No, you’re not dreaming: Locke & Key: Hell & Gone, a Sandman Universe crossover event, is coming to a local comic shop in your plane of reality in October 2020.
Locke & Key creators Gabriel Rodriguez and Joe Hill are both attached to the crossover, along with Locke & Key colorist Jay Fotos and editor Chris Ryall. The crossover is a collaboration between IDW Publishing, the publisher behind Locke & Key, and DC Comics, the publisher responsible for The Sandman Universe titles (the original Sandman series was published by now-defunct DC Comics imprint Vertigo Comics).
IDW announced the crossover on Twitter, along with a brief video featuring the key to Hell from Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Dan Vozzo, and Todd Klein (a nice catch by Beat reader Donnie in the comment section).
If you think you can unlock the gates of hell and just invite yourself in, you must be dreaming. Coming October 2020: @joe_hill and @GR_comics will debut LOCKE & KEY: HELL & GONE – A SANDMAN UNIVERSE Crossover Event, courtesy of @IDWPublishing and @DCComics. pic.twitter.com/b9I9e3Sa0h
— IDW Publishing (@IDWPublishing) February 22, 2020
The image in the video is reminiscent of many of the covers from the original run of Locke & Key, with a key displayed prominently in the foreground and Keyhouse appearing in the background.
On the ground encircling the new key is the magical circle used to summon Dream of the Endless, as seen in the first issue of the original Sandman series (“Sleep of the Just,” story by Gaiman, with art by Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, letters by Klein, and colors by Vozzo).
While this will be the first official crossover story for Locke & Key, Dream of the Endless is no stranger to interacting with other comic book characters. Just one example: John Constantine’s guest-starring role in The Sandman #3 (“Dream a Little Dream of Me,” written by Gaiman, art by Kieth and Dringenberg, letters by Klein and colors by Vozzo).
Little more is known about Locke & Key: Hell & Gone, although Constant Key-Readers will likely notice a hint in the information given that the story will take place before the original run of the comic (assuming it takes place on the same timeline at all).
In particular, I wanna say thanks to @neilhimself for letting us goof off in his sandbox. It is, in all seriousness, the stuff of dreams. #sandman #lockeandkey
— Joe Hill (@joe_hill) February 22, 2020
That’s the key to hell from the Sandman story arc “Season of Mists”!!!!
Sandman initially started as a DC imprint (1989), and was folded into Vertigo after that imprint was created in 1993.
Wait a moment, I just noticed something. Everyone recognizes the key to hell but don’t you see the circle under it? That’s not just any circle. Open The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes. Sandman: Issue 1, Sleep of the Just. That’s the circle used to summon and trap Morpheus!
Comments are closed.