บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Patrick Horvath talks Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees sequel, Samantha Strong, and new Halloween Special

Diego Comic-Con, and I'm sitting across from Patrick Horvath. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:42.319 All right, he is the artist and the writer, the overall mastermind behind the hit horror comic series, Beneath the Trees for Nobody Sees, and its sequel, Beneath the Trees for Nobody Sees, Rite of Spring, which is available right now in collected edition and trade paperbacks, etc. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.759 Patrick, it is such an honor to be sitting across from you today, man. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.839 How is your San Diego Comic Con going so hard? 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.120 Well, thank you for having me. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:51.279 And um, and so far, so great. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:59.439 Uh, it's been uh we're getting into the Friday of the weekend, and like it's like we're getting into the full-on like con experience right now. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.160 We're tapping into the weekend warriors that are starting to show up. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:12.720 Um you have like preview night and then Thursdays, like those are the honestly the smarter folks maybe that like want to get in without it getting too crazy, and they hit all the special stuff before it gets like sold out or whatever. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.800 But uh, but yeah, so far, so great. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.160 It's it's been a blast. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.920 Um, I've been able to sign a little bit, and I have panels coming up on Saturday. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:21.519 Uh, we're going to the Eisners tonight. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:22.240 Nice, yeah. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.959 It's um, it's uh it's just been fun and exciting. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.199 You know, speaking about Eisners, I I can finally say this uh in person to you. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:30.800 Congratulations on the nomination. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:31.680 Oh, thank you so much. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:37.519 Beneath the trees for nobody sees right of spring is is uh nominated for Best Limited Series. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:47.040 Uh on the topic of of um awards, I'll get back to the Eisners, but uh Rewind almost a uh almost a year ago, New York Comic-Con 2025. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:54.160 I attended my first award show, which was the Harveys, yeah, yeah, and got to witness You Win, which was it Book of the Year? 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:54.959 Yeah, we got the yeah. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.240 Which I I think is was like at the was it the last award of the night. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.040 I think it was I mean, it was so cool to see that in person. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:06.399 Not only was it my first award show, but to get to see you win, a book that I was following and you know in in love with. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.439 And then, you know, your energy, I mean Oh, thank you very much. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:10.639 Um, that was a trip. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:12.959 I did, I really didn't expect that. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:17.680 Um, and I'm still like, I was really, it took a long time to wrap my head around it because you're up. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:24.720 I mean, there's like all these the the weird part about this is like this is you know, it's my first book, but I've been a longtime reader. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:31.040 So like being nominated in a category with a lot of your heroes is like a real mind trip. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:37.759 So like I was just like, ah, I know it's like imposter syndrome was like firing on all cylinders, and I was just like, oh my god. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:38.000 Yeah. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.439 Um, so uh, I mean, it it's been wild though. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:48.879 Like it's just to see where this book's taken me um has been incredible and um it really never ceases to amaze me. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:07:05.279 I gotta ask, man, because I I was um reading a press release for the upcoming Halloween special, which we'll talk about later, but uh I think it was Tim Seeley had a blurb uh in this press release, and he was saying, I was reading, you know, Beneath the Trees Nobody Sees before anyone else did. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:14.240 I got a advanced preview of the first issue, fell in love with it, and and I got me thinking, you know, hearing you talk about like being in a room with your peers and idols and people you look up to. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:22.720 Who else has approached you as a colleague, as a peer, as a you know, someone that you admire, that you were maybe taken aback by like, oh my god, you like you've read it, you like it? 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:31.199 Well, but the big ones for me were like it just seemed like out of the blue, like Size Barrier and uh Scott Snyder were just like early champions. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.120 And I was just like, What? 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.000 I didn't know they'd I didn't know they were given preview. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:36.560 You know how it goes. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:41.040 I mean like apparently it had been handed out and then passed around, and I just didn't know. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:46.000 Um, then I would just have people reaching out about it, and I was just like, oh my God, thank you so much. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.279 Like this is incredible. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:56.720 That and like early reviews um that were really well received uh were the like first order indicators that it was like there's something kind of special going on. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:06.240 And I I like I it honestly just feels like a real charmed like existence of how this book's been pushed out, and it's just like never said, like it hasn't stopped. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:11.040 Like I'm just like, oh my god, okay, like wow, all right, wow, okay, like we're just processed this. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:22.160 Um and so it's been it, but it's I don't know, at a certain point, like I almost have like you know, mind blow fatigue because I'm just like, I'm just like, I don't even know I don't even know what to do. 00:08:22.160 -->

