We are way past the De Stihl aesthetic of Volume 3.
UJ has always been a mashup of whatever the hell is in our head at the time. Sci-Fi and Lovecraft seems to be the cranium’s locus for this one, especially as regards Cantilever Jones Gets Lost, a series that’s probably due for an anthology collection, but hasn’t gotten one because it’s kind of vast.
I call the whole thing Gods of the Sky, and it’s a Galactic Empire with a Yin-Yang twist: there are good Galactic Emporers, called Life Emperors, and there are bad ones, called Death Emperors. Each succeeds the other and reigns for centuries as a kind of demi-god, dying only when their successors appear. A handful of stories in UJ spelled this world out, describing the conflict with the Empire and its discontents, especially a hunted religious order that always serves the Life Emperor.
Yeah, it sounds like Star Wars. The idea may have blossomed from “What if Star Wars wasn’t stupid?” – and that certainly fits the Cantilever Jones stories, set in this universe. They center on a smuggler named Rand Thrax, his small lizard familiar, his phlegmatic navigation droid, and his ship, the Cantilever Jones (why is it called that? Because it is). Essentially, Han Solo as a viewpoint character, with a modicum of education, spiritual seeking, and self-awareness. His journeys show me how this Empire I’ve built looks from the ground.
There’s also the second chapter of The King’s Ransom, a war for a suburban neighborhood after the apocalypse, and some chat-room shenanigans by government spooks and known wolves.
You can read it three ways:
Content Blues 