Southern Bastards Volume 2: Gridiron Review

(WARNING: Spoilers Contained within Review!)

Southern Bastards Volume 2: Gridiron follows the death of our hero Earl Tubbs from Volume 1.

In Southern Bastards Volume 1: Here Was A Man, we had Earl trying to right the wrongs of his hometown.

Unfortunately, Craw County did not help Earl in his endeavor.

By the end of Southern Bastards Volume 1, we see Earl confront the man that runs Craw County – Coach Euless Boss. They end up getting into a fight and we then witness the entire town watch as Coach Boss beats Earl Tubbs to death.

I love what Jason Aaron did in Southern Bastards Volume 2 because of the way he flipped the script. In Volume 1, you are rooting for Earl Tubbs to give Coach Boss the beating he deserves.

In Southern Bastards Volume 2, Aaron takes the entire book to show us Coach Boss’ troubled past. We get a glimpse into the tragedies that made Coach Boss who he is today.

We can see where Volume 2 was heading when the reference to Coach Boss as a “waterboy” got mentioned. What we get in Southern Bastards: Gridiron is to see that unfold firsthand.

Euless Boss, as a kid, was small and scrawny. He would never give up on his dream to get recruited for the Runnin’ Rebs. Boss was small but he had the more fight in him than the entire football team combined.

Euless Boss is made fun of by not only his peers but the Coaches. They tell him to quit and that he will never amount to anything. Everyone presses on Boss to give up but he never does.

His home life is no picnic either. Euless’ father is a criminal and shows no love to him. Southen Bastards Volume 2 shows Euless’ father as a drunk, hateful son of a bitch.

It looks like the entire town is stacked against Euless Boss’ dreams of becoming a Runnin’ Reb.

I don’t want to spoil Southen Bastards Volume 2 by saying much more.

After reading Gridiron, you will have a different perspective about Coach Boss.

I guarantee you will change from rooting against him to rooting for him. You will sympathize with eh character instead of hoping he gets whats coming to him.

Jason Aaron and company flips the entire script in this volume of Southern Bastards.

As I said in the review of Southern Bastards Volume 1, Jason LaTours artwork is nothing short of amazing. He adds that Tarantino-esque feels that I talked about in the review.

Jason Aaron took the villain in the first volume and turned him into the protagonist. It was one of the best twists I have ever seen in comics.

Southern Bastards Volume 2: Gridiron is still full of grime, grit, and blood. It all adds up to make this one powerful and entertaining volume. Gridiron is a book that made me wanting more once I finished it. So onward to Volume 3!