Abel hasn’t had a whole lot of time to process what’s been going on in his life. Now he’s been captured along with a large group of other kids who have become slave labor in dangerous fields. Things look pretty bleak for the young hero in the thirteenth issue of Middlewest. Writer Skottie Young hauls Abel and his friends along a path that will lead to a major confrontation in a story drawn by Jorge Corona with colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu. The bleakness of Abel’s plight serves as a dramatic foreground for a story that is also a major turning point for some of Abel’s friends. 

Abel’s been given a gruff haircut with a pair of electric clippers. He and a large group of other kids who have been kidnapped by the raiders are going to be working in the ethol fields. Ethol comes from bright bioluminescent bulbs of danger that are harvested in great rolling fields in the Middlewest. It’s hotter than hell in the fields, and the kids can’t handle the ethol without wearing full-body suits that make the heat all the more intense. Meanwhile, Maggie has decided to head out to confront the raiders to get Abel back. But doing so is going to challenge the loyalty of her group of carnies.  

Young does a good job with the balance and pacing of this issue. A backstory introduction to Abel’s life as a kid and his home life during his first job on a newspaper delivery route feeds into his training for the danger ethol fields, which leads into Maggie’s formal address to her employees about going to confront the dangerous raiders. There’s a steady increase in tension that also explores some of the psychological terrain of both Maggie and Abel. It’s a very well-balanced script for the issue. 

The three major phases of the issue allow Corona a nice variety of different moods to explore within the panels. The backstory on Abel’s paper route covers a tremendous amount of time the shoots through a very snowy Middlewestern winter. Then things shift to the heat of the ethol fields with some very beautifully rendered luminescence rendered in vivid color by Beaulieu. Once again, very distinctive visuals give a very down-to-earth rural American fantasy a remarkably sweeping scope. 

This issue cleverly ratchets-up the build-up to the big confrontation, which is likely to come in the series’ very near future. With the shift from the very literal journey of one hero to direct confrontation, the series takes on a whole new direction on this issue. The cleverly-structured plot of this issue and the sharp rendering of the art team give this issue a suitably ominous tone that gives a powerful impression that everyone involved with the series has an excellent grasp of where the story is heading. This isn’t always the case with an ongoing series. Middlewest is given an added push of momentum as it moves into its second year with this issue.

Grade: A