The middle chapter is sometimes (sadly) the weakest chapter in a story. Sometimes, it's the point where readers decide that they've had enough and they want to get off a boring ride. In their THREE STRIKES, Nunzio & Christina use chapter three (of five) to heighten the suspense level and to reestablish with their readers the notion that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

It's amazing how well they can write a story that takes a social stand while grabbing the readers by a sensitive area. The husband and wife duo show that story as commentary need not be divorced from drama. Drama doesn't mimic real life; it heightens and idealizes the experience, the good with the bad, as 3S does so well.

Artist Brian Hurtt aids and abets them with some of the best dramatic cartooning in ages. He gives substance to the stylizations of Frank Miller's SIN CITY and combines it with the kinetic fervor of Tarantino's PULP FICTION. His art is the meat on the bones of this stylized and fully realized crime drama. GRADE B+