Southern Bastards
Southern Bastards is a comic book series created in 2014 by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour, and published by Image Comics. The series revolves around the culture in a small town in the American South where football is everything and people try to get away with crime. The series won the 2015 Harvey Award for Best New Series and the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.
| Southern Bastards | |
|---|---|
 Cover for Southern Bastards #1. Art by Jason Latour. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | 2014–2018 |
| No. of issues | 21 |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Jason Aaron Jason Latour |
| Written by | Jason Aaron Jason Latour (#12, #18) |
| Artist(s) | Jason Latour Chris Brunner (#12, #18) |
| Letterer(s) | Jared K. Fletcher |
| Editor(s) | Sebastian Girner |
| Collected editions | |
| Here was a Man | ISBN 9781632150165 |
| Gridiron | ISBN 9781632152695 |
| Homecoming | ISBN 9781632156105 |
| Gut Check | ISBN 9781534301948 |
Publication history
Two Southerners, writer Jason Aaron from Alabama and writer-artist Jason Latour from North Carolina, wanted to write a love letter/hate rant to the South so they created the Southern-focused series.[1]
Story
Craw County, Alabama is home of Boss BBQ and the state football champion Runnin’ Rebs; most residents adore high school football. Coach Euless Boss is the high school football coach with no more room in his office for trophies and is a crime lord that buries bodies underneath the bleachers. The former sheriff's son Earl Tubb is an angry man that has grievances with Coach Boss over how his father died.
Coach Boss holds power over Craw County for one reason – he wins football games. But, after the ugliest loss of his career, the coach must become more of a criminal to keep ahead of his enemies, including new enemies like Roberta Tubb, who's come to town with a machine gun and her own questions about how her father died.
Reception
Southern Bastards has received generally positive reviews. The review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup reports that the series has an average score of 9.0 out of 10.[2]
The series is the 2015 Harvey Award winner for Best New Series) and the 2016 Eisner Award winner for Best Continuing Series.
The series paused in 2020 when Latour took a leave of absence in light of misconduct allegations.[3]
Awards
Southern Bastards won Best Continuing Series at the 2016 Eisner Awards.[4]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Harvey Awards | Best New Series | Southern Bastards | Won | |
| Eisner Awards | Best Continuing Series | Jason Aaron and Jason Latour | Nominated | ||
| Best Writer | Jason Aaron | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | Best Continuing Series | Jason Aaron and Jason Latour | Won | ||
| Best Writer | Jason Aaron | Won |
Issues
| Issue | Arc | Release date | Story | Art | Cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Here was a Man | April 30, 2014 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛs Jason Latour R.M. Guéra James Harren Chris Bunner & Rico Renzi |
| #2 | May 28, 2014 | Jason Latour | |||
| #3 | July 2, 2014 | ||||
| #4 | September 3, 2014 | ||||
| #5 | Gridiron | October 29, 2014 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Andrew Robinson |
| #6 | December 10, 2014 | Jason Latour | |||
| #7 | February 11, 2015 | ||||
| #8 | April 1, 2015 | ||||
| #9 | Homecoming | June 17, 2015 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Tony Moore |
| #10 | July 29, 2015 | Jason Latour | |||
| #11 | October 7, 2015 | ||||
| #12 | November 11, 2015 | Jason Latour | Chris Brunner | ||
| #13 | January 27, 2016 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | ||
| #14 | May 11, 2016 | ||||
| #15 | Gut Check | November 2, 2016 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Becky Cloonan |
| #16 | January 11, 2017 | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Babs Tarr | |||
| #17 | August 16, 2017 | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Cliff Chiang | |||
| #18 | September 27, 2017 | Jason Latour | Jason Latour Chris Brunner |
Jason Latour | |
| #19 | January 24, 2018 | Jason Aaron | Jason Latour | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Babs Tarr | |
| #20 | May 9, 2018 | Jason Latour ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ Jamie McKelvie | |||
| #21 | Rebs[8] | Jason Latour | |||
Collected editions
Trade paperbacks
| Volume | Title | Release date | Material collected | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Here Was a Man | October 1, 2014 | Southern Bastards #1–4 | 9781632150165 |
| 2 | Gridiron | May 6, 2015 | Southern Bastards #5–8 | 9781632152695 |
| 3 | Homecoming | July 13, 2016 | Southern Bastards #9–14 | 9781632156105 |
| 4 | Gut Check | May 23, 2018 | Southern Bastards #15–20 | 9781534301948 |
Premiere hardcovers
| Book # | Release date | Material collected | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book One | September 30, 2015 | Southern Bastards #1–8 | 9781632154446 |
| Book Two | January 11, 2022 | Southern Bastards #9–20 | 9781534303263 |
References
- Ching, Albert (30 June 2015). "This beautifully brutal comic gave me a new appreciation of the South". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- "Southern Bastards Comic Series Reviews". Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Syndicated Comics". 23 June 2020.
- Here Are Your 2016 Eisner Award Winners io9 - Gizmodo, July 23, 2016
- "The 2015 Harvey Award Winners". Tech Times. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
- "2015 Eisner Award Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- "2016 Eisner Award Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- Aaron, Jason (22 January 2019). "Creator-Owned Update". Jason Aaron's blog. Retrieved August 10, 2019.