“Southern Bastards” #4 is a perfect comic book. It's got an insane twist that turns everything on its head. This is quickly becoming the next big thing in comics. After this arc is collected it will shock no one if it takes off the way Saga did. Read Full Review

Aaron is at his best when he's writing about men returning to the places that made them. This series is perhaps his greatest meditation on that premise. Southern Bastards has arrived. Get on board. Read Full Review

Southern Bastard‘s first arc comes to an explosive end, as Earl and Coach Boss embroil in a fight that has devastating consequences. Highly recommended. Read Full Review

Southern Bastards #4 is a slam-bang end to an astonishingly powerful debut arc. Jason Aaron and Jason Latour deliver a story that hits on all cylinders, with character and drama of the highest order bleeding from every page. Craw County's a nasty place, but then again so's the world. Looking it head-on takes some intestinal fortitude, but the passage through this American heart of darkness is well worth the trip. Read Full Review

It would be a huge waste to spoil the direction Aaron is taking Southern Bastards as far as the story will be going (and just who will be the series' protagonist), so I highly recommend that you go out and get the first collected trade paperback on sale tomorrow (Oct 1st 2014). You won't be disappointed. Southern Bastards is shaping up to be THE must read of 2014...and beyond, and that's nothing less than we'd expect from the team of Aaron and Latour. Read Full Review

Southern Bastards is a stellar entry in the revenge/crime genre. The final page swerve promises to complicate the narrative even further, taking the series in a direction that is rife with potential to explore some interesting issues rooted in the setting. Jason Aaron and Jason Latour have made it clear that this book is something of a return to their roots, as both were born and raised in the South. There's a rich metaphor embedded in the comic pages, as Earl Tubb's stand may resonant with everyone who both loves and hates where they come from, balancing the idea of leaving a bad situation against trying to make a place worth saving better for everyone. Southern Bastards #4 is a delicious slice of sweaty country noir that's just getting started. Check it out. Read Full Review

Basically if you're not reading Southern Bastards every month, you need to come correct, son. There's not a book really like this on the shelves that comes to mind, and it's all the better for it. They're doing it every month, and they're doing it right, and you're missing out. Read Full Review

It going to take a lot more to deal with these people, and, without spoiling the last page, Aaron is setting something up that I think will be pretty profound, if not more horrible than anything that has happened yet. I love this book. I think it can be appreciated on a social level even if you have no exposure to this particular culture. It is an archetypal story, I can't wait to see how fucked up things can get. Read Full Review

Southern Bastards works exceedingly well purely on dramatic terms. It's a well-crafted story, expertly told by both Aaron and Latour. What sets this comic apart though is that even though it is fiction, it is entirely true. From the smallest details to the essence of its plot, every part of the comic functions to explore a truth about a certain sort of place and the people who occupy it. Southern Bastards transcends its medium and premise in order to seek what it means to come from a small town in America. Read Full Review

To be clear, none of that is a bad thing, and it's not like the actual human characters are weak characters in any way. In fact, all of them, Earl included, are great characters. Coach Boss, who we finally get to meet in the issue, is the perfect example of this. He's an exceptionally well written character, and just the little characterization he gets in this issue makes him extraordinarily dynamic. Sure, he may be based off of a well-known character archetype, but that doesn't make him any less interesting. It's a testament to Aaron's skill as a writer that at this point in the story, it's easy to care about the characters, despite their development (barring Earl) actually being fairly minimal. Read Full Review

Southern Bastards #4 is the finale for the first arc of the series and it goes out with a bang. The story is fantastic, the characters are engaging and memorable, the writing is strong, and the artwork really ties it all together. After this ending, I am in this for the long haul. I can't wait to see where the comic goes in the coming months. Read Full Review

