Southern Bastards #7

by Kalem Lalonde on February 10, 2015

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Jason Latour 

Throughout 2014, Southern Bastards was undoubtedly was favourite ongoing comic. The raw intensity and realism that this series brought to the table was astounding to me as a reader. Every issue of Southern Bastards has a profound effect on me and that is why I love it so much. There isn’t another comic that remains in my head for a week following my first reading. And after a long and painful delay, Southern Bastards #7 returns this week with another great issue, despite being my least favourite yet.

This comic spends all of its pages in the past of Euless Boss, instead of mixing two timelines like the previous issues. That’s the principle reason that I didn’t love this issue as much as the others. Coach Boss’ upbringing is an amazing story but after such a long wait I wanted to get a little information on what was happening in the present day. For the story aspect of this book, I loved what was presented but definitely wanted a taste of what the first arc brought.

Story problems aside, this issue was as powerful as any other fantastic issue of Southern Bastards. The tension between Euless and his father comes to a head in an extremely resonant and brutal scene, here. Olis Boss is one of the worst men ever written into comics and Aaron does a great job of portraying the complexity of his relationship with his son. This series has prominently featured themes about parenting (even sheriff Tubb gets an awesome cameo) and I’m eager to see how this arc parallels the one between Earl and his dad.

Though Euless’ real father is one of the worst men alive, the up and coming football player does have a father figure in the form of the blind Big. A great character who stands up for a boy that no one does. His presence here is the only part of this comic that doesn’t make me feel sick to my stomach. He’s an intriguing man with a better heart than most in Craw County.

The art duties are once again handled by the great Jason Latour who can convey this world so beautifully through his amazing art. His art is perfectly in sync with Aaron’s wretched and corrupt world. There is no other artist who could bring this comic to life as well as Latour.

Southern Bastards #7 continues to explore the brutal origin of one of the scariest villains in comics, Coach Boss. This is an amazing story about an abused teenager who has nothing to live for but Football and will consequently do anything to cling onto it. Jason Aaron is creating an incredibly multi-faceted character with this arc but is ignoring the present day story a little too much to my liking. Though, this is my least favourite issue yet, it still bring the intensity and depth one would come to expect from this series. 

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside