Patrick Horvath’s follow-up to the Eisner-nominated series returns this week with its penultimate chapter. Serial killer Samantha has been playing Monica from the start, drawing her into her town to toy with her after killing her brother. Samantha is tantalized by this new cat-and-mouse game she’s made for herself, but is she underestimating Monica? Given the changes in town, a major shift is needed, and Samantha shows she’s ready for anything in the fifth issue.
The last issue was a lot of setup and a lack of Samantha, but the penultimate issue of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring really puts the pedal to the metal. Horvath opens the issue by noting that the local newspaper vendor has opened shop, which is a calm, collected start. That calmness is Horvath playing with our expectations and setting us up for the utter mayhem that follows. It’s also a reminder of the humanity of these townspeople, as Horvath draws our empathy toward them, even though we full well know Samantha has no empathy at all.
Like any good thriller, this issue makes you nervous and anxious. Samantha may be calmly driving Monica to a spot where bodies have been buried, but we know she’s calculating at all times. Monica is in great danger, but she doesn’t yet know it. As the story plays out and cans of paint with Monica’s brother are found, all seems to be going to plan. That said, Samantha’s humanity is revealed a bit here, as she’s no mastermind, and mistakes are made.
Samantha is up to something.
Credit: IDW
Once the jig is up, the issue becomes a race. Horvath draws an intense car chase, and adding to the sequence’s anxiousness is an old woman who drives late for work, who you just know will factor into things. There are factors in play here that make you question why Samantha is so calm, but then again, she is a psychopathic killer.
The last few pages of this issue are the most intense of this series, and the last. The A series of events makes you question if Samantha can make it out alive, and maybe even makes you question yourself in wanting her to. She is a killer, after all. These events also fit well with the larger narrative of a small town transitioning into a larger one. A larger town that can’t keep its secrets buried for too long. Horvath backs up this notion through Samantha’s calm, measured inner monologue, rendered in Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou’s great lettering. The town’s change and the killings Samantha commits are the same, and nothing can change that.
The art continues to be excellent, not only because Horvath has a great ability to draw facial expressions on these animals, but also the calming nature of the colors and backgrounds. The real winning element, however, is the layouts, which pace the story perfectly. A ten-panel page of Monica coming to realization is capped off perfectly, thanks to two smaller panels in a page that would otherwise have been a nine-panel grid. These last two panels create a sense of urgency and play off your expectations of the layout.
The penultimate chapter of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring is Patrick Horvath at the height of his powers, delivering an issue that thrives on nerve-shredding suspense and pitch-perfect pacing. By lulling readers into a false sense of calm before unleashing chaos, Horvath reminds us that more than shocking violence, this series is about how secrets rot small towns from the inside out. As Samantha’s control begins to crack and the walls close in, the story reaches an emotional and thematic intensity that makes this one of the strongest chapters yet.
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