The use of colour and line in “Middlewest”

The use of colour and line in “Middlewest”

Figure 1. Front cover of Middlewest

            I’ve always enjoyed aesthetically pleasing and unique art styles, so I’m drawn to fantasy comics. “Middlewest” by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona displays a cover that at first glance promises a casual read. I did not expect the first issue of the comic to be so dark. It tackles the dynamic of a broken and abusive family and Abell’s journey to escape from his father.

Colour and line work play a major role in the story to convey emotions and build atmosphere. The story begins with Abell waking up to his father breaking his things while yelling at him about how he overslept and didn’t deliver the newspapers. The colour blue dominates this scene, conveying the tragic reality of the situation and effectively establishing a melancholy atmosphere. Along with this, the authors use bold lines. Particularly on the father. This signals the father’s strength and the power that he uses in this interaction, particularly when throws the alarm clock at the family picture.

Figure 2. Page 7 of  Middlewest where Abel's father throws his alarm clock 

Later, the colour palette is used again in later interaction with Abell’s father. At this point in the story, Abell is caught shoplifting and is thrown out of the house by his father in response. In this interaction, the authors use bright colours to draw the viewers eyes and guide them panel to panel. this colour palate differs from the previous palate as it focuses on the red dotted across the scene. From Abell’s hoodie to the red glowing vials dotted across a dark blue dominated palate reaches a payoff with the giant red slap. The colour red in this context not only guides the reader but also used as the hermeneutic backdrop to the slap scene to convey the feeling of danger, pain, and anger in this moment. This along with the black brush strokes that could mean fear, evil, strength, and aggression. The rough appearance of the brush strokes in the background gives the impression of tearing, emphasizing the brutality of the strike not only physically and emotionally. The black and red especially stand out due to the authors muting the colours of both Abell and his father, allowing the contrast between the characters and background to be even greater.  

 

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