I had initially heard about this series while it was in its first few issues from my favorite Australian Youtuber, Nerd Burger. She's worked in a comic store for a decade and I take her recommendations very seriously. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees was a fascinating comic among the likes which I have never encountered. It was the perfect mashup of Dexter meets The Busy World of Richard Scarry. I don't know who would ever want to combine those two franchises, but Patrick Horvath did it to an expert degree. This story shows the dark underbelly of a sweet, sleepy town filled with talking animals. From the pigs to the ducks to the brown bears, everyone has a secret. I was gripped throughout the entire story and read it in one sitting. I couldn't wait to see what transpired next. The goriness was a bit jarring, but the cover was example enough of what to expect in Beneath the Trees. I thought this was spectacularly done, although it could have done with a more complete denouement. I didn't get all my questions answered, but perhaps that's what's in store for the next volume. All I wanna know is why did the talking animal have a pet dog who couldn't talk back? Was this just another Mickey Mouse and Pluto situation? Silliness aside, this was an impressive debut and Patrick Horvath should be very proud for what he lay underneath those shadowy foliage.

Cute animal characters in an idyllic, small-town setting. The lively art belies the darker underbelly of this sinister series starter. But once you look past the visual whimsy, it's readily apparent that this book has some serious Dexter vibes (if Dexter were a female bear).

A bit of a slow start, but this was a fun juxtaposition of contrasts.

I knew exactly what I signed up for, but…I somehow still wasn’t expecting it. This is an almost-cozy turned murderous-and-dark graphic novel that you will get through in one sitting.

this was super unsettling because nothing gets to me like gore being somewhere gore shouldn't be and I was biting my nails throughout this small town mystery needing to know how it was going to end

Summary:

Samantha Strong has spent her whole life in a small town. As such, she's created and perfected a certain set of rules. Rule number one is that you don't EVER murder the locals. Yeah, this means she has to commute a bit to follow her, um, dreams, but it's worth it.

Unfortunately, somebody else did not get the memo. So Samantha is going to have to step up and solve this murder before people look too closely at their fellow citizens...you never know what they might notice.

Review:

I picked up Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees on an impulse. The description and cover are so incongruous (intentionally so) that I knew it was worth reading. I was not disappointed. That said, don't dive into this book without understanding that you WILL be getting a woodland version of Dexter.

First, I have to say that I love this weird merger. It's so disturbingly perfect, and it gives me the chills on more than one occasion. I'll admit that the graphic elements bordered on too much for me at times (Dexter was never my cup of tea, so I anticipated this, but I was fine with the risk).

That said, I love the characters, tongue-in-cheek nature of the story, and the overall atmosphere created by the juxtaposition of elements. It made for a jarring and wholly unique experience – one I won't soon be forgetting!

Highlights:
Thriller/Horror
Surprisingly Twist
Tongue-in-cheek artstyle
Dexter meets cute furry animals

"Chase the queen, chase the queen... move so fast, she can't be seen..."

Never mistook this for a children book with the colorful and cutesy drawing, for when you dig deeper there's a serial killer in a form of kind, friendly bear hid in between. Samantha Strong is known as model citizen in a small town called Woodbrooks. No one ever known her ruthless psychotic persona behind the friendly facade she sets because she had one rule: never murder locals. Until one day, a murder broke the tranquility of the town, the first one ever in decades. Samantha worried this case may mistook her for the murder and handed her the blame. Small town such as Woodbrooks held no place for another serial killer, so she needed to take action.

Every panel, every pages of this book left me with my mouth agape until the very end. The contrast they put on having colorful drawing combined with a terrifying story of a murder is totally genius. Aside from the very much graphic gore element (not gonna lie the blood red in this one totally got me), we also get to involved in investigating who the actual murderer is. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees truly giving readers a chilly yet thrilling experience in one sitting.

