Sam and Twitch #10-13: Witchcraft

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alberto Ponticelli, Jonathan Glapion, and Todd McFarlane

I'm really enjoying reading through this series from about ten years ago.  I like crime comics and the odd procedural television show, and this series is definitely scratching the itch that has been left by the cancellation of Gotham Central, the rareness of Criminal, and the lack of anything worth watching on television in this genre these days.

This arc has Sam and Twitch dealing with a killer who is targeting members of the Wiccan and pagan communities, and murdering them quite spectacularly (decapitations are just the start of it all).  The two detectives stumble their way through the investigation, with Sam being coldly mocking of the victims and their beliefs, and Twitch showing a little more sensitivity.

The standard Bendis 'hard-boiled' dialogue is put to good use, but I'm starting to notice just how little time and effort has been put into building up these characters.  They are essentially just stereotypes, who spout out sitcom-worthy rejoinders.

The art on this arc is by Alberto Ponticelli.  I was excited to see his name, as I've loved his recent work on The Unknown Soldier, but here he's working more in a Todd McFarlane house style that I didn't like all that much.  The last issue is his strongest.  These are enjoyable comics - I feel like I'm knocking them a bit, but the truth is that when I'm reading them, I'm totally into them, but as soon as they are finished, I find it hard to remember all the content.  I will say that Ashley Wood deserves some recognition for his consistency in producing boring, almost identical covers.