One of the books that blew the doors off the hinges last year was Patrick Horvarth’s Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees and now IDW has given us a sneak peak at Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring, a sequel to last year’s breakout hit The Trees Where Nobody Sees.
The six-issue sequel takes place almost a decade after the stunning and blood-spattered events of the first hit series.
Return to the seemingly idealistic suburban town of Woodbrook as Samantha, the bloodlusting brown bear, got away with her crimes and is now the town’s one and only serial killer. But times have changed, and Samantha will soon discover there are no secrets in the age of the internet… and those who lost loved ones to her dark temptations are still searching for justice. Plus, Samantha’s sinister origin story is revealed as the sequel revisits what happened after her very first kill.
“I really didn’t want to just leave everything hanging in case I never had the chance to do anymore with it, so I brought the story to a close but left it wide open on purpose just in case,” Horvath told THR. “Once the first couple issues started picking up steam, IDW asked if I’d be interested in doing more, and I let them know that I actually already had quite a few ideas for where it could go next.”
Screen Rant reported that “individually, and in their collected form, the six issues of Beneath the Trees have combined to sell over 180k issues” also earning Horvath two Eisner nominations and making everyone at the Beat a fan. (Read out review of Beneath The Trees Vol 1 here and our interview with Horvath here)
“I’m supremely excited to return to the quaint town of Woodbrook to continue the story of our psychopath bear, Samantha Strong,” Horvath continued in a statement. “I continue to be blown away by the response to the first book. In my wildest dreams I never thought it would have caught such a huge wave that spread out to other countries and languages. BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES continues to be a huge gift to me, and I’m grateful for all of the immense support from IDW, the retailers, critics, and fans.
So let’s rejoice, Horvath-heads! We get a peak at some of the interior art, a cover by Horvath, movie homage cover a acclaimed creator Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs), the return of storybook variants, with artist Riley Rossmo (The Moon is Following Us) on the debut variant and well as news of and artist Elizabeth Beals (Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons) on issues #2-6. Plus: a debut issue variant cover by industry icon Skottie Young (I Hate Fairyland).
BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES: RITE OF SPRING #1 (of 6) is on sale July 9, 2025 with a FOC deadline of June 2, 2025.
