These days, it feels to me like Kevin Smith is everywhere. Whether he's busy finishing up work on his True North Trilogy, resurrecting his Jay and Silent Bob characters, or directing select episodes of The CW's SUPERGIRL, the man is clearly on a mission to spread what love he's got to give for his craft. In what is a truly an exciting development in the world of comic book-related entertainment, it's been announced that Smith will develop Todd McFarland's quirky police procedural comic run SAM & TWITCH for BBC America.
Hailing from the pages of McFarland's Spawn comic book series, SAM & TWITCH are a pair of NYPD homicide detectives whose job it is to investigate the most bizarre of crimes perpetrated in the Big Apple. Although the characters we created by Todd McFarlane, long-time writer and the man responsible for everything that's wrong with Marvel comic books today (I am so kidding about that last part, I actually enjoy a wealth of Bendis' work, personally), Brian Michael Bendis penned the adventures of SAM & TWITCH for a number of years.
In speaking about the project, BBC America president and general manager Sarah Barnett offered these words,
He is attached to write, direct and executive producer a series based on the Sam And Twitch comic book series for us. They were originally introduced in Spawn, and it’s Todd McFarlane’s comic book series about these big-city homicide detectives who face a series of super grisly crimes that are connected to the occult. Its kind of frightening and sort of gallows humor. It’s, again, procedural, but in a very modern, contemporary way. So each episode is closed ended, although there are certain character-serialized aspects to the storytelling.
So there you have it, yet another Kevin Smith project is in the sauce pan! This one actually has me pretty stoked. I've yet to read anything from the SAM & TWITCH series, but I've thumbed through copies of the complete collection and I really grooved on what I saw. I particularly like the angular, gritty artwork that appears to be consistent throughout the series. The art style looks to me like if Ben Templesmith made sweet love to Riley Rossmo and then birthed a McFarlane baby. Yeah, there's an image for ya.
Seeing as this news is hot off the press, we can expect that it will be a little while before we hear anything further. Though with the rate at which Kevin Smith-related news is hitting the interwebs, we might have more details sooner than you'd think.
So what's up? How does this project strike you all? Have you read SAM & TWITCH? Is it any good? Should I pick it up and give it a go? Let us know of your experience with the series and your thoughts on this intriguing project in the comments below!
Smith's next film-related directorial effort will be the final film in his True North Trilogy entitled MOOSE JAWS. That's right, MOOSE JAWS. The film is set to star Johnny Depp, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Mewes, daughter Harley Quinn Smith, and Kevin Smith himself. As of yet there is no release date set for the film. In the meantime, you can watch YOGA HOSERS, which is available through Blu-Ray and online streaming services now.