The End Is Here in “Locke & Key: Alpha” #2 [Discussion Review]

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! We will be discussing today’s final issue and its details at great length. Do not read unless you have read the issue, lest thee be spoiled.

David: The end is nigh! The end is nigh!

Wait, the end is here (high?), as this week brought the finale of Locke & Key as a series with Alpha Part 2 from writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, as the team puts their main characters in their final resting places – so to speak – for now, and we’re given closure on a great many story lines. I’m sure we’re going to go all over the place, as both you and I love, love, love this series, but let’s start with this: how do you feel this issue was as a finale? Did it pull at your heartstrings? Did it make you weep openly as you played Pokemon Snap? Did it piss you off? How did you feel!

Matthew: In terms of initial gut reaction, I was confused. I didn’t know what to feel. This is technically our sixth “finale”, although this is the real one, so I’m so used to the little volume finales that … I don’t know how else to put it.

I can’t believe we got a happy ending. Of all the things I would’ve NEVER seen coming in this book, our heroes making it out alright in the end is something I would’ve never seen coming in a million years. I expected deaths and noble sacrifices all over the place.

So, yeah, a pretty emotional finale, gotta say, very unexpected and very impressive as to how many threads were pulled together. I’m still debating whether I love that it was a happy ending or resent it was a happy ending, but we’ll get to that I’m sure. How about yourself?

David: Well, to me, it had to be a happy ending. I mean, the only “villain” was gone, wasn’t he? That problem was solved, so the objective for this issue was tie up loose ends and leave us with a feeling that resembles closure. It’s not like all of a sudden Galactus was going to attack or something.

For me though, I thought it was a brilliant, heartfelt finale. Even though there were some things that frankly confused me – how exactly did Bode get a new body and come back? – the closure was exceptionally well done, and it emphasized the character growth the cast has went through over the span of this series. Tyler has a beard! That’s literal, physical growth!

It really felt like a book saying goodbye on its terms though, and it wasn’t necessary in terms of plot, just in character. As a reader who looks for character first storytelling, this really hit my sweet spot, especially with the ending and the recurring image of the well house that was so brilliantly depicted by Rodriguez.

This was what the story needed to be. It didn’t get cute. It didn’t get clever. It just did its thing. Hill and Rodriguez always told this story the way they wanted to and the way they needed to, and I think this final issue reflected that very well.

They were pretty thorough in their covering of bases here, but was there anything you were hoping they’d touch on that they didn’t? Because honestly, I got nothin’. They hit everything for me.

Matthew: No, it honestly touched on everything I would’ve wanted and more. Aside from which key Tyler used at the end there, obviously, but I think you and I both agree that that was done on purpose.

And you’re right — the evil was defeated. There was no boogeyman. But that wouldn’t necessarily save it from not having a happy ending, you know? I mean, Bode did die in Alpha #1; or rather, the Dodge infestation died and Bode was the casualty there. If we’d done something like this before the final issue, the furthest guess in my mind would be that Hill and Rodriguez would bring things from ultimate unhappiness and ruin to a place where the families could move on with full closure.

I know you’ve not read his prose, but while I won’t mention any of his novels by name, other books by Hill have left their heroes in very dark places even after victory, so to say. I guess I had almost expected Hill to do something similar with the Locke family, which is certainly a folly of me projecting there.

So, I’m very happy that the Lockes made it out on the other side of the final battle relatively clean. I guess I just half-expected some final catch or twist, which we almost had when Tyler confronted Dodge at the Well for the last time — which, by the way, was an absolutely brilliant scene.

David: Man, I loved that Tyler released Dodge. That was such a great moment that I hadn’t even conceived in my mind. It was a loose plot thread that wasn’t even in my mind, but when they covered it, it crushed me. So great.

I have to ask: looking through the prism of this final issue, would you say this series ultimately was about Tyler’s journey?

Matthew: I think so, and it was a story about growing up and entering into adulthood. I think the relationship between Tyler and his father was pretty much the main aspect of the series, because in the end that’s what it came back to. I mean, that’s what it always came back to; it opened with the death of his father and his immediate reaction that and a large chunk of the first volume was about Tyler more than the others.

That and, the mirroring of the shot of Tyler at the funeral home echoing the shot of Tyler at the funeral here is pretty much the nail in the coffin about this being Tyler’s journey from a more impetuous youth into someone who is responsible for his family.

But, if we were to open it up to be a bit more broad than that, I think Locke and Key was always a story about family. The final speech between father and son is arguably the most important dialogue in the entire series, if you ask me, because while it was a FANTASTIC horror book, all of the emotional impact in this book came because of how the Locke’s came together in the end. Through all of the drama and all of the terror, they managed to pick up all the pieces in the end and be a family again, and I think Rendell and Tyler’s reconciliation at the end was an extremely relatable moment that we all get to in our lives once we grow up.

David: Couldn’t agree with you more. This was undoubtedly a book about family, and even beyond that, the people who become your family outside of blood. I mean, by the end, Rufus becomes part of the Locke clan and you could make a pretty good argument that Jamal was too due to the extreme things they went through together. The funeral for Scot and Jackie was a very heartbreaking moment, especially when you factor in their deaths in the previous issue and how well done that was, and it shows the bond those two had with Jamal and Kinsey.

