Two dark fantasy series, The Sandman and Locke & Key are currently topping Netflix’s streaming charts. Some fans may not realize that these shows are based on comics whose universe crossed over just last year. Though The Sandman concluded in 1996, and the original Locke & Key saga ran from 2008 through 2013, stories have continued to be told in their respective canons. For The Sandman, DC Comics launched a series of sequels and spinoffs under The Sandman Universe in 2018, which continues today. Meanwhile, IDW Publishing has published a series of collectively known as The Golden Age. The last of those prequels, Hell & Gone, was an intercompany crossover that connected The Sandman and Locke & Key mythologies.
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Hell & Gone, like the other stories in The Golden Age, takes place generations prior to the events of the main Locke & Key series, which is the basis for the Netflix adaptation. These stories focus on Chamberlin Locke and his children during their time as the residents of Keyhouse Manor.
Hell & Gone takes place in 1927. Chamberlin Locke is growing older and still not over his son John’s death. The boy had committed suicide 12 years earlier after, through the use of keys, having led soldiers from the battlefields of World War I back to Keyhouse, one of whom killed his mother. Chamberlin has continued to torment himself by repeatedly using the Echo Key to summon an echo of John’s soul up from Hell, where he’s being tortured. Mary Locke, John’s sister, has decided she’s had enough and sets out to rescue John from Hell.
Mary seeks the age of one of the great occultists of the ear, Roderick Burgess, who, at this time, has Dream captured in his basement. She trades Burgess a key in exchange for time with Dream. Dream offers Mary a hint, leading her into The Dreaming, which is currently in a state of disarray due to its ruler’s absence. In Lucien’s library, Mary discovers a book that depicts the Key to Hell.
Upon returning from The Dreaming, Mary returns to Keyhouse and forges a replica of the Key to Hell. She uses the replica to gain entry into Hell. Though she’s pursued by Lucifer Morningstar, Mary manages to escape Hell with John’s soul and used the Moon Key to offer him a peaceful afterlife. In a time-loop twist, Mary then visits the Silver City, where the angels live, at the moment that Lucifer is cast down. Mary gives what she believed to be a phony Key to Hell over the angels, who give it to Lucifer, meaning it was always the true Key to Hell.
This crossover is now collected, along with the other Locke & Key prequels, in . However, fans shouldn’t expect to see this crossover story play out on Netflix. Locke & Key.
“I’ve seen a few articles now teasing the possibility of a Locke & Key/Sandman crossover on Netflix & thought I’d jump in for a clickbait check,” Hill tweeted. “Nope! Like most Sandman hardcores I’m looking forward to a big, sweeping, faithful adaptation of Neil’s stories. Can’t wait.”
Hill continued, “I just think it’s so cool that [Neil Gaiman] let [Gabriel Roridguez] & I play in the Sandman universe for the Hell & Gone comic. It was amazing to have spent some time adventuring in his world. That’s a thing I’m always going to treasure.”
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Image Courtesy of Netflix