I was so excited to read this after I saw the beautiful art style combined with a gruesome storyline. The characters are wholesome and the setting is idyllic, yet the gore fits perfectly. I will be purchasing for my library.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees may sound like the hook of a nursery rhyme, but it's the truth (both literal and figurative) of small town life where there may not be many secrets, but there is one big one: a serial killer in the form of your local neighborhood hardware store owner.

And even if she keeps her victims away from this idyllic "everybody knows your name" home, when bodies start appearing who else is there? Who else is like her? Surely she must get to the bottom of the mystery before the mystery comes to her doorstep!

This was an enjoyable gory book that didn't shy away from the worst parts of humanity (even when all the characters are animals.. but there are also wild animals, and also a butcher...???) but at times it got a little too internal monologue-y about the nature of the town itself and ooh, how spooky it is that things are disrupted. But overall it was good, the hunt was good, the resolution was good, I had a good time reading it.

Thank you to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

It is a horror-thriller graphic novel set in a small town with anthropomorphic animal characters.

Samantha is a respectable citizen in a small town but she also has a dark secret, she is a serial killer but has one rule which is not to kill people in that town.

The plot is dark and gripping, it got me hooked from the beginning. I like the cute and colourful artwork.

I thought this was a fantastic graphic novel and very much reminded me of Dexter but with cute animals but just as much gore in a picture book style. I can't wait to see more character development in the next volume.

Sam, the bear works in a hardware store and is loved by the residents of Woodbrook where nothing bad seems to happen until a series of gruesome murders start. Everyone starts pointing fingers, then Sam is a suspect and she knows better than to murder in her own town. Now she has to find out who the real murderer is...

I'm absolutely fucking loving this trope emerging in comics of cutesy art mixed with gory storytelling. I can't wait to buy and reread it every spooky season!

I'm always into comic books that venture into dark and mature themes. At the same time, I'm not incredibly keen on stories told from serial killer pov's as they are often written just to be edgy and I'm not particularly interested in this particular point of view. I thought Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees might be a little different because the characters are anthropomorphic animals, so I expected everything to veer more into the absurd (which is much more to my liking). Imagine my disappointment when it became clear that I was getting a less dramatic version of Dexter. The story completely fails as a whodunit (cause who indeed dun it is fully random and out of the blue, with no tangible setup to speak of) and everything else about it is frankly not very exciting.

The one thing I found VERY interesting was the anthro-animals existing alongside animals as we know them: a pig lady looking at pork in a butcher shop, Sam being confronted with a wild bear... It seems like Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees has something to say about the arbitrary nature of who we assign/deny subjecthood, the absolute absurdity of thinking that some creatures exist solely for us - even though the imagery was probably used more to illustrate how we all are animals in the end which I find fairly reductive and irrelevant as long as culture beats us into a shape as far from our "nature" as possible, but I digress.

Ultimately, I just didn't like Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees very much. It wasn't weird enough for my liking and the one aspect that could've been incredibly interesting was left half-baked. My highlight were the INCREDIBLE variant covers shown at the end, these were great imo. Apart from that, I didn't get much out of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, and I honestly don't know who to recommend it to.

<i>***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review*** </i>

oh my oh my oh my—i admit i only read the tags and genres, not the blurb neither did i inspect the cover closely. aaand i was taken aback. i expected a cosy mystery and got serial-killing critters.

the story is creepy and nicely written; i got the heebie jeebies first on till the end. it honestly made me sad too :(
the art is lovely, reminiscent of old, cosy illustrations. but that is subverted and the horror of the whole premise adds to it very, very well.

certainly recommend it everyone who loves to cosy up with gruesome murder stories <3

⊹ . ⋆ ☽ ⋆ . ➶

Posted on Goodreads:

5⭐️

What a delightful horrific cozy horror graphic novel. Left me all warm and traumatized.

Samantha Strong is a just a girl, a serial killer girl who ventures into the city to find a victim to take out into the forest and do things to them. Disturbing things. All to quiet the voice in her head.

She lives in the boring quiet town of Woodbrook where she has one big rule, do not kill the locals. And she’s been following this rule for decades….that is until someone starts killing the locals and she starts investigating to get to the bottom of things.

