While browsing through an Atlanta comic book store with his son, Lee Long made a disappointing observation of today’s cartoon heroes and heroines.

“I was looking for something appropriate for [my son],” said Long, a commercial artist who resides in Pelham. “We had Richie Rich and Wendy the Witch … now there aren’t comic books for children anymore.”

Out of Long’s frustration came the idea for Little Angel Comics, a series of stories that follow the day-to-day triumphs of a 6-six-year-old girl named Angel and her dog Samson.

“[Angel] is a combination of my son and daughter,” Long said. “All little kids are innocent and they want to do right thing.

“I’ve always wanted to do something on the Christian side and, when I looked around, there’s nothing in the marketplace. We all know right and wrong, and you can’t stop listening to that little voice that tells you what’s right and wrong. That’s what [Little Angel] is all about.”

Long said Little Angel Comics targets girls age 7 to 12, and teaches them fun, Christian-based lessons. Described as a “good little girl with a soft spot for the underdog,” Angel is always helping and protecting people she encounters.

“She not only wants to go to heaven, but she wants to come back and be a guardian angel,” Long said.

Despite Angel’s dedication to making the right choices in her life, obstacles stand in her way. One of those obstacles is Angel’s 8-year-old neighbor Lexi, a scheming personality.

“Lexi is just bad news,” Long said. “She’s really spoiled and really selfish and everything’s about her.”

Because the stories are told from Angel’s point of view, readers never see her parents’ faces, only their shoes and pants – much like the character of Nanny from the 1980s television cartoon Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies.

A preview of the first issue in the Little Angel series is available on the Web site littleangelcomics.com. Long expects to upload a digital copy of the first issue to Web site this week, and is shopping the comic book around to LifeWay Christian Stores and online Christian book stores.

For more information, e-mail Long at lee@littleangelcomics.com.