In this review of Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #2, we backtrack a little to see what led to Sam getting in contact with Monica, as the sleepy town of Woodbrook moves into the 90s.
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #2
Writer: Patrick Horvath
Art and Main Cover: Patrick Horvath
Variant Covers: Tony Fleecs, Elizabeth Beals
Page Count: 36 Pages
Release Date: August 27, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #2 opens up with some visible changes in Woodbrook, with Sam’s inner monologue fills in a few of the blanks. The internet’s becoming a thing, and big box stores are pushing out the smaller shops. Bertie’s found a job working at home, creating fun alarm clocks, wild animals of the non-anthropomorphic variety are being pushed into town because of civilization’s activities.
We also find out that Sam’s “trips” have had to change with everything else: different cities, staying away longer, having to find other ways to dispose of the bodies…
While out walking his dog, Bertie encounters a friendly-enough local (Agatha) and a wild bear rummaging through the dumpster, deciding it’s safest at home with just him and Anchovy. A bit of browsing the web and finding Woodbrook on a site about crime just further cements this.
Sam, meanwhile, is on one of her trips, ambushing a guy in a parking garage. Her inner monologue talks about how her methods have had to evolve with the ever-changing world around her. After getting home, she learns from Bertie about the crime website.
As she’s getting settled back in after her “camping” trip, the wild bear returns. Instead of waiting for animal control to show up, the cops shoot it instead.
With the help of Kevin, Sam gets online and starts poking around a bit. That’s when she finds a message about a particular duck, whose sister wants answers. Feeling that this could be fun, Sam responds to the message…
The town of Woodbrook feels very lived-in, as I read through this issue. Most people know everyone. It’s a great example of a “small town with some hidden darkness” scenario. And the fact that this issue brings a bit more context to Sam’s meeting with Monica was great to see, as well.
When I’d read the first issue, I had not been aware that this story was a sequel. It wasn’t until I saw a description elsewhere that the first installment became known to me. For any reader in that same boat that I was, where they didn’t know that this had a predecessor, there’s no need to worry. The narrative gives just enough hints about what had happened that it’s still fairly easy to follow the plot.
Granted, reading that first installment before Rite of Spring does give even more context to everything, so it only enhances the experience. Without the context, we see that young Lewis has lost his dad, and that he and his sister are worried about their mom. But with the context, what happened to their dad is outright stated (and it’s not a stretch to say that that might’ve had a negative impact on their mother’s mental health). With or without, though, the feeling that Sam kills because it just feels right to her comes up.
The fact that wild animals, pets, and anthropomorphic animals exist all at the same time fascinates me. At first blush, it can be a little jarring when you realize that the chance of seeing one dog walking another dog is very possible. It makes you wonder where the distinction is between who counts as a person, and who’s an animal. But then the more one thinks about that, the more they realize that that blurred line between man and beast is the point. They’re driven by their innate nature.
Sam has a fairly cool reaction to the bear being gunned down, but there’s some concern raised earlier that the changes to her “trips” could possibly lead her to slip up somewhere down the line. Did she perhaps see this bear being shot and hope that this was a grisly (or “grizzly”) fate she could avoid?
It’ll be interesting to see how Sam avoids being found out, with the advancement of technology as Woodbrook moves into the 90s.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This twisted (yet aesthetically comforting) tale continues with Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #2 , giving us a look into Sam’s perspective. If you enjoyed the first installment, it’ll be like catching up with old friends. If you hadn’t read the first one, this is still a pretty good starting point. Either way, it’s a good time.
