Also among this week's comics...

BATGIRL #39 - Dylan Horrocks is now writing, and Batgirl is packed off on a cruise in an attempt to induct her into the human race.  Typically enough, this doesn't work.  I'm really not sure about the art - Adrian Sibar's exaggerations work fine for most of the book but are just wrong for the title character in action sequences.  DC seem to have got it into their heads that this is the style they want to use on this book, and I can't for the life of me see why.  B

DAREDEVIL #46 - Typhoid Mary is back.  With, it must be said, a minimum of exposition as to who the hell she is - it's been a good few years since anyone touched this character, and aside from some mutterings about multiple personality disorder there's not much for new readers to hang onto.  Presumably that'll be sorted next month, and that aside it's another solid issue.  Alex Maleev has given the character design an overhaul, and a very effective one too.  B+

GLOBAL FREQUENCY #7 - Well, here's an oddity - a Simon Bisley comic largely devoid of comedy exaggeration and inhuman physiques.  There's a few shattered bodies near the end, but for the most part Bisley plays it straight for once.  Haven't seen him do that in years.  To be honest, it feels a bit muted, and Bisley doesn't really specialise in this sort of style.  Not one of the stronger issues, but it's alright.  B

THOR #63 - This is billed as "Spiral, part 4", but it's actually a story about the decline of lobster fishing.  It's not often you see a story where Thor saves the day by reintroducing the lobster into coastal waters.  That said, Jurgens has been doing variations on this basic story for a while now and there's a definite feeling that we're retreading ground here.  B

THREE STRIKES #1 - I would have given this a full review if it hadn't been such an overloaded week, since it's written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, the writers of the upcoming New Mutants series.  Their brief contribution to X-Men Unlimited wasn't too great, but this is much more promising.  It's a miniseries following two characters - one a petty criminal who finds himself facing a huge jail term because of the technicalities of the "three strikes" rules, and the other a bail enforcement officer with a collapsing family life.  The primary concern is attacking the "three strikes" policy, which is fine by me - any country that's developing sentencing policy according to whether it makes for a good baseball metaphor worries me tremendously.  But it's also full of strong characterisation all round.  Good stuff.  A-

There's a new Article 10 at Ninth Art on Monday.

I remind you once again that you can vote in the UK National Comics Awards at their website.  The X-Axis and Ninth Art are both eligible for the website awards.

Next week, the end of Wolverine: X-Isle; New X-Men #140 continues "Murder at the Mansion"; and Ultimate X-Men #32.

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