Every crime scene is unique. But when New York City Police homicide detectives Sam and Twitch investigate the scene of the first of several Mafia-related murders, they find four severed thumbs. Yet these bloody digits are not from anyof the victims. The medical examiner further discovers that the thumbs are genetically identical but their DNA cell structure is in different stages of development. Weird. As the detectives investigate more deaths in the Sangiacomo mob family, they discover widespread corruption in their own department, more bio-engineered body parts and seemingly innocent people dying from a bio-engineered virus. If that isn`t overwhelming enough, Sam and Twitch also find themselves in the center of a Federal Government Internal Affairs investigation where they are being used as bait in their own investigation. Follow Sam and Twitch as they risk life, limb and sanity to track down the meaning of the mysterious Udaku. in one of the most talked-about crime fiction dramas ever.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine mystery comic and an excellent read all-around!,
This review is from: Sam and Twitch, Book 1: Udaku (Paperback)
'Sam and Twitch: Udaku' is a graphic novel in the best hardboiled detective/police procedural/buddy flick tradition. It features a pair of supporting characters from the 'Spawn' comic book series, but there's nary a superhero or super-demon in sight--save for a brief but humourous appearance by Spawn himself. Instead, we have Sam and Twitch returning to the police force... and immediately becoming embroiled in their strangest case yet, while having to fend off crooked cops and I.A. officers with unknowable motivations.Bendis has woven an excellent story with this work, and Angel Medina's art has come a long way since I first saw him working with Barry Blair on the Nightwynd line of comics. I still see some Blair-like influences here and there in Medina's work (not a Bad Thing... I was quite fond of Blair Aircel material years ago), but Medina is coming along nicely as an artist with his own style. I've never been much of a Spawn fan, but this is an excellent graphic novel, and I'll be looking for future volumes. Sam and Twitch are a pair of nice additions to the crime genre. I would, in fact, have given the book Five Stars if not for some poor production value... sometimes, the dialogue (which is presented without the traditional comic book bubbles) get lost against the toned art, and at other times it is lost in the gutter of the binding. It's a distraction that pulls one out of the otherwise engaging read.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great story & art marred by sub-par format,
By Zagnorch (Terra, Sol System) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sam and Twitch, Book 1: Udaku (Paperback)
Ever since my first viewing of the Spawn HBO animated series, the seemingly mismatched NYPD partners Sam Burke and Max `Twitch' Williams have topped my list of favorite comic book characters. Naturally, when TMP/ Image released a `Sam And Twitch' ongoing comic book, I snapped up the first issue in a heartbeat, and enjoyed just about every panel of action and words. Brian Michael Bendis's writing and the eerily McFarlane-esque renderings of Angel Medina and Jonathan Glapion really gave the series' first story arc, "Udaku", the look & feel of a hard-boiled detective story with conspiracy intrigue reminiscent of the "X-Files" and a bit of "NYPD Blue"- style attitude. The pacing is unbelievably swift at times; although the TPB runs for about 180 pages, I find it to go by quickly. The dialogue that is depicted- the little halts and bits of stuttering here and there, the emphasis, inflection- is remarkable when "seen" by the minds' eye (heard by the minds' ear?). The captions aren't couched in word balloons, so you're able to see more of the art behind the words. As this caper unfolds, the in-jokes and gags written and illustrated into this story become apparent. One scene in a pawn shop features a certain home-run ball "formerly" owned by a certain comic-book mogul. One of the chapters starts out at a Kiss (who have a monthly Image book ) concert. In one scene, our heroes begin looking through mafia case files featuring the names of the books' three collaborators- Bendis, Medina, and Glapion- on the subject tabs. Their names pop up again on a few newspaper headlines at a Grand Central Station newsstand during one of the books' climactic moments. Also on display at the stand are issues of the Kiss comic and `Jinx', one of Bendis's earliest comic book gigs. There's even a brief appearance by Spawn, in a scene that takes a jab at the gimmick of using guest-star super heroes in other super hero books. It's also a message to the reader that the S & T comic series is not another Spawn franchise book. This is the less-than-dynamic duos' show all the way, and don't you forget it! But now you're probably wondering why I gave the TPB three stars when I enjoyed the story, art, and the silly sideline moments so much. The problem I have with this collection is in the presentation. The powers that be at Image/TMP (Todd McFarlane, `natch) decided to give this collection more of a Sam Spade `crime noir' movie look by reprinting it in greyscale black and white instead of its original full-color format. The many subtle shades and contrasts that were apparent in the single issues are now obscured in the black and white conversion, and a few of the more vital visual elements are harder to see or can't be perceived at all. And since McFarlane has stated that he stands by his decision to present the collected Udaku chapters in this manner despite fanboy complaints, it's doubtful a color Udaku TPB will ever be released. Another problem: the binding is set a bit too deeply. I take a look at one of the many two-page splashes or other similar actions that take space right in the middle of the book, and a little bit of the art and captions are hidden in the deep binding. It's like an Al Jaffee MAD magazine fold-in gone horribly wrong. And my last gripe, albeit a weird one, is a very small change of dialogue. One of Sam's lines in the original book has been `corrected' in the TPB. In the third issue, he says in one panel, "I had to take a squirt. Shot of Barbara". The "Shot of Barbara" line was actually a description of the panel from a rough draft of the issue's script that somehow got added into the character dialogue by accident. But even though it was a mistake, I felt that the line fit perfectly, and gave the scene the right tone. It was one of those one-in-a-billion moments where the error worked better, and should've been left alone instead of being corrected. Heavy sigh... If you're looking to check out this amazing crime drama in full color without the art being obscured or dialogue changes, I recommend you grab up the original issues 1 through 8 instead of the TPB. And you better get `em quick! Thanks to his writing efforts on "Ultimate Spider-Man", "Powers", and other titles, Bendis is on the fast track to comic book stardom, and just about any earlier works of his are sure to be in high demand. And you fanboys out there know what happens to the value of suddenly-in-high-demand funnybooks... `Late
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome, Awesome, and more awesome!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sam and Twitch, Book 1: Udaku (Paperback)
This was an awesome graphic novel! It take two already awesome characters, gives them their own title and makes them even better! If you liked the characters Sam and Twitch in the Spawn comics and the Spawn animated series, you'll love them in their own title. if i could give this book more thanfive stars I would. It was well worth the money and the time. buy it! now!
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