Tim McGraw and Kevin Bacon To Lead Adaptation of Controversial Comic Book

2013 was a time when I was devouring any comic book I could get my hands on, which became a lot easier because I had made the switch to digital. I’ve since switched back to buying physical copies, much to the detriment of my storage space, but at a time when I didn’t have to worry about shelf space, I was going nuts. It wasn’t just the superhero books, as had been my preferred choices for years prior, I was delving more into the wonderful world of creator-owned books, and I stumbled onto Southern Bastards.

Created by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour, the book told the story of a small town in Alabama that was home to a high school football coach/crimelord named Coach Boss, and all of the enemies he’s made over the years. Such enemies include Earl Tubb, who fights back against the maniacal coach. The comic book and its creators felt powerful. I remember Latour putting out an image in the style of the book of a bulldog pissing on the rebel flag in response to the Charlottesville riots. It rules.

Then, at some point, the book just… stopped. For a long time, I wasn’t sure why. It certainly didn’t come out quickly. Between April of 2014 and May of 2018, only 20 issues were released. Latour and Aaron are both successful comic creators, so I just assumed that other work had gotten in the way. I found out recently that that was not the case. It turns out that, in 2020, Jason Latour was accused of sexual harassment by illustrator and designer Lauren Tracey, a.k.a. Lorua. Then, surprise, many other people came forward to say that Latour was a creep.

The comic book had already been on a hiatus at that point, which certainly wouldn’t have been helped by the COVID-19 outbreak. However, an adaptation had already been in development at that point, led by Scott Rudin, who faced his own bit of comeuppance (short-lived as it may have been). While Rudin moved on, the comic has kept going at F/X, and now has some names attached to the cast. Deadline has announced that Tim McGraw will join as Coach Boss, while Erin Kellyman will play Roberta Tubbs, daughter of Earl. This brings both actors within one degree of Kevin Bacon, who was previously announced to be playing Earl.

There was zero mention of Latour’s past in the announcement. I don’t expect there to be, but it does feel odd. It doesn’t seem that he will be involved, but the comic book was essentially cancelled due to his actions. There was a planned 21st issue that he was going to write and draw, which was never released. The second volume of the series was collected in 2022, but it doesn’t seem that there are any future plans for the series to continue, and, to my memory, the story on the page was far from finished.

In a world where I am (rightfully) constantly hearing about JK Rowling’s hateful actions whenever the new adaptation of Harry Potter is brought up, it just seems like there should be some talk about Latour as well.