Sam and Twitch #20-26: The John Doe Affair

Written by Todd McFarlane
Art by Alex Maleev and Paul Lee

I didn't realize, when I first bought almost the entire run of this series (I had to hunt down the last three issues elsewhere) that this arc was written by Todd McFarlane, and not Brian Michael Bendis.  I probably wouldn't have bothered with them, as I've never been a fan of McFarlane's writing (like the rest of the world, I was caught up in his art circa Amazing Spider-Man, but was sick of it by the time the guest writers came on Spawn).

I'm glad I got these though;  they're actually pretty good.  Sam and Twitch get caught up in a bizarre case - a killer is videotaping himself abusing and killing his victims, and is sending the tapes too Sam.  This case quickly becomes a red ball, as City Hall gets involved, as does the FBI.  Suspicions are aroused when a young officer whose father has a lot of important political connections is assigned to the case, and more and more strange things happen, not the least of which is that Sam goes on a date.

McFarlane builds a creepy and suspenseful story, which ultimately doesn't live up to its promises.  The ending is done too quickly, and there is never a satisfying explanation as to why the killer, and his surprise accomplice, are doing what they are doing.  On the other hand, McFarlane did provide the one thing that I felt this book was lacking during Bendis's run, which is character development.  We get to know a lot more about Sam and Twitch with this story, as they both have to take a look at the relationships in their life (although Twitch's bit at the end feels tacked on and forced).

The art on most of this arc is by Maleev, and so it's terrific, and then Pat Lee was brought in to pinch hit (apparently there were delays of more than a year between issues because McFarlane is about as reliable as Rob Liefeld) on the concluding issues.  He did his best to be Maleev, but couldn't quite pull it off.

I have enjoyed my look through this series, and am now on the hunt for the follow-up title, Sam and Twitch: Casefiles, which was mostly written by Marc Andreyko.