Inside the cutesy, cuddly serial killer thriller that has taken the comics world by storm

It can be hard to predict what's going to be big in comics. Sure, you can rely on the big name Marvel and DC titles to regularly sell well and there are certain creators who can shift thousands of copies based on their name alone, but given that there are more than 150 different comics, graphic novels, and trade paperbacks published this week alone, it can be hard to cut through the noise. Every now and again, though, something entirely unexpected will take off.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is one such book. The blackly comic murder mystery series from IDW launched in October last year and, in its five issues so far, has become the company's best-selling original (ie. not based on a franchise like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) comic. What's even more remarkable, however, is that it's written and painted by a creator who is more-or-less a newcomer to the comics industry: Patrick Horvath.

Described by IDW as, "Dexter meets Richard Scarry's Busy Town" Beneath the Trees is blessed with an instantly attention-grabbing pitch.

Woodbrook is a town full of walking, talking, anthropomorphic animals. It's cute, picturesque, and seemingly entirely safe. Little do the residents know, however, that their neighbour - and the comic's protagonist - Samantha is a serial killer. She makes sure to practice her hobby far from home in the big city, but when another killer starts to brutally off her friends in Woodbrook, Sam is forced to try and solve the mystery of their identity and take them out before the murders draw too much attention to her own crimes.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees's premise instantly raises a smile, but what really makes it work is the contrast between Horvath's cutesy storybook visuals and the utter horror of both Sam and the mystery killer's actions. There's a real sense of melancholy amid the guilty chuckles. These animals are, for all intents and purposes, just regular people, and that makes the comic's mix of adorable art and outright brutality all the more impactful.

If you go down to the woods today...

So who is Patrick Horvath? Before breaking into the comics world, he was best know for writing a string of indie horror films, including work on the Southbound anthology and The Pact 2. Frustrated with the slow pace of the film world, however, he returned to his youthful love of drawing every day. After several years of doing this, he self-published an online graphic novella Free For All (which is due to get a print release later this year) and published a short story in Josh Trujillo's Love Machines Anthology. Arguably his first mainstream work came, however, when he painted an issue of Image's Haha back in 2021. Horvath's work caught the attention of IDW and he was approached to pitch to the publisher as part of a new creator push.

Beneath the Trees has its origins in one of Horvath's daily sketches - in this case, a teddy bear carrying a bloodied axe - as well as a famous nursery rhyme. Talking to Bearded Comic Bro on YouTube, he revealed that the title of the series was plucked from the song 'Teddy Bear's Picnic.' "I think it's the second chorus where they sing, 'Beneath the trees where nobody sees, they hide and seek as long as they please, because that's the way the teddy bears have their picnic' and I was like, what do they do beneath the trees where nobody sees?!"

Clearly Horvath's idea has struck a chord. The five issues of Beneath the Trees published so far have sold almost 150k copies, with the first three issues each requiring several reprints. According to IDW, comic shops have shown increased interest in the book with each passing issue - an unusual and pleasing development given that the numbers generally tend to trend downwards after a series launch and the hype of a first issue has died down.

"When I heard from my editor Maggie Howell that we had sold out that first printing, I couldn’t believe it," Horvath told Newsarama. "I always thought there would be an audience out there for this book, I just never thought they'd show up so quickly! I still can't believe it, to be honest. IDW has been amazing in doing everything to help it grow, and I've been floored by the response from readers, critics, and comic shops." He says that he has also been heartened by the willingness of readers to embrace the stranger, darker moments in the book. "The biggest surprise to me has been that everything in the story I thought might be the strange and weird details that would put off readers ended up being the things they've liked the most!"

IDW's associate editor Jake Williams says that he always knew that the series would be a success from the moment that he saw Horvath's cuddly cartoon murderer. "My first interaction with Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees was a brief description of the plot, sent along by Patrick as one of a few different pitches," he explains. "From that alone, we knew this would be a hit. THEN, Patrick sent his first sketch of Sam, and we knew this would be absolutely massive."

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees ends with #6 and there's no word as yet on if the book will be back for a second arc - though, assuming Samantha makes it out of the series alive, we're sure that IDW will be keen. Whatever the case, it's really encouraging to see an original title like this not only win critical acclaim, but also chime with the wider comics-buying public. And with Patrick Horvath, the series has introduced the world to an impressive new comics talent whose work we'll be keeping a keen eye on.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees #1-#5 are all available now. The final issue is published by IDW on May 8, with a trade paperback of the series publishing on September 17.

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