Jim Rugg & Brian Maruca Give Their Skateboarding Scamp a Family in this Street Angel Gang Exclusive
Comics Features Jim Rugg
Literature about endearing, impoverished street scamps dreaming themselves into beds has been on the decline for decades, arguably peaking with Charles Dickens’ cache of plucky moppets (Oliver Twist, Pip) before a renaissance during the Great Depression introduced Little Orphan Annie and Shirley Temple. Cartoonist Jim Rugg and writer Brian Maruca knew what was missing: kung-fu and skateboarding.
Introduced in 2004, Jesse Sanchez became the titular Street Angel of Wilkesborough, a tween navigating the deeply impoverished, dangerous neighborhood packed with ninjas, ghosts, lost Santas, pirates and all other manner of genre outcast. And she absolutely kicked everyone’s asses on her eternal journey for a warm meal.
Rugg and Maruca crafted a series of print comics first published by Slave Labor Graphics and collected by AdHouse Books before going online, but Image Comics has since offered a new home to Sanchez, culminating with an original graphic novel—The Street Angel Gang—hitting comic stores on July 26th and book retailers on August 1st. The series serves as a biting parody of Golden Age comics and sequential art excess, combining ‘20s cartoon strip sentimentality with ‘90s hyperbole into bizarre, kinetic indie gold.
Paste has an exclusive preview of The Angel Street Gang below, and yes, we fully expect those trading cards to exist at some point.
Per Image Comics:
What if Kal El had been found by the Warriors instead of the Kents? The deadliest girl alive accidentally joins a super violent street gang. Are the Bleeders the family Jesse never had, or is Jesse the child they never wanted? What? Free snacks at the gang tryout party! Also, SCANDAL—one of the Bleeders is a spy!
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg
The Street Angel Gang Interior Art by Jim Rugg