Sam Burke and Maximilian “Twitch” Williams are New York Police Department homicide detectives in the Spawn universe. The characters were introduced in the main series, earning their own comic due to their popularity. Beginning in 1999, Sam and Twitch told dark and gritty detective stories on the streets of New York. The series ran for 26 issues through February 2004. The ongoing series Case Files: Sam & Twitch ran for 23 issues from May 2003 to July 2006, then Sam and Twitch: Case Files included 24 issues from March 2024 to April 2026.

They were introduced by creator Todd McFarlane in Spawn #1 (May 1992) to be background characters in Al Simmons/Spawn’s storyline. The detectives and Al did not get along since Sam and Twitch did not approve of Spawn’s methods, and Al didn’t trust cops. They grew to respect and appreciate each other over time with Spawn reaching out to the cops for help since they were the only cops he now believed in.

The two detectives have obvious differences that help them work well together. Sam Burke is the brawn; a large, gruff man who takes action against villains. He takes pride in being an honest cop who won’t be swayed by corruption, though sometimes he gets rough with criminals. He is the quintessential grumpy good guy with a quick temper and cynical outlook, but he will step in to help people and defeat the bad guys.

Twitch is the brains of their operation. He is a math whiz who excelled in the study of trigonometry, and used his skills at calculating angles to become an excellent marksman. His talent with a gun has saved him on multiple occasions since he is a rather slight man who does not do as well in hand to hand fighting. Coming from a family of cops, Twitch is proud to work in law enforcement, so the corruption he sees in the police department bothers him. In some ways, he comes off as naïve, but his intelligence make him a savvy detective.

Because of his larger size, Sam often protects Twitch from harm and defends him when fellow cops insult his smaller stature. “Twitch” was a nickname given to him in high school, which he hated, so Sam repurposed the nickname by telling people he was called Twitch because he never twitched. In return, Twitch often calls Sam “sir” as a sign of trust and respect.

Sam is skilled at seeing through people when they lie and can get information out of them, and Twitch is the one that puts the pieces together to solve the cases.