The artwork was so darn cute it was messing with me. But I absolutely enjoyed everything about this read.

Thank you netgalley, idw publishing and Patrick Horvath and artists for the opportunity to read this gem.

Delightfully twisted! This has the small-town charm of Gilmore Girls, the cozy animal characters akin to Winnie the Pooh, and the deranged serial killer vibes of Dexter all mixed into a beautiful (and tastefully gory) graphic novel.

Story: 4.5/5

I don't think I have ever ready a cozy killer graphic novel, but I oddly loved it! We follow Sam, a bear that works at a hardware story in a Gilmore Girls-style town with anthropomorphic animal residents. Sam has a dark secret that she keeps hidden far away from her quaint hometown. That is, until a cold-blooded murder stirs up the secrets Sam works very hard to conceal.

Artwork: 5/5

The illustrations are adorable in one pane, and gruesome in the next! The juxtaposition of cute, children's story-like artwork alongside a murder scene is jarring in the best of ways. I enjoyed the contrast that both the artwork and the story provided SO much.

This was such a unique story that will satisfy those that love cuddly characters and dark stories alike.

Thank you to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this graphic novel.

This might be the BEST graphic novel I’ve read. The story was compelling, the art was stunning, the gore/violence was (in my opinion) tastefully done. Jarring enough to be disturbed but not turned off entirely from the story.

I knew I would like this… but LOVE it?!
The premise sounded incredible. A murderous bear with Dexter vibes solving murders in her own town?

If you enjoyed Dexter, are interested in serial killers or morally grey (let’s be honest— sociopathic) main characters. This is a graphic novel for you.

5⭐️ (hands down)

Samantha is an adorable bear, the owner of the local hardware store, and a serial killer. She keeps her killing business in the city so that she can spend her time in the cozy town of Woodbrook relaxing. On the day of the town parade, a body is found on one of the parade floats and the town is plagued by its own serial killer trying to get Samantha's attention. She has to figure out who is going after the locals before the sheriff catches on to her own illegal activities. The art is mostly cute, but it can also be pretty grisly. There is a lot of interesting juxtaposition between the cute animals and the horrific acts, as well as between the anthropomorphic animals and the usual animals. I think I would have enjoyed the story a bit more if there had been a little bit more to the mystery, but it was still an interesting tale. The subject matter is quite dark, so this will be a good one for fans of Dexter or Hannibal.

This is certainly a great primer for fall and spooky season. With the juxtaposition of the friendly animal community reminiscent of children's books against the serial killer cat and mouse game, this is a new take on the slasher trope that any horror fan would find fresh. While the plot itself may not reach into anything we haven't seen before, I think the biggest draw for this story is the way that it's told rather than what it says. The artistic direction is what really drives this work. I think anyone looking for a fun remix in the horror genre would find this an enjoyable read.

Ever wonder if zootopia had a dark side? Or if Dexter was a furry? This graphic novel satisfies both of those. We have Sam, a well know lovable citizen of Woodbrook with that holds a dark secret, a dark passager per se. She hides this well until someone new comes and fucks with her peceful town. It was amazing. A thrill of a ride and the beauftiful and descriptive art is *mwah* chef's kiss. This was a very anticipated read for me and I got the opportunity to read it thanks to NetGalley. And if you haven't read this, what are you waiting on?

A psychological, gruesome illustrated book with cute animals. I feel like these books are filling the market more and more. The art was really well done, and by that I mean, it was really gory and creepy. The panels did get creative at times in a way that worked. The author did really well on the characters, but some of the scenes weren’t as good. Each of the characters were pretty compelling for just really being archetypes of small town folks. There weren’t too many redirects or red herons which I enjoyed. However, I always question when an author includes both animals and anthropomorphic animals in their world. In this case, the difference did come in to play but I did think the message missed the mark. A few scenes in book three I really did not get the important to the plot.

Received an advanced copy in return for an honest review.