The Street Angel Gang

In the return of Rugg and Maruca’s lethal street urchin, Jesse Sanchez, a voracious 13-year-old whirling dervish of ninja destruction, roams the worst ghetto in Angel City. She goes to the gang tryouts of the Bleeders, lured by the promise of pizza. She promptly knocks out a young Bleeder member, earns the nickname Trash Can for how much she eats, and annihilates the competition by fetching the cyborg arm of a rival gang member—and a tiger—all to get more pizza. But an unfortunate misunderstanding ends this recruitment early. Eisner-winners Rugg and Maruca depict gang culture with a kinetic and vibrantly colored retro pizzazz, and poke fun at the grown-up games that boys play. This slim oversized hardcover hints at a larger world and history—Jesse first appeared in a series of indie comics in 2004—and contains zany trading card profiles of characters from past and future adventures, such as Van Man, a van with human arms and legs. Hopefully, this is only a taste of things to come. (Aug.)