Sam and Twitch are homicide detectives that are part of the Spawn Universe. Case Files are stories from their rough, dangerous, and often heavily dark careers. Steve Niles (writer), along with Todd McFarlane, shows a more human, but no less morbid, side to the Spawn U. Sam and Twitch are just two guys that swim against the tide of the most evil of human nature. Niles’ writing is seriously good. It elicits such emotion from the reader that it might as well be a novel. Paul Lee’s heavily shadowed and gritty art style is perfect for this comic and does not suffer from being black and white only. I especially love his “speech brackets.” Also, the cover by Greg Capullo is one of the coolest ever, despite having nothing to do with the story inside.

Case Files #13 is a single issue story that gives some insight into Sam’s past. It begins with Sam and his brother, Eddie playing cops and robbers in an alleyway. As the comic flashes back to the future, Sam receives a phone call requesting him to identify his brother’s body at a local prison. The following scenes had me protecting my precious comic from the tears of mournful pity and my flying fists of rage that they evoked from me. When the comic ended, I saw the gruff Sam in a new a new light and felt a deep respect for Niles’ writing abilities.