Southern Bastards

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Southern Bastards
Southern bastards issue 1 cover.jpg
Cover for Southern Bastards #1. Art by Jason Latour.
Publication information
Publisher Image Comics
Format Ongoing series
Publication date2014–2018
No. of issues21
Creative team
Created by Jason Aaron
Jason Latour
Written byJason Aaron
Jason Latour (#12, #18)
Artist(s)Jason Latour
Chris Brunner (#12, #18)
Letterer Jared K. Fletcher
EditorSebastian Girner
Collected editions
Here was a Man ISBN   9781632150165
Gridiron ISBN   9781632152695
Homecoming ISBN   9781632156105
Gut Check ISBN   9781534301948

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.

Contents

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

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2015 Harvey Awards Best New SeriesSouthern BastardsWon
[4]
Eisner Awards Best Continuing SeriesJason Aaron and Jason LatourNominated
[5]
Best WriterJason AaronNominated
2016 Best Continuing Series Jason Aaron and Jason LatourWon
[6]
Best WriterJason AaronWon

Issues

IssueArcRelease dateStoryArtCover
#1Here was a ManApril 30, 2014Jason AaronJason LatourJason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛs
Jason Latour
R.M. Guéra
James Harren
Chris Bunner & Rico Renzi
#2May 28, 2014Jason Latour
#3July 2, 2014
#4September 3, 2014
#5GridironOctober 29, 2014Jason AaronJason LatourJason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Andrew Robinson
#6December 10, 2014Jason Latour
#7February 11, 2015
#8April 1, 2015
#9HomecomingJune 17, 2015Jason AaronJason LatourJason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Tony Moore
#10July 29, 2015Jason Latour
#11October 7, 2015
#12November 11, 2015Jason LatourChris Brunner
#13January 27, 2016Jason AaronJason Latour
#14May 11, 2016
#15Gut CheckNovember 2, 2016Jason AaronJason LatourJason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Becky Cloonan
#16January 11, 2017Jason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Babs Tarr
#17August 16, 2017Jason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Cliff Chiang
#18September 27, 2017Jason LatourJason Latour
Chris Brunner
Jason Latour
#19January 24, 2018Jason AaronJason LatourJason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Babs Tarr
#20May 9, 2018Jason Latour
ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛ
Jamie McKelvie
#21Rebs [7] Jason Latour

Collected editions

Trade paperbacks

VolumeTitleRelease dateMaterial collectedISBN
1Here Was a ManOctober 1, 2014Southern Bastards #1–4 9781632150165
2GridironMay 6, 2015Southern Bastards #5–8 9781632152695
3HomecomingJuly 13, 2016Southern Bastards #9–14 9781632156105
4Gut CheckMay 23, 2018Southern Bastards #15–20 9781534301948

Premiere hardcovers

Book #Release dateMaterial collectedISBN
Book OneSeptember 30, 2015Southern Bastards #1–8 9781632154446
Book TwoJanuary 11, 2022Southern Bastards #9–20 9781534303263

Adaptation

In October 2025, it was announced that Hulu ordered a pilot based on the series. Matt Olmstead will serve as showrunner, with Nia DaCosta directing the pilot and Bill Dubuque writing the script. [8]

References

  1. Ching, Albert (30 June 2015). "This beautifully brutal comic gave me a new appreciation of the South". Business Insider . Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. "Southern Bastards Comic Series Reviews" . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. "Syndicated Comics". 23 June 2020.
  4. "The 2015 Harvey Award Winners". Tech Times. 26 September 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  5. "2015 Eisner Award Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  6. "2016 Eisner Award Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  7. Aaron, Jason (22 January 2019). "Creator-Owned Update". Jason Aaron's blog. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  8. Cordero, Rosy (2025-10-30). "Hulu Orders 'Southern Bastards' Pilot, Based On Graphic Novel Series, From Bill Dubuque & Nia DaCosta". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-10-30.