Euless Boss wasn’t always a coldhearted bastard. He was simply a boy who was broken by Craw County, Alabama and endured unspeakable treatment from the hands of true bastards that led him to become the force of nature he is today. The rise of Euless Boss continues in “Southern Bastards” #7, with writer Jason Aaron and artist/colorist Jason Latour brilliantly and tragically illuminating the transformation of a weakling into a monster of a man.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Jason LatourAs a kid, Euless Boss had football in his blood. But all football ever did for him was make him bleed. Until the day he met a strange man who would change his life and the fate of Craw County forever.
Euless Boss’ tragic history and personal journey continues to sicken and enthrall in “Southern Bastards” #7. Euless’ dreams are dashed after working hard to condition both his body and mind. Football is his life, wife, and supreme reason for living. Horrendous events befall him and push him closer toward unleashing the pure vengeance and omnipotent rule that the previous issues have shown in abundance. Hatred has consumed a man with seemingly no warmth or humanity left within him. Issue seven continues to demonstrate why someone so broken down can rise to be such a bastard.
Aaron’s dialogue and supreme turn of phrase contributes to the feel of a book coming alive on a grand scale. Football jargon and the game’s strategic principles are a fitting storytelling device for a tale that involves a protagonist who is striving toward redemption and a fight to survive in a vicious world. Boastful coaches who care only about winning the game say despicable things purely for the intent to hurt other people. Then there is Euless, who exudes perseverance and will say and do anything to reach the top of the heap. Aaron gives a voice to Euless, Big, and to every peripheral character. He breathes life into these people and, in so doing, breathes life into a county in Alabama that reflects a rich history that has yet to be fully explored.
There’s a depth and breadth to Aaron’s characters that makes them human and relatable despite their penchant for dealing with life in a rougher way than they or those around them would probably like. Euless’ blind mentor, Big, cares for his protégé and allows himself to open up more to Euless without becoming maudlin. These are hardened individuals who have no time for saccharine exchanges. They care for each other and understand the hardships each must suffer despite coming from different backgrounds and worlds. Race, eyesight (or lack of it, in Big’s case), and age mean nothing. Aaron just allows the characters to act naturally and permits Latour to bring them and their violent world they live in to meticulous life.
That violence is put on barbaric, yet beautiful display by Latour. The brutal physicality of “Southern Bastards” #7 is not just evident in the altercations between individuals, but in the pure violence that Latour portrays in the game scenes. In this issue, football is like a dance, where every move is choreographed in order to not only win a simple game, but to win the proverbial game of life. We feel the aggressive shoves, the anticipation of a ball about to be kicked, and a pileup of players who suffer under the weight of each other. One need not be proficient in the language of football in order to become mesmerized by these scenes, with Latour’s angles he employs during the action making us feel excitement and dread. Latour plunges us into the violence of the book, whether it’s strategic like the game or the violent emotions that erupt from the chaos of life’s cruelties.
Another way that Latour brings this issue to such visceral life is through his faces. They contain such pure emotion and the weight of the world, whether it’s Euless, Big, or any minor character. In one poignant panel, Euless is dropped on his knees and says, “This can’t be how it ends.” Unlike the action-packed game scenes, this quiet panel has Euless facing the reader on his knees with his eyes closed in frustration, brow furrowed, and a face that has become weathered at such a young age because of the tragedy and no-good bastards in his life. The panel is so powerful because it takes place on the hallowed ground of a football field with a puddle of blood and Big’s weathered and resigned face keeping vigil over him. The simplicity that Latour brings to his art is effective throughout every panel in the issue and especially when it comes to his faces. It’s difficult to forget that time beaten face that belongs to Euless’ daddy.
Continued belowLatour reflects the history that is imbued within Aaron’s writing with his consistent use of color and their various hues throughout the issue. The colors used in the book paint Euless’ past as a blood soaked chapter of his rough life. There’s a history that seeps through each page, with a griminess that gives the issue a feeling of a real life that has been endured in such an animalistic way. Despite the filth, there’s an ethereal quality within the profuse usage of the color red. Blood, both related to family and setting, is definitely a metaphor for the way Craw County has dwelled permanently within Euless’ pores and become something that can’t be ripped from his very being.
One other simple, yet highly effective, way that Latour transports us into the past is the use of the color beige that borders every page and panel of the issue. It is reminiscent of a scrapbook and, together with the appropriate overuse (in a good way, of course) of red, makes the issue’s focus on history much more powerful through the metaphorical use of color.
Aaron and Latour have succeeded in transforming a villainous character into a sympathetic character. This is because Craw County is a place devoid of ambiguities. Although a man may seem like a hardened bastard, one must wonder what the role the past played in transforming a human into a monster. People make decisions in “Southern Bastards” #7, right or wrong, and the consequences inevitably lead to heartache and despair.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – If you felt sorry for Coach Boss in the last issue, “Southern Bastards” #7 will only cement your ambiguous feelings toward a man who has done much wrong in his life. This is just one reason why Aaron and Latour are a set of bastards that are creating one of the best comic book titles today.
