Abel decides to run away from home and join a travelling carnival of magicians, talking animals and robots because his dad’s an abusive prick – and also a giant wind monster (and not the kind that shows up after eating a plate of beans)! But Abel’s not safe as wind monster dad sets out after him…
As you can probably guess from the premise, Skottie Young and Jorge Corona’s Middlewest is a super-realistic, grim’n’gritty take on growing up. Oh, I do like kidding around don’t I? And I kinda like Middlewest which is, ironically, a fairly middling new series.
I like the Miyazaki-esque fantasyland where the series is set, particularly as Young doesn’t even attempt to explain any of the magic – it just is! Young utilises his extensive dark fantasy experience from Marvel’s Oz and his more recent Image series I Hate Fairyland to create an understandable and intriguing background.
The story might be very underwritten – kid runs off, evil dad in pursuit for no discernible reason – but elements of it are compelling. There’s a scuffle atop a train with a hobo bird skeleton and a battle of wits with a troll on a bridge. Hobos and trains, trolls and bridges – these are clichés but Young writes them in a way that’s interesting. And I liked Corona’s art – it’s a bit like, but not as crisp or striking as, Rob Guillory’s but it’s still very appealing, helped too by Jean-Francois Beaulieu’s colours.
There aren’t many characters I’m crazy about either. I liked the talking fox (Young channelling Rocket Raccoon), but that was about it. The others are unmemorable and boring. Abel’s a very dull protagonist too – he’s basically just everykid – and his dad is your archetypical one-dimensional villain.
The first volume of Middlewest won’t blow anyone away but it’s a decent kid’s comic.
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