IDW Publishing has been renewing its focus on creator-owned content in 2023 thanks to the IDW Originals line, and their latest project sure is... original. Southbound's Patrick Horvath is writing and drawing Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, a series about an idyllic town full of cutesy, anthropomorphic animals where a serial killer is hard at work.
IGN can exclusively debut a preview of the new series. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below, though beware of some NSFW imagery:
The creative team on Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees also includes letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and IDW Originals group editor Maggie Howell. The series' title comes from the lyrics to the song "The Teddy Bears' Picnic," though in this case, the words take on a much more sinister context.
"One of my guiding principles for this series is to strike a balance between cute, fun, dark, and disturbing, and I think that readers will be very pleased with the results," Horvath tells IGN. "A lot of the creative work that I do tends to be these dark little existential explorations, carving a path through the dread of having your life up-ended. For as strange, or insane, or idiosyncratic your interior life might be, that type of story resonates with a ton of people. Every person goes through it in some form or other, and with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees that person happens to be a cuddly brown bear who is a serial killer and owns a hardware store. It struck me as sort of profane, but setting this story in an idyllic little town of animal-folks just felt like the absolute right move. You can't help but want to see how the events play out issue-by-issue, watching the horror unfold in this adorable community."
"Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is proof of the magic you get when you trust creators' voices and give outstanding talent like Patrick the freedom to let loose," Howell said in a statement. "He came to us with a dream to mix the cute with the unconscionable and this book never loses its grip on that goal. For every shocking page turn there are a hundred delightful and terrifying Easter eggs. It's a perfect example of a creator doing his best possible work on a project that's uniquely his own and it shines through in the reading experience. Everyone who joins us in cozy Woodbrook is going to savor this story... and it's a testament to Patrick's skill and vision that they'll worry they're savoring it a little too much."
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees #1 will be released on October 18, 2023.
For more upcoming comcis, check out our exclusive preview of A Vicious Circle #2 and see the biggest comcis of July 2023.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
