Southern Bastards #8

by Jason Aaron & Jason Latour

This week’s issue of Southern Bastards marks the end of the Gridiron arc. Letting readers get to know a young Coach Boss brings a whole other dimension to this character. We now understand why football means so much to him and what he had to do to go from ball-boy to coach. This doesn’t excuse Coach Boss from being the horrible person he has become, but now we get a better idea of his reasoning.

This second arc of Southern Bastards has really shown Jason Aaron’s versatile storytelling. Southern Bastards had such a strong opening arc that following it up with a flashback could have gone horribly wrong. However, taking the character of Coach Boss, whom most readers probably despised, and fleshing him out to reveal a more human character really paid off. Now that Southern Bastards is jumping back in time to the present story, it’ll be interesting to see how Coach Boss’s past will play out in the future of Southern Bastard’s story.

The art in Southern Bastards is a huge part of what gives this series its dark and gritty tone. Latour’s style in Southern Bastards looks simplistic on first glimpse, but is actually quite detailed when you examine the pages. Latour does an excellent job with setting Southern Bastards tone and keeping the story reading fluidly every issue. The color palette Latour uses is also essential when reflecting such a callous story like Southern Bastards. Lots of various shades of red and plenty of subtly neutral tones make Southern Bastards feel intensely real.

Southern Bastards continues to raise the bar with each issue. By the end of this issue you will be more than ready to get the next issue. Now that readers are educated on Coach Boss’s past, we are foaming at the mouth for the story to jump back to the present. Southern Bastards has been a series by creators on top of their game telling a story close to their heart. Because every Southern Bastards issue is better than the last, it makes readers that more excited to read the next issue.