Nunzio & Christina's tale of Rey Quintana, a young man on the run from an impending trial that could land him in jail for 22 years, briskly moves forward with a devastating sense of purpose in THREE STRIKES #2. For stealing a piece of jewelry barely worth 400 bucks, Rey is looking at his third strike, and a D.A. who is running as a tough on crimes a-hole doesn't mind sacrificing a worthless Latino youth on the altar of political expediency.

DeFilippis & Weir, while new to comics writing, continually create some of the strongest characters. They also really pay attention to the importance of having a solid plot and plotline, and they don't skimp on suspense. They nimbly use elements from various genres such as crime fiction, suspense thrillers, and legal dramas in what is ostensibly a non-genre fable.

With them, it's hard to figure out which came first, the chicken or the egg. This series is very entertaining on a surface level, but at the same time, it's so well written and makes its point quiet well. So did the writers look for entertainment first, or did they serve the interests of the story before they even considered what the readers might like?

Unlike many eye candy artists, Brian Hurtt draws some very purty pictures, but the loveliness comes from how well the art tells the story. The art ably conveys the story and its ideas and messages, and the art takes on this aura of beauty with its pure and simple storytelling. In the end, Hurtt understands the necessity of drawing as communication over drawing as original art to sell.