“Southern Bastards” continues to be the most brutal and beautiful book about the deep south ever created. The beginning of the second arc gives us a taste of Coach Boss Rising and delivers a particular flashback scene that managed to horrify me in a brand new way, which is rare. It really interesting to see the perspective shift to Boss and to see him as more than the super-villain. “Southern Bastards” #5 presents a novel concept: how does the bad guy cope when he defeats the hero. This issue is as rich with life as ever and an enthralling new direction for one of my very favorite books.
WRITTEN BY: Jason Aaron
ART BY: Jason Latour
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: October 29, 2014
Review By Eric Switzer
Aaron and Latour treat the south with so much tender reverence and harsh indignation that the book almost feels to be in conflict with itself. These creators are masters of time and place: invocative of Jeff Lemire’s “Essex County”, a love story to rural Ontario, or, in a strange ray, the Coen Brothers’ “Fargo”. “Southern Bastards” takes a hard light to the south but in a strangely affectionate way. It is just one of the many things that make this book so complex and interesting.
Losing Earl was difficult, and even starting this issue I sort of hoped Aaron would pull a fast one and raise him, but I’m so glad that he didn’t. I’m glad that the book isn’t about Earl in the long run. He was a lens through which we examined Craw County, an outsider for us to take the side of, but at the end of the day he was just another bastard like the rest of them. This is a character book, certainly, but more than anything I think its a book about an ideology; one that defines the south as much as any one thing can. The book is about a certain type of pride, an ineffective willfulness that these bastards represent. It is as admirable as it is pitiful, another complexity of this book.
Being in the mind of Coach Boss is terrifying. Being party to his brand of chaotic weakness is a hard feeling to shake. Aaron’s dialogue and narration strikes directly to the core and Latour’s work really drives home the anguish and despair. There is some really intriguing foreshadowing as far as new players to the series and the flashbacks are perfectly timed and brilliantly depicted. The first trade is out now so don’t make any excuses. This is a book that sticks with you long after you finish it.
—
Eric Switzer is an aspiring filmmaker and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles. His work tends to focus on the lighter side of entropy, dystopic futures, and man’s innate struggle with his own mortality. He can be found on twitter @epicswitzer or reached via email at ericswitzerfilm@gmail.com.