Southern Bastards #1. Walking Taller.

Southern Bastards #1 review

Image Comics somehow brings out the grungiest, sci fi-est, darkest, and realest books on the market. Besides the sci fi-est word I just made up, Southern Bastards #1 is all of those things. A literal hard hitting book that will probably shake you to the core.

Southern Bastards #1 brings Earl Tubb back to the small town he wanted to forget. His father, an honorable man and sheriff lost his life doing what he thought was right. Earl has returned to Craw County and well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

You can tell Southern Bastards #1 takes some of it’s ques from classic stories like Walking Tall, but still manages to find it’s own dirty identity. Jason Aaron wasted no time building a strong relationship with Earl, the main protagonist, who you’ll like from the get go. The town of Craw County soon becomes a character within itself, I always think it’s corny to say stuff like that, but the uncomfortable history the town is hiding is just too much to ignore.

Jason Latour pencils for Southern Bastards #1 and I couldn’t imagine the book being drawn in any other manner. Rough, gritty, grimy, just as the story was meant to be seen as, and be told as for that matter. The last scene of the book is extremely powerful and very moving, something you didn’t expect, but somehow manage to respect.

Southern Bastards #1 is another bat to the gut from Image Comics, and I mean that in the most positive way. It sounds bad, it looks bad, and that’s a good thing.