Review: Southern Bastards – Volume 2

Southern Bastards –  Volume 2: Guardians

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Jason Latour
Image Comics
Street: 05.19

I didn’t realize that compelling stories could be written about football, and I’ll say it for all of us: Southern Bastards has as much to do with football as The Walking Dead has to do with zombies. Football, like zombies, is a catalyst—it’s what drives the characters to be who and what they are. The grungy art style, tied to the murky/swampy world of the South, not only compeled me to rip frame-to-frame, but it makes everything seem just a bit more evil than the story may imply. While the underlying theme of “football is life” pushes you forward frame-by-frame, the “organized crime”—style setups from character to character add enough drama to make anyone—including someone who doesn’t understand sport—ready to buy more. This comic is a dark and gritty look at people going to far for what they love, every comic reader should be collecting this. –Thomas Winkley