Southern Bastards: Here Was a Man | ⭐⭐⭐ | Review

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⭐⭐⭐

Southern Bastards: Here Was a Man

Written by Jason Aaron

Art by Jason Latour

Published September 2014 by Image Comics

#Comics, #GraphicNovel, #Mystery, #Crime, #Drama, #Horror

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1 Sentence Tag: The South is creepy people, why aren't more horror/mystery type stories set there?

I have to say that this is definitely not going to be a comic for everyone.  This is a slow burn and not a flash in the pan.  When most people think about comics they gravitate toward those flashy high energy super hero titles, and this is probably as far away from that as you can get before you hit Archie Digest.  There isn't action up the wazoo, there aren't bright colors flowing across the pages and that might make you a little bit uncomfortable, but don't write this comic off yet!

The selling point of this comic for me, is the atmosphere.  This should be split equally between the artist and the writer.  The writer perfectly portrays the southern attitude in the pacing and dialogue and the artist is using a style that is just this side of uncomfortable.  The two together create the perfect creepiness.  I love a good horror atmosphere that leaves you just creeped out enough when you set the book done that you think about picking up something else just to ease your mind a little.

I get that feeling more often in novels and short stories than I do in comics, perhaps because I haven't picked up enough horror comics, perhaps because something in brain doesn't correlate the pretty pictures as scary, not sure, but this one definitely has that tone and atmosphere and I'm giving it props for that.

The girl who works in my local comic shop told me that this title is not very popular and I have to wonder why.  Like I said it isn't snappy or flashy, but different isn't bad.  There has been a lot of talk about variety being a good thing in all forms of media, if you are looking for something different to add to your comic rotation then I would definitely recommend this title.  If you are looking for something that is a little calmer, a little slower, something mysterious and interesting then I would definitely grab this one.

The second arc started recently so pick up the trade and the last couple of issues and you should be all set with this one.  Its in my current pull list and it definitely needs more hype.

Did you guys read it already?  What did you think about it?  How about how the first arc ended?

(If you don't want to be spoiled best steer clear of the comments!)