Southern Bastards #19

Jason Aaron and Jason Latour's uncompromising series about the dark soul of the American South reaches its fifth chapter of "Gut Check" with this striking 2018 issue. Jason Latour's cover — rendered almost entirely in deep crimson — shows a figure in white athletic gear and a helmet standing defiantly against a massive, looming dark presence, blood-red streaks cutting across the composition like wounds. It's a tense, atmospheric image that captures the series' signature blend of football, violence, and Southern gothic dread beautifully.