• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Comic Book Review – Southern Bastards #14

May 11, 2016 by Zeb Larson

Zeb Larson reviews Southern Bastards #14…

The big game is over. But the troubles have only just begun. The return of Roberta Tubb.

Southern Bastards is finally back, and it’s bringing us Roberta Tubb. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this since the end of the first arc, as Aaron and Latour have been dancing around the margins with this character. They put the issue on solid thematic ground by taking us back in some ways to the first issues of this series. Coach Boss is about to have another enemy coming for him, one who seems to even tougher than her old man. This review will contain some small spoilers, so consider yourself forewarned.

Thematically, this issue picks up where the first arc began: it’s about a complicated relationship with a father. Roberta doesn’t seem to have the level of anger and resentment toward Earl that Earl had for his father, and the one flashback showing both of them is actually amicable. All the resentment for Earl seems to be coming from Roberta’s mother, though that is left unexplained. Still, Roberta also had trouble getting close to her father. In her words, she never really knew him, apart from things he disliked: long hair on men (bad news for me), unkempt yards, and bullshit. In essence, she knew he was a pain in the ass.

At that level though, she’s a chip off the old block. None of the Tubbs know how to walk away from an injustice, whether it’s some dog taking a dump on their porch, a couple of drug dealers beating somebody to death, or an unresolved murder. Earl and Roberta are uncannily alike, barely able to manage themselves around other people. They both want to try take the easy out and try to walk away from what’s bothering them, but they just can’t bring themselves to. For Roberta, this will mean figuring out exactly how her father died. And, if there were any doubts about her, this issue shows that she’s more than capable of delivering an ass-wupping.

Roberta’s race and gender are both simultaneously issues in this book. She’s facing two bars of discrimination all at once; it only takes a few minutes of being in Earl’s old house before the cops are being called about a “suspicious” character. When she keeps her cool and talks her way out of it, she still gets to hear them express disbelief that she could be a war hero, and then blame Obama for it (for her gender, or the color of her skin, or both?). Perhaps that where that toughness comes from: she’s a Tubb, but she has to endure twice as much humiliation just for existing. All the casually racist bullshit she has to endure is simply too much, and it’s going to push her into a confrontation with Boss.

I wish that we had been able to spend a little more time inside Roberta’s head and visit her past. She alludes to her time in Afghanistan (Alabama was apparently the perfect warmup for Kabul), but I would have liked to see a few more bits of it. Then again, she’s about to go and apply that skillset to Coach Boss. Should make for good reading.

Rating: 9.3/10

Zeb Larson

. url=”.” . width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]

https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng

Filed Under: Comic Books, Reviews, Zeb Larson Tagged With: Image, Southern Bastards

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

The Essential Joe Dante Movies

The Most Iconic Cult Classics of All Time

The Essential Modern Day Swashbucklers

10 Stunning Performances Outrageously Snubbed by the Oscars

David Lynch: American Cinema’s Great Enigma

The Bonkers Comedies of Andrew McCarthy

Rooting For The Villain

The Gruesome Brilliance of 1980s Italian Horror Cinema

Great Director’s Cuts That Are Better Than The Original Theatrical Versions

7 Kick-Ass Female-Led Action Movies

Top Stories:

Crazy Cult 90s Horror Movies You May Have Missed

Dune 3 gets official title as production begins

Movie Review – Daniela Forever (2025)

Netflix shares Wednesday season 2 trailer and promo images

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

New trailer for Netflix mystery-thriller series Untamed starring Eric Bana

7 Underrated World War II Romance Movies

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

10 Essential Home Invasion Horror Movies

10 Great Recent Horror Movies You Need To See

Overlooked Horror Actors and Their Best Performance

Ten Essential British Horror Movies You Need To See

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket