Joe Hill isn’t a superstar like his father, Stephen King.

But he will be. The surest sign of this is of course that he was awarded the the SABA (Slightly Apocalyptic Book Award) for “Best New Author” here at this very blog. He received that honour because of his marvellous short-fiction collection “20th Century Ghosts” and also for his entertaining debut novel, “Heart-Shaped Box” - which is incidentally out now in a Norwegian, featuring both a peculiar title, “Gode Ønsker” (”Good Wishes”) and a very emo cover.

But I’m digressing. Let’s rather talk about “Locke & Key”, and whether it’s as good as Hill’s non-illustrated work.

The story is about three kids who loses their parents in a tragic event and has to move to their uncle, who happens to live in the sinister sounding town of “Lovecraft”. I don’t know if the town deserves those associations, but what I do know is that they mansion they move into certainly does. The “Keyhouse” is a mystical place, filled with mystical, locked doors that lead to fantastic or horrible places. And some of the doors… Some of the doors should never be opened, for who knows what dark creatures is trapped behind them?

This first issue is naturally mostly set-up; a taster of what is to come in the planned six issue story arc. That part was to be expected, though that being said, I think Hill did a fantastic job of it all. The characters he introduced seem normal and stereotypical enough in and of themselves, but in collaboration with artist Gabrial Rodríguez he manages to give them all a streak of appealing strangeness. Especially the oldest kid, who got the most of the attention, was very well done and has already had some great scenes.

I’d also say that the plot seems very good. The whole “Keyhouse” deal sounded a bit shady to me when it was being advertised, and I can’t say that I’m utterly convinced yet that it’ll make for the best of settings. I will, however, proclaim that it has the potential for something great, and that’s really all you can ask for of a first issue.

The art isn’t the best I’ve seen, yet I couldn’t help but love it nonetheless. Rodriguez’ almost cartoony flair sets the most gruesome bits of Hill’s tale in a stark backlight, making it stand all the more out in comparison. It reminds me a little of what Jeanty is doing in “Buffy Season 8″, though Rodriguez seems to be a lot more talented with in his use of angles and depiction of scenes.

Next issue of “Locke & Key” is to be released on the 4th of March, which means that it’ll be dropping into my mail box some eight days later. I can’t wait to see where Hill takes this story, because I really liked this first issue in nearly every way. I’ll reserve some of my thoughts for the big review at the end of the arc, but so far it looks pretty darn good from what I’m reading.

(Trivia note: Dimension Films bought the rights to “Locke & Key” mere days after the issue 1 hit the shelves)