Pity Rey Quintana. He stole a pair of earrings to give to his girlfriend for her birthday because he didn't have the money. Pity Rey Rey because in an election year, the District Attorney is throwing the book and kitchen sink at Rey. As a three-time felon, Rey is looking at 22 years, at least, for a pair of earrings. The D.A. knows he can make hay with the voters by appearing to be tough on crime, especially when he's being tough on poor minority boys who are (of course) genetically predisposed to criminal behavior.

Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir may be best known for their work on Marvel's NEW MUTANTS, but they're doing some of their best work on THREE STRIKES, their five-issue mini-series from Oni Press. Three Strikes is visceral and powerful and packs a punch as hard as the best crime movies such as Joe Carnahan's NARC. The DeFilippis & Weir formula is a simple one involving strong, engaging characters - engaging in that the writers make the players up front and solid in their motivations, and a kinetic pace in which the story moves briskly, hardly pausing for the reader to catch her breath.

Brian Hurtt isn't a master draftsman, but he is a solid storyteller. Mood and atmosphere are more important in his art than prettiness and rendering. There's magic in the way he easily draws faces that convey such surface and sublimated emotion, and there's a beauty to the simple way he lays it on the page - blunt and forward, just like the writing. GRADE A-