Awesome / Locke & Key

Dr. Pym would be proud.

A story about demons and magic keys? From the mind of Joe Hill? With art by Gabriel Rodriguez? Plenty of awesome things abound.

Be wary: per wiki policy, spoilers are off on Awesome pages!

Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

• Tyler facing down Sam Lesser, the man who shot his father, in the cellar. He misses being shot more than once, disarms him, and bashes Sam's head in with a brick, standing over his unconscious body and bloodied face.
• Nina Locke burying an ax in her rapist's skull
• The Ghost Key. A literal out-of-body-experience and a means to spy on any and everyone. As long as you're careful...
• Tyler gets one, when he kicks Sam Lesser's ass for the second time.
  Tyler: I'll tell you what happens next. Your future looks a lot like your past. You and me, hanging out in the basement... me kicking your ass again.
  • Sam gets an awesome comeback.
    Sam: You were dead. I liked you that way.
  • Finally, Kinsey taking the revolver, wounding Sam, and driving him off. Her quick thinking saves everyone's lives.
• The Anywhere Key. As long as you can imagine the place you want to go, you can get there by simply walking through a door.
• The Gender Key. Ever wonder what it's like to be another gender? A quick dip in a closet with the aid of this key, and you can find out for as long as you want.
• The Well Key. Imagine having the ability to speak to a dead loved one, at will. Or to imprison an evil or hateful spirit for eternity.

Volume 2: Head Games

• The full page spread depicting the high school production of The Tempest. Thanks to the keys, Rendell and his friends bring the characters and setting to vivid life beyond mere acting. Impressive work by Gabriel Rodriguez.
• Joe Ridgeway raging against the dying of the light by smashing a glass against Dodge's head while stark naked in the bath.
• The Head Key. The ability to see the inner workings of the mind. To instantly learn a new skill or information. And, the terrible, but still awesome, ability to insert and remove memories and personalities at will.
  • Gabriel Rodriguez's full spread detailing the psyche of Bode Locke is one of the most impressive pieces of art in the entire medium, let alone just this series.
  • This is also true for any description of someone's mind in the series. There's another one in the epilogue of Ellie Whedon and it's astounding.
• Brian, no fear or reservations whatsoever, standing up for himself and Duncan against the homophobes.
• When Brian finds "Zack" standing in his kitchen in the middle of the night, he immediately grabs a knife and confronts him.
• When "Zack" fails to use the Head Key on Rufus, the kid vows to stand up for himself and his mother, with his entire squadron of toys responding in kind.
  Toys: SIR, YES SIR.
• At the end of this volume, Gabriel Rodriguez walks us step-by-step through his drawing process. It's nothing short of incredible.

Volume 3: Crown of Shadows

• The spirits of Sam Lesser and Dodge facing off in the Keyhouse air. Sam's hand morphs into a chainsaw, while Dodge wields his usual fencing sword. They both head into "Zack's" body at the same time and struggle for control, before Sam morphs in his hand into a noose to try to strangle Dodge. He's only able to get away by turning his hands into scissors that cut off the noose and a cleaver that wounds Sam. Dodge walked into the situation clearly thinking he'd be able to convince Sam to help him find the Omega Key, only to be driven away by his rage and conviction.
• Kinsey, thinking quickly, pulling down the loose platform so she, Jamal, Scot, and Jackie can escape the caves.
• The Shadow Key. When used properly, allows access to the Crown of Shadows, thus granting the wearer the ability to summon a horde of shadow creatures, form and function limited only by the imagination.
• Tyler, while tied upside-down and meeting the Big Bad for the first time:
  Tyler: You her? The Dark Girl Bode met in the Wellhouse? The one who sent Sam Lesser to kill my Dad? Yeah, I was hoping I'd get the chance to say hello to you sometime.
  He spits on her face.
  Tyler: How do you do? Wait'll you get a load of how I plan to say goodbye, bitch.
• Kinsey escapes being suffocated by her shadow monster by shining a bright light in its face. Made even more awesome due to the light having come from the life vest that Scot gifted her as thanks for saving his life. She's able to rescue Bode and stand a fighting chance against the shadows.
• Tyler continuing to stand up to Dodge despite being tortured for information.
  Tyler: I can't wait to climb down from here and get large on you, bitch.
• The Giant Key. Tyler uses it to get big. Really big. The epic fight against Dodge's shadow wolf that follows is majestically illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez. Tyler wins and blasts "Zack" out of the shadows by using the lighthouse.
  Tyler: Hey, Dogface. Can't say I didn't warn you.
• Tyler's declaration that he, and the other Lockes, are in the fight for good.
  Tyler: This is home, guys. We're not going to run from shadows. Not tonight. Not ever.
  • Kinsey gets a Badass Boast too
    Tyler: She'll be back, you know. The Dark Lady from the well. She's going to keep coming back until she finds it. The key to the black door.
    Kinsey: Yeah, well. She's going to have to come through us to get it. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
• The Repair Key. Can mend anything, anything at all, that's put in the Mending Cabinet. From busted dishes, to broken canes, to... healing fatal wounds. When Nina tries to bring Rendell back to life using the key, it even leaves an imprint of his spirit inside the cabinet.

