Mulling over Middlewest 

by Alia Sabzwari

The comic that I have chosen is issue #4 of Middlewest by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. I was attracted to this comic due to the expansive imagery of the cover page as well as the mixture of both dark, almost ominous colors mixed with the softer, almost water color like drawings. And I’ll admit, I am a sucker for a story with a cool-looking robot.      

              

A first glance of the cover may cause the reader to think the story is about the child front and center with their robot, but neither of these characters are our main protagonist. In fact, our main protagonist is the faceless child on the bottom right corner of the cover. Did you see him? Go back and look at the cover again, he’s right at the bottom, running for his life, it seems. I’ll wait. You’re back? Cool, but I’ll say this: I did not even notice the faceless child at first. After all, why would our main protagonist, whom we spend almost the entirety of this issue with, be so inconspicuous? 


Among the main techniques that Young and Corona use to convey the meaning of this story is in the speech bubbles and the panels themselves. Wrench the robot’s speech bubbles are noticeably different then the human characters. While the speech bubbles for the humans are square with softer corners, Wrench’s bubbles are rigid and sharp as are the font of his letters. This creates an interesting phenomenon in regards to how we “hear” the voice of Wrench in our minds. The sharpness of the speech bubble calls to mind a computer screen with words appearing and our background knowledge relating to robots allows us to make the connection between robots and computers. Therefore, the reader understands what Wrench is supposed to sound like; a comic cannot create sound. However, the design of the speech bubbles is to give us an idea of what Wrench is supposed to sound like: robotic and rigid, in comparison to the human characters. 

So, why isn’t the main character the focus of this issue? My stance: the main character does not have a clear identity. Throughout the issue, the main character’s name is never mentioned: he is only ever referred to as “Kid.” Further evidence for this position, is that there are several times throughout the comic, when the Kid’s face simply disappears, typically in scenes where he feels confused or lost.

Young plays around with panels several more times in this issue: they open up and disappear when he wishes to show how bigger the tents in the amusement park are than the Kid (who cannot afford anything there and is simply reminded of how they are too great for him to obtain)

During the chase scene between Wrench and Kid, the panels become noticeably shorter, forcing the reader to move quickly between one panel to the next. There is no dialogue at all during the chase scene, which means that the reader would not spend any time reading words.

The above spread feels very much like a chase scene film straight out of a movie, even ending on a small panel of the Kid blearily looking at something off panel. This panel creates a strong sense of suspense as the reader immediately wants to know what will happen next, encouraging the reader to turn the page and determine the outcome of the chase.

But my personal favorite is this page. 

It is fascinating to me how the Kid’s face is split into two panels: in the first panel he is visibly desperate and frightened, but in the second (after he is divided by the thugs chasing him), he is angry and determined. To me, what is demonstrated by both words and pictures is the psychological division of the Kid, which connects to his uncertain identity throughout the issue. Is he a frightened child or a brave fighter? Like a true child or “kid,” he is growing and trying to discover who he is.

And perhaps, just what he is. In the following page the Kid unleashes his scream, demonstrating that he possesses a strong power through his scream: which is so powerful that no onomatopoeia can do it justice. In other words, the silence (we take it) is deafening.

The last page-and the last thing I will talk about-does show a scream…but it does not come from the Kid, whose mouth is visibly closed in this scene. We are left to indicate that whoever is screaming is doing so as a result of the damage that the Kid’s scream has brought. This time, the Kid is shining in light, but he is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing death and leaving it up to the reader's imagination as to what will happen next.