Uptight #5

by Jordan Crane

Overview

A disappearing girlfriend and an outer space repairman populate this solo cartoonist anthology, drawn in a way the evokes mid-century Modern design movements such as Bauhaus, Constructivism, and neoplasticism.

In this 80-page volume, Jordan Crane draws us in with two gripping and wrenching stories, one of the mundane, and the other of the fantastic. First, there is “Keeping Two.” William’s girlfriend goes missing during a trip to the supermarket, and he must look down the long dark narrow tunnel that his life will become without her. He is reading a book, but the book doesn’t help, and indeed feeds his anxieties, rendering his loss in starkly contrasting lines. The second story, “Discovering the Dark,” is 26 pages and drawn with two colors. Akihiro Akaike is employed as a repairman aboard an asteroid mining ship in the year 2033. In his spare time, he is an amateur astrophysicist, and a discovery he makes drives him steal supplies and a company ship in order to make a clandestine 7-month voyage. However, when the mining operation discovers his plans, he is forced into a rapidly deteriorating set of probabilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606997987
Publisher:	Fantagraphics Books
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Jordan Crane is a cartoonist living in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and kids. Crane first emerged in 1996 with the iconic comics anthology NON, which he edited, designed, printed, contributed to, and published. His recent books include Keeping Two (2022) and the all-ages graphic novel The Clouds Above (2008).

Editorial Reviews

02/08/2016
This ongoing anthology series, which includes stories from Crane’s (The Clouds Above) webcomic of the same name, mixes jarring emotional surrealism with clear, accessible pen work; this latest issue explores mortality. The first story, “Keeping Two,” connects two narratives of three people whose stability has been shattered by death. In one, William grapples with the death of his wife. In the other, suicidal Claire clings to the lifeline of a troubled pregnancy. Claire’s story is presented as a book that William reads to get his mind of his own troubles, not expecting it to be such a dour drama. Other stories cover a psychotic episode that leads to a cycle of murder, and a bungled space mining mission that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of disaster, rendered in an otherworldly lavender. The common link here is Crane’s portrayal of psychological space as an unpredictable netherworld that mixes our fears, sorrows, and immediate surroundings into a barely comprehensible prison, one made accessible thanks to Crane’s clean, down-to-earth drawing style. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Interesting not merely on the strength of the work, but because of the alacrity with which Jordan Crane approaches the presentation of his material. This is a novel format, and the glossy-magazine presentation frames the stories in an interesting way. It feels like a substantial chunk of reading while also seeming like a bargain."

The A.V. Club

"The work of an artist of great confidence who’s finding new and interesting ways to tell comics stories."

Slate