"This is a story about pants."
A terrorist attack at the border of California unleashes a devastating zombie plague across the state. One of the survivors is troubled former U.S.M.C. veteran Regina Ragowski. Trapped in the small town of Paso Robles, she seeks the keys to her survival: food, shelter, and most importantly PANTS!Along the way, Regina encounters threats from not only the undead, but from other people and her own personal troubles. She eventually finds an ally in a soldier known as ‘Operator’.
Rags is a 7-issue mini-series published by Antarctic Press.
The comic contains the following tropes:
- Beware the Living: You'd be forgiven for forgetting about the zombies due to the series concentrating on the conflicts created by human survivors.
- Bittersweet Ending: One bordering on No Ending. Regina saves herself and Operator from being killed by a group of soldiers and survivors who betrayed them (while also finding some decent clothes). She and Operator end up as Fire-Forged Friends. Yet they're still stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Granted, it’s one with less asshole survivors to deal with.
- Crapsack World: It is a zombie apocalypse, after all.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Played with. In a curious twist, pre-zombie outbreak flashbacks are in full color, whereas the present-day parts of the story are mostly in greyscale, barring a few exceptions like important characters who are coloured in.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Operator is never called by his actual name.
- Fat Bastard: Regina comes across a camp of survivors. Among them is an overweight woman who shows nothing but disdain for her.
- Fiery Redhead: A justified example. Regina's bad temper stems from her trauma from being a Marine. She also just so happens to be ginger.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Being naked doesn't stop Regina from kicking ass.
- Half the Woman She Used to Be: In a flashback, Regina's friend Rachel is caught in an explosion in Iraq, leaving her with nothing below the waist.
- Mugging the Monster:
- A hipster attempts to assault Regina, a trained Marine. She turns the tables and gives him a beating. Unfortunately, the man's buddy stops her from winning, resulting in the hipster stealing her engagement ring and rifle and smugly getting away.
- A straighter example happens in the last issue. While Regina and Operator are held captive by a group of soldiers and survivors, Regina slips away and gets herself armed before waging a one woman war against her captors.
- Gun Stripping: After losing her M4, the next rifle she acquires is California-legal, which means its magazine is fixed and she's forced to take it apart to reload it. While in the process of doing so, she's attacked and almost killed by a zombie.Regina: "Stupid fucking ... California ... piece of ... shit!"
- Ms. Fanservice: You get to see Regina, a well-built woman, naked for most of the comic. However, as the story goes on, this becomes Fan Disservice as she's revealed to be a troubled woman who only ended up undressed in the first place because she was having a mental breakdown.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Regina doesn't enjoy being naked/in only her underwear.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Much of the comic focuses on Regina's struggle with PTSD.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Regina possesses both qualities. Some scenes emphasize her green eyes by having them glow.
- Semper Fi: While a trained U.S. Marine, Regina suffers from PTSD from the death of her friend, Rachel, which is one of the main focuses of the plot.
- Stalker with a Crush: Regina gets one in Riley, a young man who keeps following her around.
- Undressing the Unconscious: At the end of issue 6, Regina and Operator are knocked out, only to wake later naked and restrained.
- Youthful Freckles: Regina has freckles all over her body.
- Zombie Apocalypse: One caused by a supposed terrorist attack, though the identity of the perpetrators is left unanswered.
