Southern Bastards Announces Charity Variant In Response to Online Harassment

12/14/2016 09:43 pm EST

Image Comics announced today that a speical "Don't Be a Bastard" variant cover edition of Jason Latour and Jason Aaron's forthcoming Southern Bastards #16 will donate its proceeds to charity.

This charity variant cover by series co-creator Latour is part of the ongoing "Roberta Tubb" variant series, showcasing Southern Bastards's protagonist Roberta Tubb, interpreted by some of comics' brightest artistic talents.

The proceeds raised by the variant, which depict Tubb carrying a big stick and wearing a t-shirt that says "ask me (nicely) about my feminist agenda," will be split between the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The variant was created in response to a minor controversy when, after a Mockingbird cover depicted the character wearing a t-shirt that said "Ask me about my feminist agenda," series writer Chelsea Cain was harassed and threatened, ultimately electing to take a Twitter hiatus.

"There is still a vocal segment of the comic book readership that is dominated by sexist jerks with Twitter accounts," Cain wrote on her blog. "Twitter is still a highly flawed platform that nurtures a culture of bullying.…But know that I did not leave Twitter because of rape threats or because someone had posted my address, or any of the truly vile tactics you hear about. I left Twitter because of the ordinary daily abuse that I decided I didn't want to live with anymore. The base level of casual crassness and sexism.…If a stranger yells at you on the street? You walk away."

This is not the first time Latour and Aaron have announced a variant to benefit charity. The Southern Bastards #10 charity variant raised $18,000 for the victims of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting in Charleston, SC.

Southern Bastards is a bestselling, Eisner Award-winning comic series that has been praised for its honest portrayal of Southern culture.

Shortly after Image unveiled the cover, Latour tweeted that he had received numerous complaints and threats of boycott.

"Sorry but if you're threatening to drop Southern Bastards over our charity variant? Don't let the door hit you where the lord split you," he tweeted. "Just hilarious when people think Southern Bastards is suddenly doing some out of character political posturing. Do you even comic book, bro? Even if Jason & I weren't fully philosophically behind this charity variant (we are)-- what reader thinks it's out of character for Roberta? If nothing else Bastards has made an effort to show how complex life is even for broken assholes. So take that whiny baby man shit elsewhere."

The Southern Bastards #16 "Don't Be a Bastard" variant by Latour will be available on Wednesday, January 11th. The Final Order Cutoff deadline for comic book retailers is Monday, December 19th.

The variant is a late addition, so it does not appear in Previews. You can contact your local comics retailer to get a copy.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.