After twenty years in the making, Jordan Crane’s much anticipated magnum opus, Keeping Two, is finally here! Illustrated in stand-out neon green, and mixing elements of fantasy and reality, can this passion project live up to the hype? Let’s find out!

Publisher: Fantagraphics
Writer: Jordan Crane
Artist: Jordan Crane
Price: Buy for £18.75 from Amazon

Keeping Two follows an unnamed heterosexual couple, who act as ‘everyman’ figures for the story. Dancing between the past and the present, and fiction and reality, we join our couple earlier in the day having an argument in the car reading a particularly depressing book, whilst in the present, haggling over who’s doing the washing up, and who will go fetch food and a film. When the latter option goes to the woman, the man expects her back in an hour tops. But when three hours have passed, there’s no sign of her and she isn’t answering her phone, he begins to think the worst, leading to distress and eventual epiphany that both couples weren’t expecting.

It’s a hugely ambitious move from Crane to blend not only past and present narratives, but also that of fiction and reality. In graphic novel format, trying to weave all of these threads together can often make the plot overly convoluted, so to seamlessly transcend these genres is really impressive, especially as the majority of the dialogue and plot takes place in the thoughts of our two protagonists.

Without going too much into the plot, fans of suspense will enjoy this stunner, as it keeps you on your toes right till the end. The main story is set in the present, and focuses on the man worrying about his girlfriend and being able to get in touch with her; the sense of dread and paranoia conveyed to the reader is masterfully done. Whilst he paces around their flat and tries to keep busy, he imagines countless scenarios in which his girlfriend has been mugged, murdered, run over etc, etc. These images are interwoven with his real life thoughts, and are differentiated by their darker colour palette, honing in a lot more on the black, rather than the neon green, which is used more sparingly. These scenes become almost psychedelic, especially towards the end in which reality and fiction seem to converge, with plethoras of stunning patterns decorating the panels around our protagonists.

The second main plot is also very well done, though is equally dark and despairing. This focuses on a fictional book that our real-life characters were reading earlier that day. The plot follows a man and his wife, whose baby sadly passes away, as they struggle to come to terms with their loss. Incredibly sad and despairing, these particular panels evoke a gnawing feeling of emptiness, something which is not usually so poignant three stories deep into a framing device (a story within a story). Particularly moving was the use of a blank shape with dotted surrounding lines to indicate the lost child, who was consistently held by the grieving mother throughout the story. Much like our main narrative, this tale ends ambiguously, leaving the reader to decide the fate of its protagonists.

The art-style is totally gorgeous, and is sure to keep readers enraptured from beginning to end. Though I was initially unsure about the neon green overtures throughout, they really complimented Crane’s way of storytelling and his movements between genres. The book as a physical object is also gorgeous, in stunning hardback with thick paper and round-edged pages, a small detail that really adds to the book’s charm.

The main takeaway from Keeping Two seems to be to seize the day, appreciate those around you and to not waste any time. This reader would recommend any graphic novel fans to seize the day today, and pick up a copy of Keeping Two! You won’t regret it!