Does a bear kill in the woods? That’s the question Patrick Horvath sets out to answer in his “Richard Scarry meets Dexter” opus Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, the subject of this year’s very first Four-Color Flashback. The 2024 IDW series takes place in an idyllic world of anthropomorphic animals where not all is as it seems–the local hardware store owner, Samantha Strong, has a nasty habit of heading out to the city and slaughtering random passersby. That is, until another serial killer comes to her small town of Woodbrook, threatening the life she has carefully maintained for decades. Paul, Arlo, and Special Guest™ Eric Sipple discuss Horvath’s deceptively simple cartooning, his brilliant use of panel layouts, the limits of the book’s suburban satire, Hassane Otsmane-Elhaou’s visionary lettering, and so much more. Plus, Arlo raves about Best Picture nominee Nickel Boys.

 

NEXT: we’ll be back, someway, somehow.

 

BREAKDOWN

00:00:28  -  Intro / Guest

00:02:48  -  Banter and generally wasting time

00:08:44  -  Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

01:35:47  -  Outro / Next

 

LINKS

• “Exclusive Interview: Patrick Horvath on BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES” by Christian Angeles, The Beat

 

MUSIC

• “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” by Henry Hall, The Best Children’s Songs & Stories (2014)

• “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” by Lead Belly, The Tradition Masters (2002)

 

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate

• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/

• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org

• Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/ 

• National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org

• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 

• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/

• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://www.unduemedicaldebt.org/ 

• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/