Locke & Key: Dog Days is the fourth standalone issue, and the forty-first issue overall. It contains two short stories and a five-page preview of "Dying Is Easy" by Joe Hill and Martin Simmonds. This issue contains the story Dog Days as well as a reprint of the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive, Locke & Key: Nailed It.
Locke & Key: Nailed It had a very limited publication. It was only available at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con at the Locke & Key Panel on July 19th & 20th, 2019. There were two variants. The first was called the Con variant which featured Cover Art by Gabriel Rodriguez with the Locke & Key logo; only 1000 copies were printed. The second variant was called the Deluxe Con variant whose "Premium" Cover Art was exactly the same, only it didn't have the logo; only 500 copies were printed.[1]
The story was later reprinted for everyone else in Dog Days.
Dog Days[]
Summary[]
The children of Mary Locke, two brothers, play with their dog Lloyd and the Animal Key.
Plot[]
The story begins with three children fishing near the river. One boy catches a trout and the third child, Lloyd, jumps up and catches the fish in his mouth.
Later as they watch the mailman delivering mail to Keyhouse they wonder aloud what if was like when he saw a car for the first time and if he reads anyone's letters. Lloyd, however, wonders what his butt hole smells like.
While sitting on the fence, the two boys discuss whether they should listen to the radio. Lloyd wants to pull out the garbage and roll around in it or throw up and eat his own barf. They decide to go listen to the radio instead.
One boy catches Lloyd drinking out of the toilet and tell him that he has to use a glass. Lloyd then uses the glass to scoop water out of the toilet.
Later, while listening to the radio, the two boys discuss leaving Lovecraft when they grow up while Lloyd says he lay on his stomach and wait in front of the door for them to come home, or he would lay underneath their beds so that he could remember what they smelled like.
As the day progresses they spy on a heron which Lloyd want to bite the head off. They go to their favorite tree that Lloyd says he "pisses on every day" and that's the part he likes the most because it smells like him. While one boy wants to hunt for seashells, Lloyd wants a dead fish to rub in his hair.
While Mary Locke is hanging up the laundry, Lloyd grabs a piece in his mouth and runs off with it. The two boys chase him down and wrestle the laundry away from him. Mary, who has had enough, motions to the Animal Door and using the Animal Key the two boys turn Lloyd back into their pet dog, who is a corgi.
The two boys wonder what it's like to be a dog. As they list the various aspects, they realize that dogs don't have to go to school, do homework, chores, or violin lessons. They then decide to use the Animal Key to turn themselves into dogs and continue playing with the now canine Lloyd.
Nailed It[]
Summary[]
"In 2013, the Locke family saga came to a close. Or did it?
Some doors, once closed, can never be opened again. While others shouldn't be reopened ever again…
Please join us for a return to the Locke & Key mythos with a new story by series creators Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodríguez, plus a behind-the-scenes look at the Locke and Key TV series and a 5-page preview of an all-new series by Joe Hill and Martin Simmonds!"[2]
Plot[]
While Duncan Locke starts to rebuild the Keyhouse by building a doorway, Tyler Locke has been busy in the manor's smithy/workshop (presumably). He removes one of the stones from the plaza in front of the burnt down manor and digs out a hole in which he fits a large keyhole. With a large key, he then proceeds to flip up a whole new Keyhouse out of the ground.
References[]