Locke & Key: Hell & Gone #1 is the eighth issue of the Golden Age series, and the second issue of the Hell & Gone miniseries.
Summary[]
If you think you can unlock the gates of Hell and just invite yourself in, you must be Dreaming!
The epic crossover between two of the most beloved fantasy universes in comics begins here. John "Jack" Locke is ten years dead, but that hasn't stopped him from posting the occasional letter home... from Hell. Now Mary Locke will do anything to save her brother's soul, including cut a deal with Roderick Burgess-the most evil man in England-to search for answers in the House of Mystery and risk the walking nightmare known as the Corinthian to find help in a disintegrating Kingdom of Dreams![1]
Plot[]
On October 4, 1927, twelve years after the events of Locke & Key: ...In Pale Battalions Go... #3, the now elderly Chamberlin Locke opens the Wellhouse with the Echo Key to summon an echo—the spirit of his late son John. Instead of rising as himself, however, due to the effects of Hell, John's soul crawls out of the well horrifically mangled and burned with half of his body missing. The echo berates his father for summoning him, asking why he continues to torture himself this way, seeing John like this. This causes Chamberlin to collapse, with Jean rushing to his aid. They both watch in tears as John demands that his father leave his soul be, as he crawls through the Wellhouse door and fades away.
Mary Locke, who had been watching from a distance, uses the Anywhere Key to travel to Wych Cross, England. There she is met by Alex Burgess, who is wearing an unusual helmet. Alex states that wearing the helmet gives him more interesting dreams. He also expresses his desire to travel the world and see all the sites.
Alex introduces Mary to his father, Roderick Burgess, and Roderick's mistress, Ethel Cripps. Alex expressed a desire to travel to America, but Roderick says the trip has been canceled due to the nasty stuff they said about him in Life Magazine, and then dismisses Alex.
Beginning their meeting, Mary states that she heard that Roderick had captured an eternal being and wishes for an audience with it, because it possesses information on how to rescue John's soul from Hell. Roderick, who is familiar with the rumors of Chamberlin and the magic of the Keys, asks for one of them in exchange for such an audience. Mary gives him the Matchstick Key, which Roderick gives to his mistress Ethel.
They descend into the basement, where Roderick introduces Mary to the imprisoned Dream. Mary tells Dream about her brother and begs and pleads with him for help, but Dream remains silent. Mary snaps at Roderick, but he says that he merely promised her an audience with Dream; he didn't guarantee that Dream would respond. As they leave, Dream uses sand to draw an image of his helm on the glass, cluing Mary to the helmet she saw Alex wearing.
Later that night, Roderick and Ethel go to an Ancient Egyptian-themed party, leaving Alex alone for the evening; Mary sneaks into Alex's bedroom through his trunk that she saw earlier using the Anywhere Key. Mary strikes a deal with Alex, briefly lending him the Anywhere Key in exchange for him lending her certain items: Dream's helm, Dreamstone and Sand Pouch. Alex agrees, and gives her the three before departing with the Anywhere Key. Mary then falls asleep while wearing the three items and is transported to the Dreaming.
She wakes up on top of the grave of Abel. Hearing his cries for help, Mary attempts to dig him out, only to be frightened away by his living, rat-infested corpse. Mary flees to the House of Mystery where she is greeted by Cain, who mistakes her for Dream due to her possessing the "symbols of office". Once inside, the House of Mystery, sensing who Mary Locke is, gives itself a literal lock-and-key theme. Cain beckons Mary to open a door which contains a mystery "just for you." The door has a cryptic passage:
- "So many people want answers before they even know the right questions."
Mary then opens the door and out rolls a moon. Meanwhile, Abel crawls closer to the front door of the House and Cain arms himself with a keyhole-shaped cannon, which he loads with key-shaped spears. Firing the cannon, Cain blasts a keyhole shape into the door and blows Cain apart into a pile of flesh and bone. Mary flees the House in horror.
Mary wanders through the Dreaming using the Dreamstone as a light. She comes across the gate to the palace of Dream, guarded by the Gatekeepers. Once again, they mistake Mary for Dream and let her through without a second thought. Mary then comes across Brute and Glob in the process of vandalizing Dream's palace. Mary scares them off and lead her up a windy staircase towards Dream's library. She fails to notice a bush that transforms into Fiddler's Green. As Mary climbs the staircase she passes Lucien, who has been impaled, eyes cut out and imprisoned in a gibbet and gagged with the scarf emblazoned with the Keyhouse monogram.
Mary makes it to the doors of the Library of Dream and is greeted by a strange man. Mary tells him that she is looking for information to help her do business with the Devil. The man assures her that the library contains such information and takes off his glasses, revealing himself to be The Corinthian.
