What do you think?
Rate this book
Street Angel #1-5
Street Angel: The Princess of Poverty
After 13 years on the streets of the grim, impoverished ghetto of Wilkesborough, Jesse Sanchez knows how to take care of herself even if she can't always take a bath. With dazzling martial artistry, peerless skateboarding skills, and questionable study habits, Jesse "Street Angel" Sanchez faces ninja street gangs, evil geologists, Satan worshippers, and anything else that threatens the sanctity of her 'hood. In the tradition of Harry Potter, Bruce Wayne, Annie, and Oliver Twist, make way for fiction's latest orphan superstar, Street Angel. She doesn't have much, but she'll defend it for all she's worth. This collection contains the first five issues of the critically-acclaimed underground series, a previously unpublished story, new squid battles, profiles of some of the most beloved characters, an introduction by Evan Dorkin, and an all-star pinup gallery featuring: Jeffrey Brown, Farel Dalrymple, Jesse Farrell, Richard Hahn, Dean Haspiel, Mike Hawthorne, Paul Hornshemeier, Dave Kiersh, Pat Lewis, Jasen Lex, Andy Macdonald, Jim Mahfood, Ted May, Scott Mills, Scott Morse, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Lark Pien, Ed Piskor, Brian Ralph, Zack Soto, Lauren Weinstein, and Dan Zettwoch.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
6 people are currently reading
404 people want to read
About the author
Jim Rugg
86 books102 followersJim Rugg is an Eisner and Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist based in Pittsburgh. His books include STREET ANGEL, The PLAIN Janes, The Guild, Afrodisiac, and Notebook Drawings. Awards and recognition from the Society of Illustrators, AIGA, Communication Arts, Print magazine, American Illustration, SPX, and Creative Quarterly adorn his mantle.
His studio is pencils, paper, ballpoint pens, ink, Photoshop, cats, and comics.
His studio is pencils, paper, ballpoint pens, ink, Photoshop, cats, and comics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
October 18, 2007
Jim Rugg's and Brian Maruca's Street Angel has a manic sensibility that makes it absolutely worth reading. It's not the kind of book one would return every season to be reminded of just how good it is, but that's kind of the way it is with comedies. Humour media are almost by their very nature light, disposable entertainment, because the thing about jokes is that they get old. So, ignoring that necessary deficit of the genre, let's talk Street Angel.
Jesse Sanchez is twelve. And homeless. With much prowess in both skating and fighting. She's almost like an angry, female Scott Pilgrim. She ends up fighting cops, ninjas, a squid, demons, evil geologists, and, really, whatever she wants to fight. As you might gather, Street Angel is silly.
It's almost silly to the point of exhaustion.
Rugg's art has an indie sensibility, capitalizing on the clean lines and human gestures common to the crime works of David Lapham. The book veers from scene to scene with little reliance upon typical story contrivances such as physics or biology or narrative flow. And frankly, Street Angel is probably the better for it, trusting instead upon the reader's ability to absorb the book's abstract sense and promotion of humour. Some of my favourite moments include Jesse's usurpation of a police megaphone, the tale of conquistadors (pirates) vs. ninjas, and the retrospective of black hero, Afrodisiac.
In the end, it's a perfectly enjoyable book that will likely have a short shelf-life for most readers.
Here's an eight-page preview courtesy of SLG.
Jesse Sanchez is twelve. And homeless. With much prowess in both skating and fighting. She's almost like an angry, female Scott Pilgrim. She ends up fighting cops, ninjas, a squid, demons, evil geologists, and, really, whatever she wants to fight. As you might gather, Street Angel is silly.
It's almost silly to the point of exhaustion.
Rugg's art has an indie sensibility, capitalizing on the clean lines and human gestures common to the crime works of David Lapham. The book veers from scene to scene with little reliance upon typical story contrivances such as physics or biology or narrative flow. And frankly, Street Angel is probably the better for it, trusting instead upon the reader's ability to absorb the book's abstract sense and promotion of humour. Some of my favourite moments include Jesse's usurpation of a police megaphone, the tale of conquistadors (pirates) vs. ninjas, and the retrospective of black hero, Afrodisiac.
In the end, it's a perfectly enjoyable book that will likely have a short shelf-life for most readers.
Here's an eight-page preview courtesy of SLG.
January 17, 2022
5/10
Despite an almost lack of substantial plots, I really enjoyed the Image run of Street Angel, for its fantastic use of colours and onomatopoeia, as well as its bonanza of small charming visual tricks.
This volume collects the previous iteration of the character, as appeared before 2005, and it is more miss than hit. Jim Rugg and his mysterious partner Brian Maruca were still learning the basics of comics here. The storytelling flow is still limping. The general tone is a bit fuzzy, sometimes a bit too much into parody of comic tropes, sometimes falling into gratuitous edginess. The art style feels so 'early 2000s American alternative', smelling a bit too much of Daniel Clowes and David Lapham for my taste. Plus, this early version of Street Angel is still in black and white, strange to think if you consider what a modern master of plain colours Jim Rugg is today. It does not help that I have a version of the book where black and white are turned into blue and pink respectively: a cool idea for printing a short story, not sure about a 200 pages-long anthology.
In any case, this book contains funny ideas, like the time travel conquistadores, Jesus coming down the cross to kick asses and of course Afrodisiac, who will eventually get his own spin-off. But the execution is the one of an amateur looking for his voice.
Despite an almost lack of substantial plots, I really enjoyed the Image run of Street Angel, for its fantastic use of colours and onomatopoeia, as well as its bonanza of small charming visual tricks.
This volume collects the previous iteration of the character, as appeared before 2005, and it is more miss than hit. Jim Rugg and his mysterious partner Brian Maruca were still learning the basics of comics here. The storytelling flow is still limping. The general tone is a bit fuzzy, sometimes a bit too much into parody of comic tropes, sometimes falling into gratuitous edginess. The art style feels so 'early 2000s American alternative', smelling a bit too much of Daniel Clowes and David Lapham for my taste. Plus, this early version of Street Angel is still in black and white, strange to think if you consider what a modern master of plain colours Jim Rugg is today. It does not help that I have a version of the book where black and white are turned into blue and pink respectively: a cool idea for printing a short story, not sure about a 200 pages-long anthology.
In any case, this book contains funny ideas, like the time travel conquistadores, Jesus coming down the cross to kick asses and of course Afrodisiac, who will eventually get his own spin-off. But the execution is the one of an amateur looking for his voice.
October 18, 2008
Okay, first things first: this book is about a 12-year-old girl who is a martial arts expert and the world’s greatest homeless skateboarder who has to fight ninjas, crime, time-traveling pirates, and nepotism deep in the heart of the city. That sentence alone made me want to read it, and it is just as awesome as it sounds, if not more. Plus, the supporting cast includes a one-armed, no-legged skateboarder named Bald Eagle, an old Blaxploitation hero named the Afrodesiac, and an Irish astronaut named CosMick. Seriously. The book just walks right up to you, slaps you in the face, and then DARES you not to read it.
Okay, aside from the high-concept comicky goodness, what else is to like? Well, the art, particularly in the first issue, is incredibly dynamic. At times, it felt like the images were actually moving. And yes, the whole thing is extremely silly, but there are a couple of more serious moments that come out of nowhere and yet don’t seem out of place. However, it’s not all ninjas and chocolate. Because there’s no ongoing storyline, it had a hard time holding my attention. And as the book went on, I felt that the stories started falling a little flat. It didn’t help that the first issue was so awesome, the rest of the book suffered by comparison. So overall, a great concept that might fall a little flat at times, but the first issue embodies what great comics can be.
Okay, aside from the high-concept comicky goodness, what else is to like? Well, the art, particularly in the first issue, is incredibly dynamic. At times, it felt like the images were actually moving. And yes, the whole thing is extremely silly, but there are a couple of more serious moments that come out of nowhere and yet don’t seem out of place. However, it’s not all ninjas and chocolate. Because there’s no ongoing storyline, it had a hard time holding my attention. And as the book went on, I felt that the stories started falling a little flat. It didn’t help that the first issue was so awesome, the rest of the book suffered by comparison. So overall, a great concept that might fall a little flat at times, but the first issue embodies what great comics can be.
September 18, 2007
You are required to love a comic that features a rogue geologist as a villain. Yes.
Street Angel is the story of a homeless 13-year old world-class skateboarder and ninja fighter. She lives in a world of (the aforementioned) ninjas and scientists, but her world is also chock full of Aztec gods, Conquistadores, Irish astronauts, Satanists, and the headaches that come with being homeless. This volume collects the five issues of the series as well as short stories, covers, and a wealth of pinups and sketches. And it is a thing of beauty.
The stories in Street Angel happen free of context and, blessedly, continuity. Each story seems to happen in its own little universe of fun. I suspect that Rugg (artist and co-writer) and Maruca (co-writer) weren't so interested in telling a grand, linear story; they were mostly concerned with figuring out how comics work. They needed to figure out the rules, and then they needed to break them completely.
The collection I own is called "volume one" in the indicia. I pray that there will be a second some day.
Street Angel is the story of a homeless 13-year old world-class skateboarder and ninja fighter. She lives in a world of (the aforementioned) ninjas and scientists, but her world is also chock full of Aztec gods, Conquistadores, Irish astronauts, Satanists, and the headaches that come with being homeless. This volume collects the five issues of the series as well as short stories, covers, and a wealth of pinups and sketches. And it is a thing of beauty.
The stories in Street Angel happen free of context and, blessedly, continuity. Each story seems to happen in its own little universe of fun. I suspect that Rugg (artist and co-writer) and Maruca (co-writer) weren't so interested in telling a grand, linear story; they were mostly concerned with figuring out how comics work. They needed to figure out the rules, and then they needed to break them completely.
The collection I own is called "volume one" in the indicia. I pray that there will be a second some day.
December 16, 2014
A touch of Dr. McNinja but doesn't push the envelope. Subtly surreal, overtly irreverent, funny, and creative. I also think the short story format works really well for this kind of writing. Doesn't overdo it.
June 25, 2016
Are you the target demographic for Aqua Teen Hunger Force? That is to say, high? Then buddy, have I got the book for you! It's got ninja riots, time traveling conquistadors, a dangerous geologist, and other nonsense straight out of a fever dream and onto a comic page!
April 26, 2017
This graphic novel is silly to the point of irreverence. The artwork is clean and fun and the stories are light and hilarious. I picked this up on recommendation from the friendly boy at my local comics shop and I am not disappointed. MC is a 12-year old homeless, ninja, skateboarding badass super-hero wannabe and, yes, that is as awesome and crazy as it sounds. This is like a comics version of a late-night, nonsensical Adult Swim cartoon and I really enjoyed it!
January 16, 2024
An excellent collection of the earlier Street Angel comics. Each issue is one or two short stories.
I really enjoyed Rugg's tribute covers on each issue. He references some famous comic book covers or specific artists on each.
None of the stories are too memorable, but all were a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed Rugg's tribute covers on each issue. He references some famous comic book covers or specific artists on each.
None of the stories are too memorable, but all were a lot of fun.
July 11, 2014
With a cover that stands out among other graphic novels, Street Angel wasn't something I could pass by without at least taking a peak inside.
The story here follows a young 8th grade girl, Jesse, who is orphaned, homeless, and living on the streets of a unforgiving ghetto full of ninjas and crime. (Yes, I just said ninjas, I'll get to that in a second.) On the streets she's known as Street Angel a skate boarding hero with deadly skills.
In this world of Street Angel's, ninjas roam in gangs (and play a surprising amount of basketball), supervillain geologists try to flatten the earth, gun battles are fought, there are ware-sharks, black guys called Afrodisiac, and even a Irish astronaut. Not to forget the time travel, gods, war, Jesus, and all the other nonsensical trouble that Street Angel gets herself into.
It sounds crazy, because it is crazy. But in the end it all works together rather well. The book is broken up into numerous non-intersecting chapters with one strange plot after another. Street Angel battles her foes one by one with some pretty interesting results. In some ways this really benefits the story being told. But I'm not going to lie, I would have liked to see one continuing story surrounding this extraordinary girl.
Street Angel is a brilliant character. She has one foot in reality and one foot out the door at all times. She's so incredibly young and because of that everything she does has a certain level of tarnished innocence. She's not the big busted, latex covered female super-heroines that we're all use to seeing. No, she's just a girl with her skate board/ninja skills who is relied on as a saviour in her fucked up city.
The art by Rugg is what sells it. His name is asosiated with a lot of projects, the one I'm familuar with being The Plain Janes. His drawing brings out the best in these characters and makes everything just that much more enjoyable.
The only thing that kept me from really loving this book was the storytelling itself. I like my stories to have narratives. Although the absurd characters and situations were fun, the flow didn't give anything enough time to shine. One moment this is happening, the next moment it's gone, without the time for me to really appreciate the fun or the depth of everything that's happening. Paced too furiously, I couldn't get a handle on the situation. It's lacking in the areas that would really make it an all around read. You can't just rely on great characters, there's got to be some great story there too.
This is one of those things that I was surprised to find, but incredibly glad I did. Not without it's flaws, Street Angel is something that is still really enjoyable to read and I would definitely recommend it to the curious.
The story here follows a young 8th grade girl, Jesse, who is orphaned, homeless, and living on the streets of a unforgiving ghetto full of ninjas and crime. (Yes, I just said ninjas, I'll get to that in a second.) On the streets she's known as Street Angel a skate boarding hero with deadly skills.
In this world of Street Angel's, ninjas roam in gangs (and play a surprising amount of basketball), supervillain geologists try to flatten the earth, gun battles are fought, there are ware-sharks, black guys called Afrodisiac, and even a Irish astronaut. Not to forget the time travel, gods, war, Jesus, and all the other nonsensical trouble that Street Angel gets herself into.
It sounds crazy, because it is crazy. But in the end it all works together rather well. The book is broken up into numerous non-intersecting chapters with one strange plot after another. Street Angel battles her foes one by one with some pretty interesting results. In some ways this really benefits the story being told. But I'm not going to lie, I would have liked to see one continuing story surrounding this extraordinary girl.
Street Angel is a brilliant character. She has one foot in reality and one foot out the door at all times. She's so incredibly young and because of that everything she does has a certain level of tarnished innocence. She's not the big busted, latex covered female super-heroines that we're all use to seeing. No, she's just a girl with her skate board/ninja skills who is relied on as a saviour in her fucked up city.
The art by Rugg is what sells it. His name is asosiated with a lot of projects, the one I'm familuar with being The Plain Janes. His drawing brings out the best in these characters and makes everything just that much more enjoyable.
The only thing that kept me from really loving this book was the storytelling itself. I like my stories to have narratives. Although the absurd characters and situations were fun, the flow didn't give anything enough time to shine. One moment this is happening, the next moment it's gone, without the time for me to really appreciate the fun or the depth of everything that's happening. Paced too furiously, I couldn't get a handle on the situation. It's lacking in the areas that would really make it an all around read. You can't just rely on great characters, there's got to be some great story there too.
This is one of those things that I was surprised to find, but incredibly glad I did. Not without it's flaws, Street Angel is something that is still really enjoyable to read and I would definitely recommend it to the curious.
March 23, 2015
I love the sense of humor behind this rather violent comic about a crime-fighting, skate-boarding orphan. The stories are short, unrelated and they take every opportunity to poke fun at familiar themes. My favorite line is said by a Spanish conquistador who has traveled forward into Street Angel's time. When she asks what their deal is, one of them says, "We come from your distant past." and the other says
The character profiles in between each story, outlining their abilities (such as strength, intelligence and skateboarding skills) were fun, and there's a great cover gallery at the end of the book.
Or possibly from your future...you know...if there was some kind of apocalypse and mankind lost all of its technological prowess, had to start over from scratch and civilization followed roughly the same path a second time around.
The character profiles in between each story, outlining their abilities (such as strength, intelligence and skateboarding skills) were fun, and there's a great cover gallery at the end of the book.
September 30, 2007
Street Angel is kinda a guys' jamfest. It features a young homeless girl who can fight, swear and skateboard better than anyone else but is pretty normal in other respects. She has a number of adventures that defy explanation by their complete randomness with the assorted coolness of featuring ninjas, pirates, aztec gods, mad scientists, spaceman, demons and squid. It's fun to watch and read but don't expect anything other than entertainment from it. Improve your street cred with other hipsters by showing it around. The art is great.
August 5, 2017
While meant to be a satire on traditional superhuman comics, much of the humor and comic juxtaposition relies on the belittling of disabled characters or on the misfortune and misogyny of the main character. This collection doesn't explore who Jesse Sanchez but relies on the reader being okay with out background information. There was one poignant issue in this volume that spoke to the troubles with being homeless, which was great. But for all the other reasons, it gets only 3 stars.
September 19, 2009
Very much enjoyed. Jesse is a street kid that defends her city from ninjas and other bad guys. She is called Street Angel. She is a world class skateboarder, martial artist and dumpster diver. Read all about her adventures! Read it!
February 13, 2015
Glad to have all of the Street Angel issues collected in a nice hardbound edition. As with Afrodisiac, the humor here is most notable. Mucho fun, and what comics should be!
June 8, 2018
Pretty fun, would have liked to know more about that werewolf shark though. Most of the fan art in the back was great except for that really sexualized one. Like, ew, she's supposed to be 12-13.
January 4, 2018
I picked this up because I liked the premise of a homeless 12-year-old skateboarding girl as a superhero. This book collects five of her adventures in Angel City, each of which has elements of basic superhero comic-book structure, action scenes, sardonic humor, and ninjas. And while that all sounds like a brilliant stew, it never really rose to the levels of awesomeness I was hoping for.
Among the villains she takes on are a mad scientist, time-travelling pirates, a Satanic demon, the creepy girl from The Ring, and in a crossover with creators' Afrodisiac series, a bunch of rednecks seeking to kill the elderly blaxploitation superhero. But for me, the best story is one where her battle is the daily struggle to find food when you're a homeless kid. A little more of that realism in the other stories might have made for a more interesting contrast. Mixed in with the long stories are some shorter ones, sometimes drawn in completely different styles, which is kind of fun.
It's worth noting that some may not want to put this book into children's hands without reading it first. Some of the stories have very high body counts and very graphic panels (lots of blood, severed limbs, swords sticking through heads, etc.), and our adolescent heroine does drink 40s and one short story is threatened with sexual assault by two ninjas.
In any event, it's an indie comic with some moxie, but I can't say I'm interested in tracking down any further adventures of Street Angel. As imaginative as some of the elements are, the stories are mostly not that engaging.
Among the villains she takes on are a mad scientist, time-travelling pirates, a Satanic demon, the creepy girl from The Ring, and in a crossover with creators' Afrodisiac series, a bunch of rednecks seeking to kill the elderly blaxploitation superhero. But for me, the best story is one where her battle is the daily struggle to find food when you're a homeless kid. A little more of that realism in the other stories might have made for a more interesting contrast. Mixed in with the long stories are some shorter ones, sometimes drawn in completely different styles, which is kind of fun.
It's worth noting that some may not want to put this book into children's hands without reading it first. Some of the stories have very high body counts and very graphic panels (lots of blood, severed limbs, swords sticking through heads, etc.), and our adolescent heroine does drink 40s and one short story is threatened with sexual assault by two ninjas.
In any event, it's an indie comic with some moxie, but I can't say I'm interested in tracking down any further adventures of Street Angel. As imaginative as some of the elements are, the stories are mostly not that engaging.
November 28, 2018
Read this if you are into high action, humor, and martial arts fight scenes.
