said to have sold out the first printing in a single day.
One of my favorite things about the comic, besides the story, is the design of each comic. They each feature a different key in the logo area. Very smart and beautiful design. I am quite curious if they will do this in the TV series for Netflix. At the very end, I will place a small description of some of the keys, but first let’s talk about the plot.
Locke & Key tells a gripping story of dark fantasy and wonder that, like the doors of Keyhouse, will transform all who open it. The main story follows 3 siblings who, after the murder of their father, move to their ancestral home only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. The house is an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them… and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all.
From what I saw of the TRAILER, it seems they are not straying too far from the comic’s description above and a lot of the scenes look right out of the comic itself. And if the trailer interests you, check out the FIRST OFFICIAL SCENE.
Looking at the comments made online from people who have already had a glimpse at the trailer and/or first episode screening from Comic Con, they haven’t really said anything that great about it. Mostly people are saying they’ve seen these kinds of things before in TV series, but for those of us who have read the comic series, we know there is more greatness and surprises to come!
Making it to screen, Locke & Key has had a long and complicated journey. IDW published the first issue of the comic back in 2008, and Fox tried making a pilot (with Miranda Otto as Nina and Jesse McCartney as Tyler) back in 2010. It didn’t sell, and the show was redeveloped at Hulu, before eventually landing at Netflix with a mostly new cast. I can tell you, I am very happy to hear about the adaptation with Netflix. They have done such a great job with weird creepy shows such as Stranger Things and Hemlock Grove. I know they will do their best with this amazing story.
Who has read the series? Who will watch the show? Which is your favorite key? What comic series would you like to see get a TV series? Let us know in the comments below and we will catch you next time, same Nerd time, same Nerd channel.
THE KEYS:
In the universe of Locke & Key, there are many keys created from whispering iron that have different magical properties. Some of them are extensively featured in the series, while others are featured very briefly. Some of the keys that play important roles in the plot arc are:
- Omega Key: Opens the lock on the demonic door. The first key created.
- Echo Key: Allows entry to the Keyhouse well house, and with the Echo Key in hand, allows a person to return a spirit from the dead to the world of the living. Leaving through the well house door, however, banishes the spirit back to wherever it came from.
- Anywhere Key: Opens a door to anywhere the bearer can visualize in their mind.
- Gender Key: Opens a door that swaps the user’s biological gender (males transform to females, females transform to males).
- Ghost Key: When used in the right door in Keyhouse, it separates the soul of whomever travels through the door from their body. Their body crumples dead, while their ghost is free to roam the Keyhouse grounds. Ghost souls can inhabit any other bodies nearby, and clash with other ghosts.
- Head Key: Inserted into the base of someone’s head, it allows one to peer inside the mind of a person, where memories and mental concepts (even “sanity” itself) are represented as tiny beings. The memories can be removed, and even swapped between people. Books inserted into a head with the Head Key transfer their contents to the bearer of the key, though in such a situation the knowledge of the text is accurate but superficial.
- Shadow Key: Allows its wearer to control shadow creatures, and even the shadows of other people, which are themselves capable of interacting with the material world (often violently). Embedded in a crown, it is a tremendous source of power for whomever is wearing it, though the shadows can themselves be rendered immaterial by bright light.
- Giant Key: This physically large key, once inserted into a keyhole-shaped window in Keyhouse, transforms the bearer into a massive giant.
- Mending Key: Opens a magical cabinet in Keyhouse into which a broken object can be placed (the cabinet can resize itself to the size of the object). Once the object is locked inside the cabinet, it is repaired. While it can heal even severely wounded people, it cannot apparently resurrect the dead.
- Skin Key: A key with a gazing mirror on its handle, it can change the race of whomever is using it.
- Music Box Key: Inserted into a magical music box, it will cause the music box to play a song that compels whomever is listening to it to obey its lyrics. Whoever turns the key can supply the command to be carried out by the listener. Commands are carried out so long as the music is playing and the listener can hear it.
- Jester Key: Opens a magical cabinet in Keyhouse that contains a number of other artifacts and keys.
- Angel Key: Inserted into a harness with large feathered wings, it grants a person the power of winged flight.
- Hercules Key: Embedded in a necklace, it grants the bearer considerable additional strength and bulk.
- Animal Key: Used on the right door in Keyhouse, it allows anyone who travels through the door to transform into an animal. (It is unclear whether they have choice in the matter; it appears that they are assigned the animal by the key, according to some sort of spiritual affinity.) An animal with a human soul that travels back through the door (from outside to inside) turns into the human whose soul is in the animal, apparently.
- Timeshift Key: Operates a grandfather clock that allows a user to observe (but not interact with) past events. However the clock is limited to a specific time period. The earliest date one can visit is January 13, 1775 & the latest date is December 31, 1999.
- Alpha Key: Removes demons from possessed people; inserts into their chests. Because it turns the demons instantly into whispering iron while it is still inside the host, it is fatal.
- Philosophoscope Key: Gives access to a device that provides viewing access to various people and places.
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