Connect with us

Comics

Review “Southern Bastards” #2

Published

10 years ago

on

Jason Aaron and Jason Latour’s “Southern Bastards” continues its beer battered journey into Craw County. Earl Tubb tries once again to escape town and things drag him back in whether he wants to or not, he’s the only thing that’s strong enough to set things straight.

SouthernBastards_02WRITTEN BY: Jason Aaron
ART BY: Jason Latour
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: May 28, 2014

“Southern Bastards” #2 smartly touches on all the main themes from the first issue. Reminding us why Earl was gearing to leave in the first place, but as he sits down for one final game of football the town cries for help in a way he couldn’t have imagined. Jason Aaron brilliantly makes Earl care for a violence prone meth-head. Dusty wasn’t a man anyone gave a shit about, and less so now that ol’ Coach Boss has dealt with him.

The depths of the town’s corruption are exposed and Earl Tubb wants nothing to do with it. He wants to get out and go on with his life. He resents his father and seemingly everything the man he stood for. Although he seems destined to follow in his footsteps. It’s an interesting albeit familiar storyline that’s sure to spiral outwards as things go on.

Jason Latour makes the south look like a certain type of hell. Men with roided out arms and withered veins populate these pages. He makes them look menacing in a relatable way. You wouldn’t want to get between them and their fried chicken. A football game in the middle of the issue is handled with a lot of care and makes things incredibly dynamic, serving up the main action for the month. It’s as rousing as the diner fight too, handled with the same interesting insanity. Latour leaves the scene with a fantastic bookend that shows Earl he needs to get the fuck out.

In many ways this second issue doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already piece together from the first. There is death, but I assumed there was last month. Instead Aaron and Latour give a decidedly character based issue that focuses on why Craw County needs Earl now more than ever. Except Earl couldn’t give less of a shit.

The final scene of the issue is a brilliant break in Earl’s tough exterior that shows how fragile his relationship with his father has made him. It’s the one thing that cuts the stone faced man to the core and exposes him. Yet, through this exposure we learn that he’s almost destined to become the man he hates. Then lightening strikes. In a plot point that is eerily similar to an amazing episode of The Simpsons. Earl gets his weapon and it seems like next month he’ll be hitting the town swinging.

“Southern Bastards” has the right mix of heart n’ grit, it’ll get under your skin and compel you to read on. The South has never been so ugly but Jason Aaron and Jason Latour vow to clean it up, they’re just going to make a bloody mess of it first.

Related Topics:
Advertisement
Click to comment

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

6 days ago

on

April 18, 2024

By

Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

Continue Reading