Samantha Strong has become one of comics’ great villains. She digs her claws deep into your brain, disturbing your thoughts and making you question if evil lives next door. Writer and artist Patrick Horvath ensures she goes out with a literal bang, as the consequences of her actions race back to haunt her. Death follows Samantha everywhere, and it’s worse now that she’s a cornered animal.
How does the Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees finale handle the Woodbrook massacre?
The last issue saw Samantha finally exposed for her crimes. She responds by burning the whole place to the ground. If she can’t live in Woodbrook, then nobody can. Samantha sets off a series of charges across town, causing buildings to explode and fires to roar. Horvath’s art finds beauty in the carnage. The anthropomorphic citizens look like they were ripped straight from the pages of a children’s book, while the gore runs free. Bright oranges dot the skyline, and dark red blood blankets the casualties. It’s a high-octane end to a slow-burn series.
Seeing Samantha calmly explain her plan on page four is petrifying. Horvath fixes a blank look on her face, even as she blows up a clock tower or slits someone’s throat. She soon asserts that she’s never felt as connected to someone as she does with Monica, giving us another sick look into her psyche. We’ve seen her kill her best friends, next-door neighbor, and even her own parents, but the only person she feels a bond with is the sister of one of her victims. She twists the knife by telling Monica that her prey could have been anyone. Monica’s brother simply walked by.
Why is Patrick Horvath’s portrayal of Samantha Strong so disturbing?
Samantha’s demeanor is a direct contrast to the panic settling over the town. Her neighbors’ faces are a mix of worry, fear, and anger. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou uses his letters to make their panic clear. The townspeople issue warnings in large, bolded text with jagged edges on the speech bubbles that lift their anxiety off the page. They feel every emotion as their town burns, while Samantha experiences nothing. It’s obvious she was never a part of their community. She was just a predator biding her time.
Horvath wisely frames this as an indictment of Samantha. Despite her evil, we see the townspeople rise up to help each other. Bertie stays behind to help people flee, the fire department quickly responds to the flames, and families come together to comfort each other. Terror is all around, but everyone helps because they’re neighbors. Connecting is a key part of existence, and it’s something Samantha will never experience.
Does Samantha Strong get caught at the end of the series?
Your mileage on the ending will vary depending on what you were hoping for. Samantha escapes justice, leaving Woodbrook firmly in her rearview. Those looking to see the serial killer finally get her comeuppance are in for a disappointment, but she’s far too interesting for her story to end here. This isn’t a traditional slasher comic where the killer falls into a woodchipper. It’s a character study of a predatory animal in a sweater.
Woodbrook’s monster now prowls the entire country. Samantha has no genuine friends, family, or community, making her escape all too easy. Horvath’s art makes the violence visceral, and his exploration of a killer’s psyche is chilling. Samantha has earned her place among fiction’s most evil characters.
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Woodbrook’s monster now prowls the entire country. Samantha has no genuine friends, family, or community, making her escape all too easy. Horvath’s art makes the violence visceral, and his exploration of a killer’s psyche is chilling. Samantha has earned her place among fiction’s most evil characters.
