Street Angel

Context

The Street Angel is a minor super-hero in Kurt Busiek’s fabulous Astro City series. He was first seen in 2003, as an acrobatic-street-level-hero-with-themed-weapons type.

The bulk of his appearances is in the 2005-2010 Dark Age series-of-narrative-arcs, which chronicle this world leaving its Silver Age  to undergo its Bronze then Iron Ages.

Background

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Powers and Abilities

The Street Angel is a highly agile martial artist and acrobat.

He is also an extremely skilled thrower. He regularly throws his “halos” so that they bounce between several opponents (Trick Shot).

He also seems to have some detective skills and probably builds his own weaponry.

His later brutal style makes him an expert interrogator.

History

The Street Angel started out back in the late 1960s as a happy go-lucky superhero. He soon became popular with the Latinx crowd, and the police even let him into crime scenes. It is known that he fought the original Golden Glove during this time.

In the mid-70s he started partnering with the Black Velvet, a former prostitute who had gained her powers in a scientific experiment gone awry. The Street Angel and another vigilante had stopped said experiment. Over time the Street Angel became a real mean violent vigilante, for unclear reasons.

Fade to black

The two eventually parted ways. But once she started killing criminals (those responsible for her having become painfully changed) the Street Angel felt forced to stop her activities.

As they met, she confronted him with the fact that he didn’t know how many he himself had killed as he had left defeated opponents bleeding in alleyways. Never having realized that he might have killed anyone, the Street Angel was shocked. The Black Velvet took the opportunity to escape.

The Street Angel, broken and considering suicide, decided to bring in the Black Velvet as his last act. However, before he could track her down she was lethally wounded by the Pyramid killer Jitterjack.

Dying, she involuntarily released hell upon the city – civilians were forced to enter a rage where they attempted to kill everyone else. The Street Angel again felt forced to help out.

The Black Velvet was later stopped by the Silver Agent, who broke her neck. That very same night the alien Kirlian Man struck the city, and the Street Angel helped stop that threat as well.

No angel

The Street Angel then disappeared from the scene completely and was later reported running medical drugs into Central Africa. Much later he was rumored to be the mentor, in Astro City, of the young super-heroine Camorra of the Honor Guard.

The newspapers in 1995 stated that the Street Angel was presumed dead, but they might only have been talking about his disguised identity.

Description

The original Street Angel costume consisted of a white and blue jumpsuit with angelic motifs. The later, meaner, streetwise costume consisted of combat trousers, military boots, a coat and a hood. In all guises, he wore the white angel-shaped facial mask covering his eyes.

Not visible on the outside, he carries a supply of ring-formed weaponry (“halos”) which are thrown at enemies or used as melee weapons.

Personality

Originally, in the final years of the 1960s, the Street Angel was cheering, smiling all the time and making bad jokes while catching criminals; He was regular jaunty, upbeat, happy go-lucky hero. He was mostly engaged in fighting the mean street crime of Astro City.

Still, he was always doing justice outside the law and, by his own accord, he never killed. Then he mostly used his haloes as throwing weapons. In game terms, he would never enter Killing Combat.

Bronze Age

After he started partnering with the Black Velvet in the middle of the 1970s something happened. He was all business and made no more jokes. Perhaps he was corrupted by her dark powers, perhaps there was a deep failure behind it all or perhaps it was just the sign of the times.

He exchanged his weapons for more lethal types and hit people in the mouth with a halo with a steel core. He often went undercover disguised in bars to obtain information, and if he was found out he’d proceed to beat everyone up until someone spoke. He would regularly use Killing Combat without considering the consequences.

The Street Angel eventually went after his old partner, the Black Velvet, who was killing criminals. Confronting her, he realized the effects of his own actions during this dark phase ; that his beatings might have killed more than one man. Shocked by the realization he became deeply guilt-ridden and considered taking his own life.

Breaking bad

However, events that night were unusually catastrophic. The Black Velvet lost control of her powers, which drove people everywhere in the city insane with rage, and additionally the alien Kirlian Man struck the city. Guilt-ridden, the Street Angel felt that he had to help out against the insanity and violence.

After this, he chose to quit his vigilante activities and started to run medicines into Central Africa in contrition for several years.

Once returned from Africa he seems to have taken on a mentor-like relationship to the young heroine Quarrel II (whose father had been a criminal). As such, his intent was to teach her to become a hero, and so he continued in the spirit of helping the society.

Quotes

Street Angel (early on)

“Ah-ah ! Purse-snatching authorization check ! Do you have a license to do that, sir ?”

[Spoken to the police as he arrives at a crime scene] “Not to worry, amigos — I’ll have ’em out of there in two shakes, hey ? They left the top floor unguarded. I’ll come at ’em from above — you just be ready when they’re comin’ out, clear ?”

Street Angel (later on)

“All right. At least four of you know something about the Mortellaro kidnappings. Whoever talks first keeps their teeth. Who’s it gonna be ?”

DC Universe History

The Street Angel is a predecessor to the DC Universe’s Dove character set in the 1960s. The Black Velvet makes for a good Hawk, or then the meaner Street Angel himself becomes Hawk.

By Dr. Peter S Piispanen.

Source of Character: Astro City comics.

Helper(s): herocopia.com , Darci, Capita_Senyera.