It's been a while since I've done a straight-up comic book review, hasn't it? Well, to be honest, nothing's quite excited me after just one issue than this here sum'bitch.
Roundabouts four or five years ago, I started reading a comic called Scalped, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by R.M. Guera. Scalped was a book with a relatively low concept: a crime drama set on an Indian reservation. What resulted was one of the best ongoing series I've ever read, with complex and compelling characters, brutal violence, lovely artwork, and a central theme of the complex relationship between an individual, his home, and his heritage.
Writer Jason Aaron recently returned to this genre and this theme, as he collaborated with artist Jason Latour to bring us the eloquently titled Southern Bastards, whose first issue was recently released from Image comics, and I'm already far more hooked than I care to admit.
Our story follows Earl Tubb, son of Craw County, Alabama's legendary Sheriff "Big" Bert Tubb, who returns to his home after a forty year absence to clean out his old house now that it's last resident, Earl's uncle Buhl, is moving to a nursing home. However, he soon runs afoul of men under the employ of Euless Boss, coach of the four-time state champions Runnin' Rebs high school football team, apparent owner of every major business in town, and apparently the local crime boss of this crime story. Coach Boss doesn't appear in the first issue, but his presence is felt throughout the book, and it's clear that Earl has stepped in something he won't be stepping out of anytime soon.
The Jasons have said on multiple occasions that Bastards comes from a very personal place for them. Both are southerners themselves (Aaron is from Jasper, AB; Latour from Charlotte, NC) and both talk about having a complicated relationship with their birthplaces. Aaron states this series will be about "a place you can love and hate and miss and fear all at the same time", while Latour is more fueled by righteous indignation. He writes at the end of the first issue:
"So this book is for THEM. The assholes you might think Southerners are. The ones we're afraid we might be. This book is designed to bury them sons of bitches. To spit on their graves. Because I fucking hate those bastards with every part of me.
Because I love The South with all I've got."
That passion for the subject matter shines through in the first issue. What few characters we meet are an interesting mix of weary, hateful, desperate, or just regular-seeming folk. The artwork is a revelation, making the grit of the environment shine and perfectly depicting the tone of every scene, whether it's a mangy mutt defecating beneath three different church signs or the grave seriousness of Dusty Tutwiler's bloodshot eyes as he warns Earl to get out of Craw while he still can.
Make no mistake, Southern Bastards will go on to become something great. With great character work, stunning art, and strong authenticity, it's already the best new series this year. Go pick it up and check it out for yourself.
Thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!