But I think you’re right on with Tyler being a bigger emphasis. I had the strange experience of reading the first issue to Keys to the Kingdom first, so my first experience was a Bode-centric story, and he was always the first and foremost character I rooted for from then on. Ultimately though, everyone went through significant character arcs throughout, and it speaks volumes as to the skill and craft Hill and Rodriguez brought to this book that we were given such fulfilling stories for even characters like Rufus and Jordan Gates.

Speaking of which, how fantastic was Gabriel Rodriguez in this issue?

Matthew: I’ll be honest: I really like Joe Hill’s writing. Like, a lot a lot. I’m a fan of his novels, I’ll read anything he writes.

This series would not be what it is without Gabriel Rodriguez. Joe Hill wrote a great comic, Rodriguez made it perfect in my mind.

There are so many moments in this issue that could’ve been big slip-ups in terms of pay-off, but man, Rodriguez just NAILS it! The call-backs to the first issue, the pacing at the end, the focus on the character work and even the small bit of decompression that he employs. Hill’s always been a rather cinematic writer in my mind, but Rodriguez is someone that truly knew how to bring such a grand scale to even the smallest of moments and scenes, and this issue just proves it. And he packs them so full of minute details (just look at all the characters in the funeral scenes) and … man. Rodriguez is my favorite part of this series.

Granted, I could point to, like, a zillion moments from previous issues and illustrate why, but yeah, what a way to send things off. I don’t want to get all tumblr on you, David, but Rodriguez knows how to get all the feels.

David: Hey, if you want to do a highlight reel here, do it!

But yeah, I think once again, the last four or so pages with the repeated shots of the well house door are pretty much the most perfect artistic close to a series I can think of, save for the very last page of “Y the Last Man.” It’s so well done, and this issue is just filled with moments like that. The series is. This is a book that you could point at as evidence that artists are incredibly underrated in comics, if only because Rodriguez is a storyteller jus as much as Hill is. His work perfects and solidifies the character beats, with little looks and subtleties that make every moment all the more powerful.

I really feel that there are few pairings that have worked better than Hill and Rodriguez, and I liked that after the issue we were given a look at their adventure around the area Lovecraft was based off of.

Anything else you have to add about this before we get to grading?

Matthew: Yeah, I’d like to lob one criticism at the book, if I may.

I had the same problem with Alpha #1, but I think that Hill over-wrote the issue a bit. Hill has always been verbose, that’s not inherently new, but I feel like that there are a lot of scenes in this book that could’ve played just as well if they had less words. I didn’t like the expository villain explanation in Part 1, and there were definitely a few scenes in this issue that I think Hill could’ve let Rodriguez shine on his own. Kinsey and her mom come to mind, the confrontation with Dodge in the well as well; I kind of get why Hill put as many words as he did in there, but I feel like when we finally met the real Dodge, there was too much said in such a short place that it sort of took me out of the moment a bit.

I don’t know if you feel that way at all, but there were a couple “less is more” missed opportunities that slowed the issue down a bit for me.

David: I could agree with that for Alpha #1, but not this issue. I think that was handled pretty well here.

My only complaint is I still have no idea how exactly Bode got a new body, but my happiness over it happening overwhelms my need for an explanation.

Last thing I want to ask you before we grade is this, Matt. There was a quick discussion between Dodge and Tyler before Dodge was turned back to normal that Tyler was going to get more Whispering Iron. What do you think he does with the keys from there?

Matthew: Well, I would imagine that at least some of what he wanted was to get a key to bring Bode back somehow… but I would imagine that he would probably pass it down to the next generation of Lockes.

Outside of all the imminent danger and deadly shadows and whatnot, I think it is undeniable that the Locke kids had a lot of fun with those keys. I mean, there were a lot of fun and happy moments in this series, all these cool little scenes where they used different keys for weird different adventures. Same could be said for their father’s generation, even though that led to trouble; there is some form of happiness to be found from this magic, even if there is corruption there as well. But… that’s life, right? Life with magic, but, y’know, metaphors and all that.

If the Clockworks arc showed us anything, it’s that these keys go down throughout the ages of this house and this family, so yeah, rebuild, start a new family, pass them down. That’s my headcanon!

David: I like it! That makes a lot of sense, and some of those random family stories of ye olde Locke family were amongst my favorite L&K comics. I can support that.

For me, I’m going to give this a 9.0. It’s a great comic that ends Hill and Rodriguez’s tale in a breathtakingly happy way, filled with moments that will genuinely make fans eyes well up. But man, slight downgrade for the unclear way they brought Bode back. I love that he’s back, but I wish I understood that. (David Edit: As pointed out in the comments, it was the Animal Key, but to me it was still a bit unclear)

I do suck at reading though.

What would you give it?

Matthew: I think 9.0 is absolutely fair, with my slight downgrade being given due to some excess exposition. A nice, solid 9.0 feels very right, as well as a promise to shove all six volumes down the throat of everyone I ever meet in the future who has for whatever stupid reason not yet read this rather brilliant series.