What is up with Southern Bastards?

[El Sombrero]

What happened to this series? I feel like they have put out one issue in the last four months, and I don't think there's been anything solicited in the future at all. Did the creators make an announcement about this going on hiatus? I know Image series go on breaks in between arcs to catch up, but this seems extreme.

[BogSurfer]

Yes, it's on hiatus right now. Last issue (14) took a little too long to come out, and now they are officially on break between arcs. Looking like we won't see another issue until September at the earliest. Fantastic series, but the delays throughout the last year have been brutal.

[wwise03]

Sadly, it seems this is going to be the fate of a lot of Image titles (i.e., Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, Velvet, etc.).

As far as has been put out there news wise, Southern Bastards, as well as Sex Criminals and Velvet, are still ongoing. But I would not expect to get a steady stream of those books ever again. I would say we may get something like 6 issues of each over the course of the next 12 months if we are lucky.

Unfortunately, because of this, my Image pull list has dropped from about 15 titles down to 5. I will be happy to read those books I dropped in trade or hardcover format when enough issues are collected to make for a somewhat complete story.

[El Sombrero]

Sadly, it seems this is going to be the fate of a lot of Image titles (i.e., Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, Velvet, etc.).

As far as has been put out there news wise, Southern Bastards, as well as Sex Criminals and Velvet, are still ongoing. But I would not expect to get a steady stream of those books ever again. I would say we may get something like 6 issues of each over the course of the next 12 months if we are lucky.

Unfortunately, because of this, my Image pull list has dropped from about 15 titles down to 5. I will be happy to read those books I dropped in trade or hardcover format when enough issues are collected to make for a somewhat complete story.

Yep, that's kind of where I'm at. I've switched from reading Image comics digitally as they come out & then getting the trade, to just trade-waiting. I'd rather have delays to maintain consistent art quality than have fill-ins or sloppy art, but the delays have sort of made me forget about the books to where I'm fine just waiting all the way to the trade.

I just feel like the delays on this title in particular are really bad. Saga, Descender, Deadly Class, Chew, Injection...those are books I'm reading that take the break in between arcs, and it feels like they're taking reasonable amounts of time. The delays with Southern Bastards feel extreme to where I was wondering if they ever formally addressed what was going on. I'm kind of bummed too because I feel SB is way, way better than the rest of what Aaron and Latour are working on. Makes me disappointed to see different Aaron and Latour books come out every month that I think are mediocre when they have this potential classic that they're letting waste away.

[InformationGeek]

Like everyone said, Southern Bastards is taking another break. Hopefully when it comes back, it'll be back for a while.


Most importantly though, hi Sombrero! Where have you been? It's been a while!

[El Sombrero]

Most importantly though, hi Sombrero! Where have you been? It's been a while!

I took a break from comics for a while. DC Rebirth compelled me to get back into things, but I looked at my Comixology account and literally did not get any comics from January till May. I kind of shift between hobbies and recently got back into video gaming (which I had lost touch with for a few years while I was really into comics). So I had been spending most of my time and money playing video games. I did miss comics a bit though. I like the frequency of getting new issues every week and constantly having something to look forward to; I am picky with games so I only buy a few per year (but spend lots of hours with those).

I have still been keeping up with solicits and Image really seems to have fallen off. I still like their output more than any other publisher, but most of their new series don't look appealing and it seems like every month there are tons of books on hiatus. As said, this has pushed me to just go trade-only with them.

[Maxpower00044]

What happened to this series? I feel like they have put out one issue in the last four months, and I don't think there's been anything solicited in the future at all. Did the creators make an announcement about this going on hiatus? I know Image series go on breaks in between arcs to catch up, but this seems extreme.

There was big delays (probably cause of Spider Gwen) and now most of the Image stuff is being held off for longer than usual so creators are caught up on their next arcs for minimal delays. And, yes they talked about it in the back of the latest issue that came out last month.

[Peter Parker]

Saga is not really delayed, they schedule breaks. I culled a lot of Image pulls when they became too sporadic, that is usually a sign that the end is neigh. Although nobody is worst for this than Archie. Afterlife with Archie was great, but its like months and months between issues. Forget it.

[cc008]

The delays stink, but it's whatever. Keeps some money in my pocket (or frees me up to buy more books each month) and the quality remains top notch. I don't have that much of a problem waiting. It's easy to follow. Not like a book like East of West where there's a lot going on. These types of delays on that type of book would drive me crazy.

[numberthirty]

When it comes to writers that have an obviously have workload, I can accept that something probably has to give from time to time.

[ArthurCurry]

Southern Bastards was probably my favorite series, but this past arc they basically took the "Standard Image break" that happens between arcs, but between every issue. I think we may have gotten 5 or 6 comics in a year.

This would be OK by me if they saved them and released them in a block of 6- 1 issue each month, and then take 6 month break. But there were 2-3 month break between every issue which absolutely killed any momentum for me.

On top of that in the midst of Aaron's inability to get SB out timely he goes and creates a new series Goddamned, which releases 2? issues and then runs into the same delays SB has.

[Joker]

Latour's also been traveling heavily on the con circuit this last year, which had to have an effect on his output.

It didn't bother me too much with this arc, since it was mostly stand alone issues, but it's a bummer when such a good book is missing so often. I hope they course correct for the next arc.

[Cap10nate]

I don't mind the scheduled breaks that Image does between arcs, but when it is between issues within an arc, it really kills the momentum. Especially for something like SB which is a slow burn anyways. Velvet is the same way. I think we only got 4 books in all of 2015 from them. I love the story, but would love it even more if it was 25 issues out instead of 14.

[JFP]

Yep, that's kind of where I'm at. I've switched from reading Image comics digitally as they come out & then getting the trade, to just trade-waiting. I'd rather have delays to maintain consistent art quality than have fill-ins or sloppy art, but the delays have sort of made me forget about the books to where I'm fine just waiting all the way to the trade.

I just feel like the delays on this title in particular are really bad. Saga, Descender, Deadly Class, Chew, Injection...those are books I'm reading that take the break in between arcs, and it feels like they're taking reasonable amounts of time. The delays with Southern Bastards feel extreme to where I was wondering if they ever formally addressed what was going on. I'm kind of bummed too because I feel SB is way, way better than the rest of what Aaron and Latour are working on. Makes me disappointed to see different Aaron and Latour books come out every month that I think are mediocre when they have this potential classic that they're letting waste away.

Maintaining a comic book is difficult. I don't give them shit about it. But I am with you. I just wait for trades of good books. I wonder if it would be better if many Image creators just put out comics in whole book formats rather than monthly.