woodsbookclub's review against another edition
4.0
Southern Bastards – Here Lies a Man, by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour, invites us to dive deep in the South of the United States. Mixing fiction and even the authors' memoirs, the criminal series was nominated for several Eisner awards and won a Harvey for Best New Series.
The colour palette is filled with dark reds, browns and yellows, which give us the feeling that we are catching a glimpse of hell on Earth. The first page shocks the reader with the image of a dog defecating in front of several signs advertising roadside churches. And the premise is quite simple. In a city that feels powerless, a man decides, against another, that it is time to assert himself, although the chances of winning are few or even non-existent.
Earl Tubb is the protagonist who returns to a small town in Alabama to empty his old uncle Buhl's house. But, unfortunately, he gets into trouble with Boss, the local football coach, turning his (initially brief) stay into a descent into hell.
In his speech, Earl is rational, even soft, and he had sworn he would stay away from the city and the fame of his late father, who had been a sheriff there 40 years ago. But, eventually, he starts to walk around with a baseball bat. After the death of an acquaintance at the hands of the Boss Coach team, leaving is no longer an option.
While facing the coach and, consequently, an entire baseball team, Earl tries to communicate with someone whose identity is only revealed in the epilogue. Right up to the end, the reader is treated to as much authenticity as clichés. Craw County presents itself, in a rural, ultra-violent, southern setting, with lots of barbecues and lots of football.
This first volume doesn't unfold any further, focusing on introducing the characters and backstory, allowing the reader to settle in and see enough curiosity aroused in them to look forward to the next chapter.
The South is known for a past of corruption in small towns. Both authors are southern boys with a love-hate relationship with their origins. Aaron, who promises never to return to the South, describes it as the most peaceful place he's ever been. But also as "a place we can miss and love and hate and be afraid of, all at the same time." As for Latour, he has returned to the South, because he realized that he loves its nonsense.
The colour palette is filled with dark reds, browns and yellows, which give us the feeling that we are catching a glimpse of hell on Earth. The first page shocks the reader with the image of a dog defecating in front of several signs advertising roadside churches. And the premise is quite simple. In a city that feels powerless, a man decides, against another, that it is time to assert himself, although the chances of winning are few or even non-existent.
Earl Tubb is the protagonist who returns to a small town in Alabama to empty his old uncle Buhl's house. But, unfortunately, he gets into trouble with Boss, the local football coach, turning his (initially brief) stay into a descent into hell.
In his speech, Earl is rational, even soft, and he had sworn he would stay away from the city and the fame of his late father, who had been a sheriff there 40 years ago. But, eventually, he starts to walk around with a baseball bat. After the death of an acquaintance at the hands of the Boss Coach team, leaving is no longer an option.
While facing the coach and, consequently, an entire baseball team, Earl tries to communicate with someone whose identity is only revealed in the epilogue. Right up to the end, the reader is treated to as much authenticity as clichés. Craw County presents itself, in a rural, ultra-violent, southern setting, with lots of barbecues and lots of football.
This first volume doesn't unfold any further, focusing on introducing the characters and backstory, allowing the reader to settle in and see enough curiosity aroused in them to look forward to the next chapter.
The South is known for a past of corruption in small towns. Both authors are southern boys with a love-hate relationship with their origins. Aaron, who promises never to return to the South, describes it as the most peaceful place he's ever been. But also as "a place we can miss and love and hate and be afraid of, all at the same time." As for Latour, he has returned to the South, because he realized that he loves its nonsense.
rltinha's review against another edition
4.0
Assim que no primeiro painel foi evidenciado que o Alabama seria o Estado onde se desenrolaria a acção, aguardei expectante a chegada d'O Homem do Alabama.
Tal como em Scalped, Aaron volta a fazer retornar um filho «pródigo» ao lugar da infância e juventude, tão odiado quanto dotado de um magnetismo inescapável, um chamamento feito de aversão parcialmente auto-dirigida, ambientado de hermetismo brutal e hierarquizado do capanga mais estúpido até ao chefe supremo e (até então) incontestado, paulatinamente (na ausência do herói) fortalecido no seu posto.
A virtude da escrita de Aaron é não hiperbolizar cruezas da maldade nem beatificar virtudes elementares. A digladiação de ambas, no cenário criado, dá ao leitor a soberana possibilidade de as valorar.
Por fim, a arte de Latour é de tal modo preponderante que é a segunda voz narrativa deste Southern Bastards. Na matização dos flashbacks (repletos de raiva, dor e/ou angústia), nas paletes limitadas e painéis classicamente fechados, sangrando (não sei se em pt será este o termo) no final ou nos momentos de maior violência (explícita ou iminente), materializa-se o hermetismo do fatum de Earl Tubb de modo flagrante, contemplando-se no grotesco dos rostos a realidade inelutável onde importa sempre situar quem não pode fugir de si mesmo.
Tal como em Scalped, Aaron volta a fazer retornar um filho «pródigo» ao lugar da infância e juventude, tão odiado quanto dotado de um magnetismo inescapável, um chamamento feito de aversão parcialmente auto-dirigida, ambientado de hermetismo brutal e hierarquizado do capanga mais estúpido até ao chefe supremo e (até então) incontestado, paulatinamente (na ausência do herói) fortalecido no seu posto.
A virtude da escrita de Aaron é não hiperbolizar cruezas da maldade nem beatificar virtudes elementares. A digladiação de ambas, no cenário criado, dá ao leitor a soberana possibilidade de as valorar.
Por fim, a arte de Latour é de tal modo preponderante que é a segunda voz narrativa deste Southern Bastards. Na matização dos flashbacks (repletos de raiva, dor e/ou angústia), nas paletes limitadas e painéis classicamente fechados, sangrando (não sei se em pt será este o termo) no final ou nos momentos de maior violência (explícita ou iminente), materializa-se o hermetismo do fatum de Earl Tubb de modo flagrante, contemplando-se no grotesco dos rostos a realidade inelutável onde importa sempre situar quem não pode fugir de si mesmo.
jakekilroy's review against another edition
4.0
This came so very heartily recommended to me by a comic book shop owner that I had to purchase it. It's not my sort of scene, but it, at the same time, very much is. Taking place in a corrupt small town in Alabama, an older gruff man comes back to pack up the house he left 40 years ago because of his mean—possibly insane, possibly righteous—father. He finds that the local high school football coach is something of a mysterious crime boss and the team are violent hooligans at best. So with a famed stick in his hand and fury in his heart, he looks to shape up the town, cracking one head at a time.
2022 Reread: This thing breezily builds its world and sets up trouble with grit and gusto. Hard not to root for a mad old man with a legendary stick.
2022 Reread: This thing breezily builds its world and sets up trouble with grit and gusto. Hard not to root for a mad old man with a legendary stick.
quyeh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
daniela_gothicclare's review against another edition
2.0
Eu não sou grande fã de Graphic Novels, a verdade é que não é dos gêneros que mais me fascina.
No caso desta história não gostei. Não senti empatia com os personagens. Não tenho vontade de continuar a ler a série.
É um livro que se lê rápido mas não me chamou à atenção.
Por esse motivo decidi dar 2 estrelas.
No caso desta história não gostei. Não senti empatia com os personagens. Não tenho vontade de continuar a ler a série.
É um livro que se lê rápido mas não me chamou à atenção.
Por esse motivo decidi dar 2 estrelas.
heypretty52's review against another edition
3.0
There are plenty of reviews telling you what Southern Bastards is about. I'll simply tell you that I found it to be a great, complex series about one man's violent quest for justice in a corrupt town, but it really bummed me out.
chrisjp's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant first volume. Loved the tone. So nice to see a set up for an ongoing series but also a perfectly contained one volume story.
Can't wait to read more.
Can't wait to read more.