aaurora
Yes this is the normal process. To bond the corners the brickwork must be keyed in / inter-locked into each other if the mortar line was straight its highly likely it would crack and the integrity of that brickwork section would not be good.
This is exactly my thoughts. The brickwork is interlocked for strength.
I've seen many a brickwork such as what 3xb posted which developed lovely cracks right down the corner. It certainly doesn't look neat and tidy when that happens.