Creator Spotlight

Cute woodland animals.

A quiet little town where everybody knows everybody.

A friendly brown bear who owns the local hardware store.

And a serial killer.

It probably shouldn't work nearly as well as it does.

But Patrick Horvath's Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees from IDW Publishing took that unlikely combination and turned it into one of the biggest breakout horror comics of the last few years — winning the 2025 Harvey Award for Book of the Year and growing from one six-issue series into an entire world.

At Collector's Paradise, we've been fortunate to work with Patrick on signed books, Signature Series projects and exclusive covers.

And now that world is getting even bigger.

Patrick Horvath and the Beginning of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

Before Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, Patrick Horvath had been working as an illustrator and cartoonist, but the series became his graphic novel debut when it was published by IDW.

And it's quite a debut.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees introduces readers to Woodbrook, an idyllic small town populated by anthropomorphic animals.

At the center of it is Samantha Strong.

Sam is a respected member of the community. She owns the local hardware store. She knows her neighbors.

She is also a serial killer.

Sam has rules, however. Most importantly:

Don't murder the locals.

Keeping her activities far away from Woodbrook allows Sam to maintain her carefully constructed life. But when another killer begins operating in her town, that life suddenly comes under threat.

The result is part cozy woodland story, part murder mystery and part psychological horror — with Patrick's inviting artwork making the violence and darkness underneath it even more unsettling.

From Surprise Hit to Harvey Award Winner

Readers responded.

What could easily have been a clever one-joke premise became something much bigger, with Samantha Strong and Woodbrook developing a following well beyond the original six issues.

And the comics industry noticed.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees earned major critical recognition and ultimately won the 2025 Harvey Award for Book of the Year.

That's particularly impressive company. The other nominees included Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, Helen of Wyndhorn by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, Final Cut by Charles Burns, and Precious Metal by Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram.

Patrick's serial-killer bear won.

But Woodbrook's story wasn't over.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

Patrick returned to Woodbrook with the six-issue sequel Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring.

The story jumps forward almost a decade.

The world has changed. Technology has changed. And the families of Samantha's victims haven't forgotten what happened.

The cozy setting is still there, as is Patrick's distinctive mixture of charming anthropomorphic characters and genuinely dark subject matter, but Samantha now has a different problem: keeping secrets is becoming considerably more difficult.

Rite of Spring continued the success of the original and earned a 2026 Eisner Award nomination for Best Limited Series.

For collectors who missed either chapter, Collector's Paradise has offered signed editions of both Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees and Rite of Spring signed by Patrick Horvath.

And now we're approaching the next chapter.

The Summer and the Fall: The Next Chapter of Beneath the Trees

Patrick Horvath is returning with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: The Summer and the Fall, a new six-issue series continuing the story of Samantha Strong and Woodbrook.

And naturally, we're continuing our relationship with Patrick.

Collector's Paradise is offering The Summer and the Fall #1–6 as a complete Signature Series set signed by Patrick Horvath.

Rather than having to track down each issue separately, collectors can preorder the entire six-issue series as one set and receive the complete run signed by Patrick.

[PREORDER BENEATH THE TREES: THE SUMMER AND THE FALL #1–6 SIGNED BY PATRICK HORVATH →]

For readers discovering Patrick through the new series, we also have signed editions from earlier chapters of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees available in our Patrick Horvath collection.

Tony Fleecs, Patrick Horvath and a Halloween in Woodbrook

Patrick's world is also beginning to attract some very familiar creators.

The upcoming Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees Halloween Special brings other writers and artists into Woodbrook to tell their own stories, including James Tynion IV, Tyler Boss, Che Grayson, Matt Emmons, Jared Cullum, Dave Wachter — and our good friend Tony Fleecs.

Tony and Patrick are friends and frequent collaborators, and Tony was actually an early champion of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. Tony has said that he read a review copy before the first issue was released and has been loudly singing the book's praises ever since.

For the Halloween Special, Tony teams with artist Dave Wachter for a story set in Patrick's wonderfully disturbing world.

Collector's Paradise is offering a complete cover set of the Beneath the Trees Halloween Special signed by both Patrick Horvath and Tony Fleecs.

[PREORDER THE BENEATH THE TREES HALLOWEEN SPECIAL — SIGNED BY PATRICK HORVATH & TONY FLEECS →]

If Tony's name sounds familiar, it should. We've worked extensively with Tony on our Signature Series program, including our ongoing signed Feral sets.

[READ OUR CREATOR SPOTLIGHT: TONY FLEECS — FROM MY LITTLE PONY TO STRAY DOGS, FERAL AND BEYOND →]

Beyond Beneath the Trees: Free for All and Archie in Hell

Patrick isn't limiting himself to Woodbrook.

His Free for All, published by Oni Press, takes his dark sense of humor in a completely different direction.

The premise imagines a future in which the world's billionaires and trillionaires can be selected by the World Finance League and given a choice: donate half their assets for the common good — or fight to keep them in ritual combat.

It's social satire, science fiction and bloody violence filtered through the same creator who gave us a serial-killer bear running a hardware store.

Patrick is also taking on one of the most recognizable characters in American comics in Archie in Hell, written by Horvath with art by Tyler Crook.

Yes.

Archie.

In Hell.

The series is part of a new publishing partnership between Archie Comics and Oni Press, with Patrick bringing a decidedly different kind of story to Riverdale.

Patrick Horvath Takes on Godzilla

We've also had an opportunity to work with Patrick on something completely different: Godzilla.

Patrick created three watercolor covers exclusively for Collector's Paradise across IDW's Godzilla Kai-Sei Era:

Godzilla [Kai-Sei Era] #1
Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone #1
Starship Godzilla #1

Each comic is part of IDW's regular Godzilla line and is available elsewhere — but Patrick's Collector's Paradise covers are exclusive to us.

Only 500 copies of each cover were produced.

Even better, Patrick designed the three paintings to connect together, creating one continuous piece of Godzilla artwork when the comics are placed side by side.

[SEE THE PATRICK HORVATH COLLECTOR'S PARADISE GODZILLA EXCLUSIVE COVERS →]

It's a very different side of Patrick's artwork from Woodbrook, while still being immediately recognizable as his work.

Shop Patrick Horvath Signed Comics & Exclusives

From Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees and Rite of Spring to Free for All, Archie in Hell and Godzilla, Patrick Horvath has gone from a relatively new name in comics to an award-winning creator remarkably quickly.

And Woodbrook's story is still growing.

Our Patrick Horvath collection includes currently available signed comics, Signature Series sets, sketches and Collector's Paradise exclusive variants, including the new Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: The Summer and the Fall Signature Series.

[SHOP ALL PATRICK HORVATH SIGNED COMICS & EXCLUSIVES →]

About the Collector's Paradise Signature Series

The Collector's Paradise Signature Series gives comic readers and collectors an opportunity to preorder complete runs and sets that are signed directly by the creators.

We've worked with comic book writers and artists across publishers and genres to offer signed comics to collectors through our three Southern California stores and online for customers around the country.

Every Collector's Paradise Signature Series item comes with our Certificate of Authenticity.