Skip to content
Answering Your Questions About Reactor: Right here.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Everything in one handy email.
When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

Two of DC’s biggest fantasy horror comics will crossover this Halloween. Over the weekend, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez announced an upcoming issue of Locke & Key that will incorporate elements of the Sandman universe.

The plot points are, of course, kept under (sorry) lock and key, but Rodríguez and Hill were gracious enough to include some major hints. The biggest are the title of the issue, Locke & Key: Hell & Gone, and the cover, which features something that looks suspiciously like the key to Hell first introduced in The Sandman: Season of MistsPut them together, and it seems pretty obvious that the Locke siblings are going to end up unlocking the gates of Hell somehow.

This seems to be confirmed by IDW’s official announcement for the issue, which reads, “If you think you can unlock the gates of hell and just invite yourself in, you must be dreaming.” The wording of this tweet also suggests that Dream’s realm may feature in some significant way.

Fans worried about canon and continuity will be pleased to know that the issue was made with Neil Gaiman’s blessing. “Big thanks to @neilhimself for inviting us to play in his house of dreams,” Hill wrote in his Instagram caption, while Rodríguez tweeted that the crossover was able to happen “because of a meaningful story idea, and not the other way round.” But that doesn’t mean fans who haven’t read Locke & Key will be left in the dark. As Rodríguez teased on Twitter, the issue “should make enough sense by itself to be able to follow the logic of the story,” although he also implored fans to read Sandman just because.

Locke & Key: Hell & Gone also has some big implications for the series’ respective Netflix adaptations. With Locke & Key season 2 and Sandman season 1 both currently in production, a few well-placed cameos or even a crossover episode inspired by this issue would make plenty of sense—especially now that the setting of Sandman has been bumped up to the present day. Could Hell & Gone be the “little bit more” teased by Gaiman back in July? We’ll find out when the show arrives on Netflix some time in the foreseeable future.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Stubby the Rocket

Author

Learn More About Stubby
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments