The story stars teenage homeless girl Jesse Sanchez, in her battles against the forces of darkness. Darkness such as the scores of Ninjae (the plural of ninja, obviously) that inhabit her native city of Wilkesborough; or Dr. Pangea, Master of the Dark Arts of Geology; or maybe just a nest of bees in the dumpster where she happens to be scrounging breakfast. Whatever the threat, Street Angel is there to mock it in the way only a 5'1” girl can.

Aiding her are such allies as the one-armed tripelegic (is tripelegic a word? I guess it is now) Bald Eagle, 70's blaxsploitation super-cop Afrodisiac, and of course the rare cameo appearance by Jesus, snapping necks and taking names, just like any good deity would do.

Between its back-alley glances at superheroes, and thankfully under-the-top use of ninjas, obvious parallels could be drawn to Ben Edlund's The Tick. While Street Angel is about as far from The Tick as The Tick itself is from mainstream superheroes (not a cape or mask for miles, thank goodness), the comedic style is similar, and if you liked one (the comic, tv show, or cartoon) you'll definitely dig on the other.

Although still largely an unknown in the comics field, Maruca's writing has the professional polish of a veteran. The writing is well paced, and filled with sharp dialog, witty one liners, and hilarious non sequiturs. High-flying action sequences come fast and furious without the story losing its very down to earth connection to its characters or being bogged down with too much or too little dialog.

Likewise, Rugg's art takes the comic to a whole other level. The line work is detailed without being busy or confusing, and action sequences are dramatic and well paced. You can see from his work the enthusiasm that he feels for his subject. Jesse looks and feels like a real 12 year old, not the 20-something porn star that's the typical stand in for teenagers in most comics, and that level of honesty continues throughout the series. All of the giant goat-horned demons feel like real honest goat-horned demons. The time displaced Spanish conquistadors? Well, they totally airbrushed out the syphilis, but you get the picture.

This is by far one of the freshest comics to come out in the last 5 years. It's just a crying shame that there isn't more of it! Luckily for you boys and girls there's a trade paperback out collecting the entire run, complete with original front and back covers and a sketch gallery. Do y'all-selves a favor and run out and pick it up right now. It's okay, I'll just chill here.

Really, it's cool.