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.
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.
Story Craw County, Alabama is home of Boss BBQ and the state football champion, the 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 who 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.
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.
Awards Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.2015Harvey AwardsBest New SeriesSouthern BastardsEisner Awards Best Continuing Series Jason Aaron and Jason Latour Best Writer Jason Aaron 2016 Best Continuing Series Jason Aaron and Jason Latour Best Writer Jason Aaron
Issues IssueArcRelease dateStoryArtCover#1Here was a ManApril 30, 2014Jason AaronJason LatourJason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛsJason LatourR.M. GuéraJames HarrenChris Bunner & Rico Renzi#2May 28, 2014Jason Latour#3July 2, 2014#4September 3, 2014#5GridironOctober 29, 2014Jason AaronJason LatourJason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛAndrew Robinson#6December 10, 2014Jason Latour#7February 11, 2015#8April 1, 2015#9HomecomingJune 17, 2015Jason AaronJason LatourJason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛTony 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 LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛBecky Cloonan#16January 11, 2017Jason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛBabs Tarr#17August 16, 2017Jason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛCliff Chiang#18September 27, 2017Jason LatourJason LatourChris BrunnerJason Latour#19January 24, 2018Jason AaronJason LatourJason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛBabs Tarr#20May 9, 2018Jason LatourᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛJamie McKelvie#21RebsJason Latour
Collected editions Trade paperbacks
VolumeTitleRelease dateMaterial collectedISBN1Here Was a ManOctober 1, 2014Southern Bastards #1–42GridironMay 6, 2015Southern Bastards #5–83HomecomingJuly 13, 2016Southern Bastards #9–144Gut CheckMay 23, 2018Southern Bastards #15–20
Premiere hardcovers Book #Release dateMaterial collectedISBNBook OneSeptember 30, 2015Southern Bastards #1–8Book TwoJanuary 11, 2022Southern Bastards #9–20
Adaptation In October 2025, it was announced that Hulu ordered a pilot based on the comic book series, with Matt Olmstead serving as showrunner. Bill Dubuque wrote the teleplay, in addition to sharing a co-story credit with Nia DaCosta, who was set to direct the pilot. In April 2026, it was announced that Kevin Bacon had been cast in a leading role while Reinaldo Marcus Green would replace DaCosta as director.
References
External links
Official website