Written by Guest Contributor: Jordan North Locke and Key: Omega #5 was a bittersweet way to cap off an event. It exists simply to show you shit hitting multiple demonic fans just before telling you to, tune in next time! That being said, there’s a lot to enjoy here and if you’re invested in the characters, a lot to feel too.

From start to finish the citizens of Lovecraft-- in particular this year’s prom-goers-- are in an utter shit-storm. With only demons that flourish in shadows to keep them company and trapped in a cave (you know where shadows go to have orgies) this issue is a massacre, but I will say it is an emotionally successful one. Only having read one series in what is a much larger one even I felt for characters as they were dispatched or maimed, the hopelessness of circumstances really let you see who these people were and illustrated just how delicate the balance is between still being a child and an adult in one’s high school years. Moments like the one where the classic nerd Mandy tries to reassure herself and be brave only to be impaled on a sword for her courage is cruel business indeed. Add in other scenes like making our small remaining group of heroes decide who to kill and then carry out the grisly act and you have a villain in Dodge that is pretty damn despicable. And don’t even get me started on bringing back a mutated and possessed Scot to further torment these kids. I’d take a swing at Dodge myself if I happened to find myself in Lovecraft.

Outside of the cave Ty, the last hope the town has/had against Dodge is shot and dying fast, further adding to the list of reasons why this is the worst day ever in Lovecraft. Luckily his family has come into possession of a magical mending cabinet (what luck!).  After what is a pretty well written conversation with the ghost of his father about his failings with “moral courage” Ty makes the choice to go back and help his friends and is back in the action. Watching Miss Locke, in emotional shambles, beating of the chest of her son who came back from the throes of that which her husband never could, the relief, the anger, the tears, and the hug at the end. It’s that kind of thing that really makes Locke & Key a good comic—real emotion-- real heartache, real anger and perhaps most importantly, real pain.

Ty and Rufus are on the way (Rufus where were you this issue?!), Jordan and Kinsey proved that true courage cannot die and things are looking up...well, more like we’ve discovered there’s an up at all. August can’t come soon enough.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Joe Hill

Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Price: $3.99

Release Date: 6/5/13