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Street Angel TPB Book Released: 15 June 2005 Review posted: 30 June 2005 Writer: Jim Rugg, Brian Maruca Artist: Jim Rugg Publisher: SLG  5.00 out of 5 Stars Reviewed by Adam White

At a time when the comics industry relies less and less on fresh material, Street Angel stands out as a beacon of hope among the mountains of tripe. Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca have created an original and compelling heroine in the form of Jesse “Street Angel” Sanchez, a homeless 12-year-old ninja skateboarder. Rugg and Maruca make Jesse not only a clever, capricious and charming protagonist but also a believable 12-year-old girl, something that not many people writing stories for any medium pull off accurately. Whether handing out a beat down to ninja flunkies or dumpster diving for a meal, Jesse consistently holds your interest and is not only the high point of the book but also of new comic characters in general for quite some time.

Jim Rugg’s art… perfectly compliments the tone of the story and creates a fun yet believable world for Street Angel.

The whole premise of the book is enjoyably absurd, from Jesse’s confrontation with the deadly geologist Dr. Pangea to her encounter with a time-traveling future version of herself (wait till you see how that resolves). Rugg and Maruca also populate the story with a fantastic supporting cast, including Bald Eagle, a bald-headed, one-armed, no-legged homeless associate of Jesse’s; CosMick, the Irish cosmonaut that looks and sounds about like you would imagine from his name; and Afrodisiac, a retired hero from the 1970s whose flashback sequences make you want him to have a series of his own (or at least a special). Jesse also battles plenty of ninjas and Satanists along the way, and there’s a surprise appearance by Jesus as well.

Street Angel isn’t all laughs, though; Rugg and Maruca also demonstrate a solid ability to create affecting drama. They intersperse the comedy and action with character nuances throughout the story, making Jesse and her cohorts three-dimensional characters instead of the one-sided joke they would have been in lesser hands. Rugg and Maruca’s talents particularly shine in the section entitled “Down in the Dumpster Blues,” where Jesse searches for a meal and encounters a classmate from school at an awkward moment. Jesse also interacts with a homeless veteran, who is portrayed as a real person instead of a stereotype. Jesse and the veteran’s relationship also comes across as a long-standing friendship between two real people instead of a generic encounter simply there to serve the plot, something that not many other books can claim of late.

Rugg brings all the characters to life and makes them each an individual…

The other aspect that lends credibility to the project is Jim Rugg’s art; it perfectly compliments the tone of the story and creates a fun yet believable world for Street Angel. Rugg’s Jesse is perfect, highlighting every mood and thought she has accurately and with consistent style. Rugg’s Jesse also looks like a 12-year-old girl and not a 20-year-old model posing for Maxim. Rugg brings all the characters to life and makes them each an individual instead of the oft-seen cardboard replicas found elsewhere. Funny scenes are funny, and serious scenes have an appropriate weight to them. He handles the entire book well, and even displays more artistic range in the sketchbook and some of his pinups.

Overall, Street Angel is of a caliber and quality that many other new creators never achieve and that veteran creators have forgotten how to accomplish. Rugg and Maruca have pulled off a commendable inaugural effort and proven that they have the chops to produce original, thought-provoking and entertaining stories that are actually fun to read. The only downside to the whole thing is that they ended the current series after five issues (all of which are collected here), so now I’m left wanting more but won’t have new material to satisfy that need for the indefinite future. However, I’ll definitely settle for the issues collected here plus the load of extras included (e.g. short strips, sketches, pinups, and even original story material new to the TPB). All that at $14.95 (or less at places like Amazon.com and such) is not only a bargain but a steal, and the only crime is not buying it.