It’s easy to forget how Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece Pulp Fiction forever altered the course
of American pop culture. Its influence
reverberated far beyond the confines of American cinema and could be seen in a
variety of different mediums. In the years immediately following its
release, many tried to ape its style, often failing miserably. In 1996, comic book artist Jason Pearson paid
tribute to the film as only he could, with an irreverent yarn that told the not-so-tender
tale of an estranged father and daughter becoming reacquainted with one another.
Body Bags: Father’s
Day is set in the fictional city of Terminus, Georgia. Various bounty hunter assassins, also called “body
baggers,” battle each other for the contract jobs being offered by powerful
underworld figures. Mack Delgado, also
known as the fearsome body bagger Clownface, is out to settle a score. A former protégé attempted to assassinate him
and his partner Pops after the pair was awarded a particularly lucrative
contract. The assassination attempt
having failed, Mack and Pops frantically hunt down the traitor. In the midst of all this, Mack’s estranged daughter
Panda arrives at his doorstep unannounced and eager to follow in his footsteps.
Things go haywire when Mack and Pops attempt to fulfill the contract they’d
been awarded. Panda is then forced to
decide if she really wants to be a part of the family business.
Pulp Fiction
offered a rather offbeat view of American crime. In actuality, it was a dark comedy that used
the underworld as its backdrop. Its universe
was populated by inept, drug addled crooks that often embarked on some weird
adventures. Body Bags: Father’s Day operated on that same wavelength, albeit
with a few sci-fi embellishments.
Terminus is populated with cybernetically enhanced killers and cyborg
bodyguards. The main characters are
essentially flamboyant racial caricatures.
Clownface’s I similar to that of the Cholo and Pachuco subcultures. Throughout the series, he is shown sporting khakis,
wallet chains, and Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers. The characters also refer to each other in
terms of racial epithets.
Long before Tarantino ventured into comic book territory
with Kill Bill, Jason Pearson was applying
the Tarantino sensibility to the comic book page. Marvin getting his brains splattered all over
the inside of Jules and Vincent’s car was seen by many as the epitome of bad
taste. The violence in Body Bags: Father’s
Day went many steps further, combining the physics of Looney Tunes shorts with splatter film level bloodletting. The voluptuously bosomed Panda seems light as
feather as she bounds through the air, semi-automatics blazing. By contrast, Clownface barrels through each
and every panel like an unchained wrecking ball. The contrast of is at once outrageously silly
yet undeniably cool. This is due in
large part to Jason Pearson’s amazing artwork, which combines gross exaggeration
with an eye for detail. Pearson never
forsakes the basics of good comic art, but still plays fast and loose with the
rules.
Clownface’s imposing shadow looms large over the whole
affair. He’s an impossibly muscled
behemoth, possessing the ability to throw knives with such speed and force that
they explode upon impact. In the very
first issue, He famously stabs a pregnant woman in the belly in order to
extract vital information her from her coke dealing husband. Curiously, the act is suitably horrific but
does not affect one’s ability to like or relate to the Clownface.
Body Bags: Father’s
Day was released in 1996 to great controversy. It was a gift wrapped present for the likes
of Bob Dole and others who felt that popular entertainment had long since overstepped
the bounds of good taste. It featured a
scantily clad 14 year-old female assassin.
That showed a level of balls that even Tarantino might’ve lacked at the
time. The influence of Panda and
Clownface can clearly be seen in such characters as Big Daddy and Hit Girl from
Kick-Ass. Unlike that series, Body Bags never presented itself as being a realistic take on
anything. It had no such pretensions. It
was a wild, rollicking ride that only wanted to entertain readers. It did that in spades, and left them
clamoring for more. If there is any
justice in the world, Body Bags will
one day become a monthly series.
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