SOUTHERN BASTARDS VOL. 01: HERE WAS A MAN SC (IMAGE COMICS)

PUBLISHER Image Comics
WRITER Jason Aaron
ARTIST Jason Latour
COVER ARTIST Jason Latour
PAGES 112 pages.
COLOR Full Color
FORMAT Graphic Novel

Welcome to Craw County, Alabama, home of Boss BBQ, the state champion Runnin' Rebs football team...and more bastards than you've ever seen. When you're an angry old man like Earl Tubb, the only way to survive a place like this...is to carry a really big stick. Collects Southern Bastards #1-4. (W) Jason Aaron (A/CA) Jason Latour.

“What does old Earl Tubb do when he returns home to Craw County, Ala., only to find the place a veritable criminal fiefdom run by Euless Boss, the local high school football coach? Why, pick up the stick helpfully cleaved by lightning from a tree growing out of his daddy's grave and start meting out justice just like his father, the old sheriff, did. In the cleaning-up-the-dirty-old-town Southern-fried pulper, writer Aaron (Scalped) and artist Jason Latour (Django Unchained) spread around no more story than is absolutely necessary, and most of it involves people being at the wrong end of a stick, baseball bat, or even (in an early fight scene) a deep-fryer basket. Both Jasons hail from the South, as they discuss in a particularly bighearted introduction, and so likely feel unencumbered by concerns about overdosing on clichés. Thus, the high-impact pages are strewn with bruising high school football, sweet tea, barbecue, trucker caps, and snarling rednecks. The story, in which Tubb clobbers his way through throngs of underlings to get at Boss, is no more complicated than a redo of Walking Tall. But there's a thread of something deeper, bloodier, and more resonant that often transcends the usual psychotic-redneck shtick, aided in no small part by Latour's spare, elegant art.” - Publishers Weekly.

After a 40 year absence, a man named Earl Tubb returns to Craw, Alabama, to pack up the family house. His long-dead father was a lawman who enforced the law with a heavy stick, administering his own version of justice without recourse to trials and juries. Now Craw is a corrupt town ruled by a man called Coach Boss. When a man is murdered, Earl finds himself playing his father's role. He is a man coming to terms with his past, and perhaps with his destiny.

Insightful characterization makes Southern Bastards stand apart from most works of graphic fiction. Small touches -- a tree and a barking dog that both become metaphors -- contribute to the story's dramatic impact. The unexpected climax at the end of volume I is stunning. The epilog adds fresh understanding to the story.

The art and coloring contribute to the story's power. Southern Bastards is an intense piece of drama from beginning to end. I look forward to the next volume.

Southern Bastards Optioned by FX

Jason Aaron and Jason LaToyr's Southern Bastards has been optioned and will be developed as a one-hour drama at FX, reports Deadline.

The series, which debuted last year at Image Comics, centers on the power struggle between the son of a former sheriff in a small town in the southern United States and a criminal mastermind who is also the coach of a successful high school football team.

The ninth issue of the series came out this week.

Aaron and LaTour will adapt the pilot and serve as executive producers on the series.

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