Half about a man tired of turning a blind eye and half about him trying to right his wrongs, Southern Bastards is set in a small town in Alabama. It's a town that he's hated his entire life, but a town that's still his home, and he won't stopuntil he gets his point across. Southern Bastards ends with a bloody all-out fight that allows for the next arc to go in any direction the artists please. It's an exciting ending and I, for one, cannot wait to see where Southern Bastards goes next. Jason has promised us that this is just the beginning, that there are more characters we haven't met yet and a lot more of Craw County to explore. No matter what happens, I will guarantee that it will maintain its gritty, honest, and interesting style of storytelling. Read Full Review

This is a great end of an arc and also an intriguing launch pad for the future of this series. Southern Bastards is a very grounded look at the south and this issue is perhaps the best of the series so far so in simple terms go buy it. Read Full Review

Aaron's book cleverly emphasizes themes of loyalty, duty to humanity, and bravery on a gritty level that is rarely found in comics. This series is currently featuring some of the best artwork in the entire industry. Artist Jason Latour's characters are realistically ugly and worn; reflecting years of hard lives. Read Full Review

Southern Bastards is a modern tale with the visceral elegance of sandpaper and an open-hearted honesty that makes it impossible not to absolutely love. The humor and the grim reality of this issue is enthralling to try and comprehend and disappointing to fully accept. With this issue wrapping up the first arc of titled “Here Was A Man”, and an epilogue that is sure to leave fans with their mouths gasping, I cannot wait to see where Aaron and Latour takes us from here. Read Full Review

That's why this book is so incredibly refreshing. It is an accurate depiction of these clandestine customs and the culture that perpetuates them. I, for one, think it's about damn time someone got around to tellin' this kind of story, and these boys are doin' us proud. Read Full Review

Well structured story, good concept, great characters and great art. Oh, and some nice twists too. Read Full Review

The real focus that's driven home with Southern Bastards #4 has to do with Earl's impotence, his inability to truly achieve any of the goals he sets for himself, often because those goals are living in his father's shadow. We see brief flashbacks of his life in the fight I mentioned like his Sergeant getting killed in Vietnam and Earl choking up on the football line, even the first issue of Southern Bastards concluded with Earl unable to chop down the tree that had grown out of his father's grave. I'm not sure what this particular emphasis is meant to be in the grand scheme of things but I think that idea of his impotence being tied into his cowardice and attempts to emulate his father is going to end up a major thematic counter point in future issues. For right now however this was a great capstone to Southern Bastards' first arc, a magnificently violent and bloody pay off to all the building pressure and tension of the series so far, highly recommended. Read Full Review

Writers such as Mark Twain wrote of a romanticized South suffused with hyperbole, while others emphasized the grotesqueness of the South. Aaron and Latour capture both schools of literature masterfully in Southern Bastards. This issue is a bombshell, so it is absolutely worth the purchase and if you havent picked up the previous threeDO IT!! Read Full Review

Wow, what an issue! A major battle takes place that almost had me cheering. It's only issue 4 and it feels like we already hit a huge climax. If this is what happens this early in the series, I can't wait to see where it's going. Great read!

Great end to arc

A nihilistic downward spiral. Good times.

In my review of a previous issue, I recall making a comment something to the effect of "I hope this isn't just a story about a big white man cleaning up a corrupt town." Well done, Jason Aaron. Well done. I didn't see that coming, but I'm pleased to have my expectations subverted. This issue opened with a Vietnam flashback, one that I couldn't really garner the purpose of; there was no real character or plot development, and it seemed unrelated to the remainder of the story. There's an extended scene of conflict and violence, similar to what we've seen in previous issues, and between the same individuals. So apart from the big plot twist, and perhaps a mini-revelation about the identity of Coach Boss, there's not a lot to this particular installment. Still, what a plot twist! more

SPOILER! If you didn't see this ending coming from the beginning...

Main character dies at the hands of the picked on kid turned douchey bully high school football coach in a book that has been derivative and completely generic from the start. Nothing new from this genre of story at all.

0/5 story
3.5/5 art