In this graphic novel an orphaned homeless girl named Jesse saves the world under the alias "Street Angel." She uses her kung fu and skateboarding skills to defeat all sorts of evil on the streets. This graphic novel collects issues #1-5 of the Street Angel comics.
The stories are all high action-packed non-sequitur. As Evan Dorkin explains in the introduction, "there are no lengthy explanations of who everyone is and what they do and how they do it and why they do it and where they learned eagle claw or snake fist. No didactic fanboy world-creating nonsense. The stories get in fast, [and] get going even faster." While I can see how some might find this appealing, it just didn't do it for me. It was an interesting read, but I wanted a lot more context. There was only one issue that really specific look at her being homeless.
In this graphic novel an orphaned homeless girl named Jesse saves the world under the alias "Street Angel." She uses her kung fu and skateboarding skills to defeat all sorts of evil on the streets. This graphic novel collects issues #1-5 of the Street Angel comics.
The stories are all high action-packed non-sequitur. As Evan Dorkin explains in the introduction, "there are no lengthy explanations of who everyone is and what they do and how they do it and why they do it and where they learned eagle claw or snake fist. No didactic fanboy world-creating nonsense. The stories get in fast, [and] get going even faster." While I can see how some might find this appealing, it just didn't do it for me. It was an interesting read, but I wanted a lot more context. There was only one issue that really specific look at her being homeless.
July 11, 2019
This anthology by Rugg and Maruca was good to read intermittently, as it doesn't follow one plot and the stories are nice and short. As for Jesse Sanchez the character, I liked her in theory but she seemed so obviously created by two men; like "ooooh let's make the edgiest protagonist, a young, homeless, skateboarding, kickass orphan that's a GiIiIiIRL." The introduction by Evan Dorkin was so cringey to me, ex: his praise for the pink cover and calling it a "ballsy colour choice" (◔_◔) The inclusion of Pinups by other artists also added to this sausage fest feel with only 2 out of the 22 artists being female. Reading other reviews I see that I'm not alone with these feelings; so I guess more character development would be help me enjoy her. Street Angel's humour, nonsense time warps, character write ups and the blood were some of the better parts. Also gotta mention how much I dug the lettering, who knew onomatopoeias could be so charismatic and fun!
January 2, 2025
My son used to watch Cartoonist Kayfabe, Jim Rugg remains from that duo. The channel before was pretty thorough in their love for comics at large, with an understandable side order of self-promotion.
Anyways, he decided NOT to recommend this for his 8th grade twin girl cousins, but I thought I should check it out. The art is pretty explosive and eye-catching, a definite high-point. The stories seemed to get a bit better as the series/collection went along. Bald Eagle is a tremendous side kick for our little orphan angel, a high point for me.
Worth a read, and maybe a slow one to linger over the art. Probably there are references to other known and also obscure images, but I couldn't even figure out who the guest artists were for the striking inserts. Love to see when up-and-coming or indie or what-have-you artists align like that, noticed with Noah van Sciver books in the past, and mentioned it to my kid. I hope at some point he too can do the same with/for others.
Anyways, he decided NOT to recommend this for his 8th grade twin girl cousins, but I thought I should check it out. The art is pretty explosive and eye-catching, a definite high-point. The stories seemed to get a bit better as the series/collection went along. Bald Eagle is a tremendous side kick for our little orphan angel, a high point for me.
Worth a read, and maybe a slow one to linger over the art. Probably there are references to other known and also obscure images, but I couldn't even figure out who the guest artists were for the striking inserts. Love to see when up-and-coming or indie or what-have-you artists align like that, noticed with Noah van Sciver books in the past, and mentioned it to my kid. I hope at some point he too can do the same with/for others.
December 18, 2019
I loved this. The art is pretty near perfect. Realistic enough to keep you invested, but cartoon-y when it needs to be to add emphasis. The quality of writing matches. Street Angel is about an orphaned girl of 12 who is out on the streets, protecting the neighbourhood from ninjas, robots and mad scientists with her own insane ninja skills. The joy in this is, the over the top ninja stuff is great, but there are other stories dealing more with simply her life on the street that manage to not feel out of place and add a ton of depth to the narrative. The art style matches the stories tone, loose enough to hit exaggeration but not so loose to feel like another comic. It's really great!
Now to buy the follow up collection and Aphrodisiac.
Now to buy the follow up collection and Aphrodisiac.
March 20, 2018
Street Angel is based on geeky references and fun action. It's a fun ride. Not something I'd want to read every month, but Street Angel's hometown Wilkesborough is definitely worth visiting again on occasion.
Jesse Sanchez, aka Street Angel, is the homeless, world champion skateboarder, protector of her economically devastated hometown. She battles ninjas (lots of ninjas), mad scientists, robots and more in order to protect.... well, I'm not sure who she's protecting sometimes, but the plot isn't as important as the fun had.
Jesse Sanchez, aka Street Angel, is the homeless, world champion skateboarder, protector of her economically devastated hometown. She battles ninjas (lots of ninjas), mad scientists, robots and more in order to protect.... well, I'm not sure who she's protecting sometimes, but the plot isn't as important as the fun had.
February 7, 2019
I really wanted to enjoy this comic, but feel I would have more if adults weren't clearly the intended audience. Jesse is easily an interesting character and I felt her world did not need to be supplemented by writing with an edge so sharp that it included slurs you cannot say in public without being justifiably slapped.
However, I did enjoy the art style and the energy it carried. Typically I find fight scenes tedious and repetitive to read in comics, but couldn't get enough of these and do plan on reading the recent sequels.
However, I did enjoy the art style and the energy it carried. Typically I find fight scenes tedious and repetitive to read in comics, but couldn't get enough of these and do plan on reading the recent sequels.
September 10, 2021
Jim Rugg seems to really enjoy exploring aesthetics. Be it Blaxploitation & 70s comics like in Afrodisiac or...everything going on in Street Angel. There are bits of classic comics and bits of weird "underground" comics. Super heroes, ninjas, school. She fights it all.
The whole is a bit more cohesive than some of what I've read from Rugg before. Most of these are complete (if short) stories.
Anyway, it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but I liked it.
The whole is a bit more cohesive than some of what I've read from Rugg before. Most of these are complete (if short) stories.
Anyway, it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but I liked it.
August 22, 2017
Pretty weird, but a fun read. Jesse AKA Street Angel is a 12 year old homeless skateboarder that excels in martial arts and ass-kicking. Her town is always filled with trouble, especially with ninja clans and evil villains. The art is clean and the stories are fun, but the execution sometimes drops. Good for people looking for local artists in Pittsburgh, strong females, and a bit of violence.
December 1, 2018
Jim Rugg is great. The stories in this collection are quick and fun, but also quickly forgettable. That's not a bad thing, it's just all you can get from this format. Rugg's style moves around a bit, but it's all very will draw. The edition I have would be served better by a slightly larger book so that the panels don't look so cramped.
May 31, 2017
public librarian, looking for street-savvy teen friendly books about being awesome and poor and hungry all the damn time. shit dog. don't need f*cking literature. need jesse sanchez and her skateboard skillz.
June 20, 2018
I really wanted to like this book, and I thought the idea was cute and the main character endearing, but I quit halfway through because there ended up being more misogyny and rape jokes than I wanted to deal with.
September 17, 2024
Random grab from the bookshelf.
A fun series about a 12 (or 13 or 14) year old girl who uses her mad ninja skateboard skills to fight the forces of evil, nepotism, ninjas and hunger. And sometimes algebra.
A fun series about a 12 (or 13 or 14) year old girl who uses her mad ninja skateboard skills to fight the forces of evil, nepotism, ninjas and hunger. And sometimes algebra.
May 20, 2017
Yeah, I wasn't charmed by this and even had ninjas. I like ninjas! I hope the sequel's better.
October 1, 2017
This book is so delightfully weird, you won't be prepared for when the feels hit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews