Southern Bastards #5
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Jason Latour
After the excruciatingly brutal end of its first arc, Southern Bastards returns this week with the aftermath of the death of (beloved by fans) the not-so-beloved Earl Tubb.
Southern Bastards has consistently been my favorite read of the month since its first issue. The gritty verisimilitude, incredibly profound characters and intense plot made every single page an enthralling experience.
Issue #5 explores the aftermath of Earl Tubb’s death through the eyes of the ominous and frightening Coach Boss and it’s another excellent issue of one of the best comics of 2014.
It was very bold of Jason Aaron to kill off the main protagonist in this series’ fourth issue, especially considering how multi-faceted and compelling of a lead Earl was. I didn’t really believe Earl had passed until I read an interview with Jason directly stating that Earl was dead, which was heartbreaking for me. I was questioning how the series would proceed without the one glimmer of hope that Earl represented for Craw County, but the point is that hope has died out and if it rises, the bastards will smite it down. This issue shows you how deep Craw County has fallen into the hands of Coach Boss as his crimes are left unspoken, and forgotten. This raises some every interesting ideas about this society and the man who runs it.
Jason Aaron also takes this breather issue to set-up some potential future plot-lines and characters who seem very interesting. One page depicts a man in the forest with a compound bow who is already looking like an awesome character. However, the set-up doesn’t lessen the intensity of this book. The last four issues were very fast moving and filled with tense confrontations. Issue #5 keeps the intensity by showing what coach boss represents for the county. It’s a great way of diversifying the tension throughout this series.
Jason Latour continues to impress with this series. His scratchy figures, and gritty pencils are a perfect complement to Jason Aaron’s scripting. It’s very important for a story as grounded as Southern Bastards to have atmospheric art and that’s exactly what Latour provides.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Southern Bastards is a masterpiece. You’ll be hard pressed to find a comic as grounded, heartbreaking and profound as this one. The character are compelling and complex and they live in a town with its own personality. This comic is an experience of creators working in perfect tandem to achieve the height of comic book storytelling
Art by: Jason Latour
After the excruciatingly brutal end of its first arc, Southern Bastards returns this week with the aftermath of the death of (beloved by fans) the not-so-beloved Earl Tubb.
Southern Bastards has consistently been my favorite read of the month since its first issue. The gritty verisimilitude, incredibly profound characters and intense plot made every single page an enthralling experience.
Issue #5 explores the aftermath of Earl Tubb’s death through the eyes of the ominous and frightening Coach Boss and it’s another excellent issue of one of the best comics of 2014.
It was very bold of Jason Aaron to kill off the main protagonist in this series’ fourth issue, especially considering how multi-faceted and compelling of a lead Earl was. I didn’t really believe Earl had passed until I read an interview with Jason directly stating that Earl was dead, which was heartbreaking for me. I was questioning how the series would proceed without the one glimmer of hope that Earl represented for Craw County, but the point is that hope has died out and if it rises, the bastards will smite it down. This issue shows you how deep Craw County has fallen into the hands of Coach Boss as his crimes are left unspoken, and forgotten. This raises some every interesting ideas about this society and the man who runs it.
Jason Aaron also takes this breather issue to set-up some potential future plot-lines and characters who seem very interesting. One page depicts a man in the forest with a compound bow who is already looking like an awesome character. However, the set-up doesn’t lessen the intensity of this book. The last four issues were very fast moving and filled with tense confrontations. Issue #5 keeps the intensity by showing what coach boss represents for the county. It’s a great way of diversifying the tension throughout this series.
Jason Latour continues to impress with this series. His scratchy figures, and gritty pencils are a perfect complement to Jason Aaron’s scripting. It’s very important for a story as grounded as Southern Bastards to have atmospheric art and that’s exactly what Latour provides.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Southern Bastards is a masterpiece. You’ll be hard pressed to find a comic as grounded, heartbreaking and profound as this one. The character are compelling and complex and they live in a town with its own personality. This comic is an experience of creators working in perfect tandem to achieve the height of comic book storytelling
A Look Inside