Volume 4: Keys to the Kingdom

• Gabriel Rodriguez's homage to Bill Watterson is a massive artistic flex.
• The Animal Key. Ever desire to find out what it's like to be another animal? This key is your ticket. The catch? You don't get to pick the animal.
• Bode and the sparrows' brave charge against Dodge and the wolves. Many sacrifice their lives so that Kinsey and Tyler can escape unharmed.
• The Mirror Key. Allows one to change the color of their skin at will.
• Tyler, Bode, and Kinsey spend the month of February fighting off various attacks from Dodge. This includes: a massive set of living thorns, a giant mechanical owl, endless amounts of living chains, an army of evil squirrels armed with swords, a mind-controlled Kinsey, and a group of evil teddy bears. They make it through unscathed without ever giving up the Omega Key.
• The Angel Key. Ever wondered what it feels like to fly? This key grants the user an impressive set of angel wings.
• The Hercules Key. Per its namesake, grants the user with incredible strength and stamina. Tyler uses it to absolutely wreck the juiced-up hockey team his school plays against.
• The simple but powerful panel of Nina watching approvingly as Tyler pours all her alcohol down the drain.
• The Music Box Key. Ever wish you had the power to make people do whatever you said? It's terrible, sure, but also awesome.

Volume 5: Clockworks

• Joshua Locke's final stand against Harm Timmerman
  Harm's brother: Your brother had already been stabbed six times, but he got up again and pulled Harm off of Fredericks. Your brother fought bravest, ma'am.
• The cutaway at the end of Chapter One that reveals a time-traveling Tyler and Kinsey have been witnessing the events of the past firsthand
• The Timeshift Key. Affords the ability to time travel in the past to any date that can be set in the Locke family clock. Plus, the travel is incorporeal - the travelers are like ghosts, free to spy on the past's events with no interference. Plus plus, no time passes in the present, no matter how long the travelers are gone in the past.
• The night after Dodge is possessed, he tries to get the drop on a sleeping Rendell... only to be thwarted by the rest of the gang, who had been lying in wait the whole time.
• The appendix give explanations of other keys that our heroes have not used to this point. To whit...
  • The Chain Key and the Great Lock. A lock that, when triggered, spews chains that bind those who attempt to bypass the lock without the key.
  • The Key to the Moon. Transforms the moon into a door that leads... to the afterlife? Incredible.

Volume 6: Omega

• Rufus using his toy robot to hotwire a lock and escape the mental hospital.
  • With a timely assist from Erin Voss, who takes out a nurse with her wheelchair, allowing Rufus to escape.
    Erin: Go. Stop. Go. Stop. Dodge. Go stop Dodge.
• Duncan gets his Big Damn Heroes moment when he saves Tyler from hostile shadows by leaping out of a car trunk and brandishing a spotlight
  Duncan: The fuck off him!
• In the caves, Jordan fends off shadows of her own by breaking a lantern and spraying flames with an aerosol can.
• Mandy and another classmate, who bravely stand up to the shadows at the cost of their lives.
  Mandy: T-that's as far as I go, and you can't m-make me - make any of us - go any further!
• Duncan, again, coming to Detective Mutuku's rescue while adorned in multiple flashlight, flares, and a headlamp to ward off shadows.
• Nina's resolve as she realizes that she can use the Mending Key to save Tyler's life
  Nina: My son is not dying tonight.
• Later, Rufus is about to be set upon by shadows when Nina comes to his rescue, wielding a massive flashlight.
• Tyler's master plan. He distracts "Bode" long enough for Erin Voss' thought sprites to steal the Head Key and Crown of Shadows from him. Then, he rushes "Scot" and uses the Alpha Key, instantly turning the demon inside him to Whispering Iron. Kinsey, Jamal, and a newly freed Scot help him defeat the demons and save all the kids still alive.
• When Rufus Whedon kills Dodge by throwing him through the Wellhouse Door.
  • Made even more impressive considering that, throughout the entire series, Dodge had repeatedly dismissed and insulted Rufus's cognitive ability. His carelessness around the boy tipped him off that he wasn't who he said he was, and Rufus not only never forgot, but was constantly one of the only characters to ever realize "Zack" and "Bode" were imposters.
• The sparrow's ingenious plan to bring back Bode. With Tyler's help, he uses the Ghost Key, allowing Bode's ghost to enter his body. Then, with a tremendous leap of faith, Tyler uses the Animal Key, and Bode returns, alive and well.