Spencer & Locke (SPENCER & LOCKE TP)

I'm a Calvin and Hobbes fan from way back and someone on twitter tipped me off to this some time in the hazy past.Imagine if Calvin had a terrible upbringing and grew up to become a cop but still had Hobbes for a best friend. That's the lazy way to describe Spencer & Locke. When Locke's girlfriend Sophie turns up dead, Locke goes stomping into the most dangerous territory imaginable to find her: his own past.Spencer & Locke doesn't quite stray into James Ellroy territory but it's some dark stuff. Many of the Calvin and Hobbes tropes are examined through the blood smeared lens of David Pepose and Jorge Santiago Jr. Santiago's art with Jasen Smith's color palette reminds me of Francisco Francavilla's Archie Horror work.The character designs are close enough to their Calvin and Hobbes counterparts that you know who they correlate to but are unique enough to stand on their own. Hell, Spencer reminds me of Blacksad at times, an anthropomorphic panther who may be more real than he lets on.Part Calvin and Hobbes homage, part hardboiled noir, Spencer & Locke hits all the right buttons for me. Five out of five stars.

I friggin' adored this book. I was always a fan of the funny pages growing up and no comic strip was more pure than Calvin and Hobbes.The idea of a dark, cyclical, aged send-up to those characters set in a crime-noir works SHOCKINGLY well. David Pepose clearly has a love for the original comic because he knows how to twist it in all the right ways to create something that is both a dark parody of its inspiration while still somehow being a love letter to it.It's hard to review crime noirs because there's always a chance you might get into spoilers. So I'll just say that if there's an element from C&H you love, it's here and perfectly altered to suit a crime noir drama.A hard-boiled detective who carries around his childhood stuffed animal to be his partner. Wild.

Not sure which I love more -- noir films and books, or the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. So here's yr chance to refuse to choose. This comic is wonderfully written and illustrated. I'm gonna presume readers of this review are familiar w/ this comic's central idea: C & H all grown up, gritty and grim. There are parts of this comic that are incredibly moving and I suspect I'll cry on each re-read, just like I do w/ parts of We3, The Sandman and other classics.If I was richer, I'd buy a copy for all my friends. But then I'd have to have friends first -- friends, that is, besides my pit bull Effie. No, she's not a stuffie. She just doesn't move when you look at her.So buy this. Buy it new. Follow the creators and publisher. I sure will.

This comic was a great ride. I didn’t know what to expect when I bought it but was so excited as it went on. The relationship between Spencer and Locke seemed deep and layered, making the story lines all the more compelling. Not being a avid comic book reader, I was a bit tentative before staring, not knowing if i would like the genre, but it turned out to be a perfect blend of dark and heroic and funny and sad and easy narration and beautiful pictures. All in all a great read that I have highly recommended to many, many people.

I really enjoyed this book. It may be easy to overlook or overestimate it as a mere parody of an already well known comic series, but the amount of intrigue in David Prepose's script and polish in Jorge Santiago's art make this an amazing addition to anyone's TPB collection. I'm looking forward to a sequel, or at least ore from this team and this publisher.

So when I first heard about this some time ago I was excited. What if Calvin and Hobbes grew up, and became detectives in Sin-City. I picked up the very first issue at my local comic book shop as SOON as it got released. I was not disappointed and you won't be too! Its a very fun and mature ride. I can't say much more without spoilers but if you miss Calvin and Hobbes like I do, then do yourself a favor and pick this up.

Spencer & Locke manages to be both a darkly hilarious piece of nostalgia AND a stunning, moving portrait of mental illness. It’s perfect for fans of Calvin & Hobbes, Sin City, and Fight Club (did you ever expect to see those three names together?), and such an interesting, complex, moving piece of fiction. This version also comes with some cool extra features, like character designs, script pages, and commentary from the writer and artist. Totally worth the purchase!

Not appropriate - this could have been so awesome! I really had been so excited for it as a gift to my brother who loves calvin and Hobbes. I saw it at a comic con a while ago (wish I would have read it there) and finally found it after searching for a while! All the reviews were great but was so disappointed when I looked through it. Even though my brother is an adult-mid 30s I felt like it was too inappropriate to give to him. I just felt like the plot took the joy out of calvin and hobbes unfortunately. Strip clubs, suicidal thoughts, etc...I get wanting to make it grown up but the joy of Calvin and hobbes is that it takes you to a place of happiness and this just made me sad and felt like it didn't really honor the messages of calvin and hobbes. I didnt even finish it although it's short because I didnt want it to ruin the fun of calvin and hobbes. Maybe my hopes were just too high...but unfortunately it wasnt for me. I know it's not from the author of calvin and hobbes but it written after to be like it...and it just missed the mark for me.

Wenn man sich darauf einlässt, was Pepose aus Calvin respektive Locke (Namenswahl vermutlich inspiriert vom Kollegen des politischen Philosophen Thomas Hobbes, John Locke) und seinem eingebildeten Tiger Hobbes macht, nämlich den traumatisierten Polizei-Detective Locke mit seinem blauen Panther Spencer, erzählt der Comic einem eine interessante, spannende, wenn auch nicht leicht verdauliche Story über einen erwachsenen Calvin in einem Paralleluniversum aus Blut, Missbrauch und Gewalt.

Très grande fan de Calvin et Hobbes, ce livre était proposé comme produit associé par le moteur de recherche Gloogloo.Et manifestement les auteurs de ce livre sont aussi de très grands fans.Pour autant ils ont retravaillé tous les personnages de Calvin et Hobbes de manière très sombre et quand on ne s'y attend pas, c'est déstabilisant.Graphiquement c'est plaisant à lire mais pour moi Calvin et Hobbes sont intouchables et l'auteur, en plus de multiplier les références pour les souvenirs d'enfance (frisant la copie servile), a repris les personnages initiaux pour leur attribuer une autre histoire ce qui est gênant.Je ne le relirai pas.

My youth and my adult life are married into one from this brilliant mixture of Watterson's classic and modern noir. I can't put this down and I can't stop telling everyone who shared my experiences in the past that this is a MUST READ! Thank you Prepose and Santiago, you've given me another gift to a wonderful childhood.

Perfect artistry. I love the allusions to Calvin & Hobbes. Very violent and gritty and dark, and a well-written story.