A review by bengriffin
Southern Bastards, Vol. 3: Homecoming by Jason Latour, Chris Brunner, Jason Aaron

5.0

Goddamn Southern Bastards, each time you think you know what this story is and where it's going it pulls back and reveals more of itself, adding more layers and depth on to the bigger picture. It's fantastic, clever, and easily one of the best things I've read/seen in a very long time. If you ever need to show anyone how good comics can be then this should be one of your go to choices as it easily rivals the storytelling on the best HBO shows. The setting and the people are so textured and ooze character, and it manages to portray the south as both wonderful and devastating. There's so much love and hate running through the book, and this volume has an important and erudite essay at the end regarding the confederate flag which more explicitly states Aaron's feelings for the south. The artwork is brutal, gritty and beautiful and compliments everything perfectly, from the outbursts of shocking violence, to the quiet reflective moments. It has some of the best panelling and pacing of anything I'm currently reading, and when they're filled with some of the most varied, flawed, and intriguing characters out there then it's hard not to be excited for every page. I don't know how it manages to balance the humour, the violence, the characters and the story as well as it does, but I'm very keen to see where it goes and how it all turns out. I suspect it won't be happy, but I'm sure it will be excellent.