Videos[]
Variant Covers[]
This issue has 22 different covers.[2]
![UNUSED Cover Art variant by Freddie Williams II[3]](/wiki/File:L%26K_H%26G1_Freddie_Williams_II_Logoless.jpg "L&K H&G1 Freddie Williams II Logoless.jpg (507 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez started conceptualizing Hell & Gone almost immediately after "Open the Moon" in 2011. After visiting heaven in "Open the Moon", Joe and Gab wanted to Lockes to visit Hell;[4] wanting to do a Locke & Key version of Dante's Inferno.[5]
- Joe Hill originally intended Chamberlin to be the protagonist of Hell & Gone, and Chamberlin would have been the one to make the journey into the Dreaming and the one who rescued John from Hell.[6] It was not until he switched to Mary did he discover that she was a more natural flow to the story as the protagonist.[7]
- Neil Gaiman was a consultant on the crossover.[8]
- While Joe Hill has confirmed that the crossover is a part of the Locke & Key universe canon, whether the crossover is a part of the Sandman universe canon, his response was "[Neil Gaiman] will have to answer that question".[9]
- When asked if the crossover was canon within the Sandman Universe, Neil Gaiman replied that he thought so, and that he gave Joe Hill feedback on the script to make sure it sounded right.[10]
Locke & Key/My Little Pony crossover joke art by Gabriel Rodriguez
- When the crossover was first announced in 2014, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez joked about a Locke & Key/My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic crossover,[6] and Gabriel drew an image of a Pony encountering a demonic goat similar to the one from Locke & Key: Clockworks #1. He also stated that if the crossover took place, it would have happened during the Clockworks story arc.[11]
- The issue's original publication date was November 18, 2020,[12][1] before being pushed to April.[13][14]
- The name of the crossover's prologue, "Prelude Nocturne", is a reference to the first volume in the Sandman series, Preludes and Nocturnes.
- The cover art by Gabriel Rodriguez features characters from the Sandman Universe dressed in 1920s era clothing.[15] Going from left to right, top to bottom are the following (not counting Mary Locke in the center):
- Death
- Cain and Abel
- Abel's pet gargoyle, Goldie
- The Corinthian
- Fiddler's Green
- Two of the Gatekeepers of the Dreaming are on both sides.
- Mary is wearing Dream's helm and is holding the Anywhere Key and Dream's sand pouch.
- The cover art by Raymund M Lee and Mark A. Nelson foreshadowed the appearance of Lucifer Morningstar in the following issue.
- Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon from the DC Universe appears in Mark A. Nelson's Cover Art, foreshadowing his appearance in the following issue.
- The Megan Hutchinson Cover Art variant had a very limited printing. With the color version of the cover having only 1000 copies printed; while the B&W version will have only 500 copies printed.[16]
- In order to aid himself in drawing the Key to Hell for his cover art, Miguel Mercado sculpted his own Key to Hell out of clay to use as a reference.[17]
Continuity[]
- In Locke & Key: ...In Pale Battalions Go... #1, Fiona Locke received a parcel from "Lucien Samset" and mentioned she would knit him a scarf in return. Lucien is wearing a scarf with the Keyhouse logo when he appears in this issue.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sandman/Locke & Key and Spider-Man #1 in IDW November 2020 Solicits
- ↑ All 22 covers to Locke & Key / The Sandman Universe: Hell & Gone #1
- ↑
@Freddieart (Freddie Williams II) on Twitter
- ↑ The Unexpected DC Crossover That Joe Hill Says Influenced Locke & Key/Sandman Universe: Hell and Gone
- ↑ Locke & Key is going to Sandman's Hell in its first 'and probably last' big crossover
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Locke & Key/Sandman crossover was discussed
- ↑ @IDWPublishing (IDW Publishing) on Twitter
- ↑ Locke & Key/Sandman Crossover Details Revealed by Joe Hill
- ↑ @IDWPublishing (IDW Publishing) on Twitter
- ↑ @neilhimself (Neil Gaiman) on Twitter
- ↑ The World of Locke & Key | IDW Presents
- ↑ @IDWPublishing (IDW Publishing) on Twitter
- ↑ Previews World: LOCKE & KEY SANDMAN HELL & GONE #1
- ↑ Locke & Key/Sandman: Hell & Gone #1 - IDW Publishing
- ↑ Worlds collide in exclusive first look at Sandman / Locke & Key comic crossover
- ↑ MEGAN HUTCHINSON STORE EXCLUSIVE OF LOCKE & KEY SANDMAN HELL & GONE #1 FOR BIRD CITY COMICS ANNOUNCED
- ↑ @merkymerx (Miguel Mercado) on Twitter
