Locke and Key: Omega #3 Review

As the end of this amazing series draws closer -- it’s all over in four issues! -- Locke and Key: Omega gets decidedly more sinister, but not always in the best way. There’s a scene so heinous that I won’t go into detail about it save to say that it came off as unnecessary and exploitative to the point where I questioned my good faith in Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Yet it is that same faith that gave me the confidence to forge ahead into the rest of the story, which is actually quite good.

Tyler’s development here is pure gold. His scene with Jordan is worlds away from how he interacted with her in the past, showing that he has grown and learned from his experiences throughout the series and has come out a more well-rounded person -- a rare treat indeed.

As for the Dodge-possessed Bode, I have been patiently waiting for him to do something new and extraordinary, but now his use of the Shadow Key officially feels repetitive. Kinsey also gets her due, although her main beat is thrown off by the aforementioned uncomfortable event. Mercifully, Hill ends the prom night quickly and ushers all the big players to the rave cave where things are bound to get exponentially more interesting.

It’s hard to praise Rodriguez’s art more than I already have. He handles Tyler and Jordan’s romp with a restraint normally unseen in the notoriously flashy medium known as comics. His Shadow Key creatures are drawn with eerie intent, but seeing how frequently they appear, it’s hard to say they’re truly that scary anymore. Luckily, he makes up for it with the unsettling image of a hooded Bode with devil eyes. This series rarely takes a misstep like it does here, but its foundation built over the past five volumes is so strong that it still manages to turn out a solid chapter.

Joshua writes for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl or on IGN, where he’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Green Lantern, Darth Maul, and Pokemon.

Source : ign[dot]com