Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

 Individual issues out now, collected out in Sept 2024.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

               This graphic novel has been described as Richard Scary meets Dexter.  Which is pretty accurate, though there is no worm in an apple car. 

               Just saying.

               It seems that Patrick Horvath was chilling on day with his beverage of choice and then thought “what if Dexter was really a bear named Samantha”.  Or maybe, like with Jim C. Hines’ story of a werewolf, he had been watching too much kids’ programs.

               Either way, this was really good.

               It is too Horvath’s credit that he does not make Samantha good, and in fact, the beginning of the book, it becomes quite clear that she is not a good serial killer.  And that makes the graphic novel a bit better.  You are rooting for Samantha, as far as you can, because she is the lesser of two evils.

               But Samantha is also self-aware, which makes her interesting.  The stakes are real, and the plot is tight.  The book works, and because it does not soften Samantha or saddle her with a family, it works better for me than the Dexter Showtime series did (sorry, didn’t read the books).

               What also works is the Richard Scary type atmosphere because the graphic novel does raise some questions that will get a reader to think about issues surrounding civilization and the wild.  In this sense, Horvath makes good use of the animal fable idea.

               If you like mysteries, serial killers, or want a Redwall that is more adult and lacks the food, this is the book for you.