00:08:23.839 I'm just sort of um, what do you want to say? 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.000 I'm like, I'm just kind of letting it happen at this point. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.480 It's just like I have to like stop, really gotta stop getting in my head about it and just accept it. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.279 And very, very grateful. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:44.159 Um, but it has been like wild to just have folks whose work I've read and really, really, really loved, and then just to have them reach out and be like, hey, uh, this was really great, good job. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:45.679 Yeah, really excited for this book. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.840 Now we're here talking about uh Rite of Spring. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:59.120 And I'm curious when you were wrapping up, or even maybe uh at what point writing the first series did you know or have an inclination that I've got a second series in me, I got a sequel in me. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.639 I guess what where did what was the genesis for Rite of Spring? 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.879 Yeah, it it popped in um when I was working on the third issue of the first arc. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:18.799 And uh there's specifically like the scene that takes place in a funeral uh for one of the like the first murdered victim that we see in the town, and um specifically the town, like not from Samantha, but from Nigel. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.960 And uh, and as for Martin the Goat, and the town is grieving Martin. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:27.279 And Samantha's there um because she's like she she has to show up, right? 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:51.200 And she's part of the town, but she intellectually, like, emotionally has no idea like what anybody's going through, intellectually kind of understands like the idea that this town is grieving for Martin and that she's caused a similar type of um trauma for like family members of victims from the past that she's essentially disappeared, and it's arguably worse because nobody has had really probably any closure, right? 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:52.159 They just disappeared. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:53.600 Nobody knows what happened to them. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:10:04.000 So I'm like, well, yeah, I guess like if I was gonna do a follow-up, like it would be like her dealing with a family member from like, let's make it the duck, because we all know the duck, and like let's let what would that be? 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:15.679 I wanted it to have a time jump to let that compound and sort of like kind of you know twist in sort of this weird obsessive way, like this family member which ends up being Monica, the sister of Danny the Duck. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:22.399 And so, like it's so funny to say this stuff, and it's like this is the heaviest duty stuff, but it's like Danny the duck. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.480 Um Monica Brewster. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:29.200 But anyway, it's uh yeah, it was it was it came around then. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:34.879 And then, and honestly, it was like I had the idea for like a second and a third, and it was just it kind of came. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.799 I was like, Oh yeah, second would be this, and then oh, okay, well, third would be this then. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:43.519 And it and it just it kind of showed up in my mind pretty quick. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:11:00.799 And then I think it was like I was finishing up or working on issue four when the first issue came out, like actually came out into stories, and then at that point it was just like uh becoming obvious that like people are into it, and pretty soon IDW is like, hey, uh, if you have any ideas for like a second one, like let us know. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:01.759 We'd love to keep doing them. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:06.960 I'm like, I do actually like and then I I gave them the pitch for it, and they were just like, Yeah, okay. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.279 Sign this up for five more of these. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:16.480 You know, on the topic of of of the fan reaction, I was curious, is there a common sentiment that that you're getting from fans? 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.840 Is there like a particular issue that that people are excited to talk to you about? 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:20.480 I don't know. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.279 I mean, it's a little bit of everything throughout. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:28.480 A lot of it I noticed was the it was the shock, uh like how heavy duty it got. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:34.480 Um, and I think like a lot of the I think the grounded violence part of it was caught a lot of people off guard. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.519 And that was sort of the intriguing part of it for them. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:46.480 Like the like, you know, it's fairly anatomically correct in the in the gore, and how the it's not like played off for fun. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:56.480 I I wanted it to be problematic, you know, I wanted it to be sort of upsetting, and so that it wasn't like cool or like done in like sort of a uh sly kind of way or something. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.480 Uh, and I think that reverence for it in that sense caught people off guard. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.120 Um, and so that that's kind of the thing that comes up. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:09.759 They're like it, and it is it's horror, but it's like it's also somehow palatable in a weird way. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:20.639 Um, and I think that that juxtaposition with the animals, there's some magic in that recipe that allows people to sort of identify cross-culturally, like they're able to identify with these things. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.360 Like it's done, it's doing fairly well, like around the world as well. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.240 This book is. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.480 And so, like, I think a part of that is like every culture has like an anthropomorphic story thing that they grew up with. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:31.759 It's fairly common. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:39.519 And so, like, I think that

nostalgia and then also the grown-up perspective of like this horrible, you know, trauma that's happening to them. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:43.279 Um, is like the that those are the two big ones that's just resonating with everybody. 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:04.059 Yeah. 00:15:04.059 --> 00:15:15.980 Uh, you know, speaking about uh Right of Spring and the time jump, I do want to um maybe explain to the listeners that the there's an eight-year time jump between the first series and the second series, Right of Spring. 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:18.460 We go from 1986 to 1994. 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:25.819 What really kind of uh got me early on in Right of Spring is the focus around like early internet, you know. 00:15:25.819 --> 00:15:35.980 Uh I think in the first issue, the very first kind of splash title page is made to look like an old, you know, early early website, you know. 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:42.779 And I mean, I I love the way that you had the the credits at the bottom, you know, with you of the paint little icon, you know, significant. 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:44.939 I mean that's all Nathan Whitdick, by the way. 00:15:44.939 --> 00:15:45.659 Oh, designer. 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:46.059 Genius. 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:49.179 I was like, yes, and it really sets, I think puts you right into the tone. 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:51.899 And if you look at the newspapers from the front, that's all Nathan. 00:15:51.899 --> 00:15:52.059 Oh. 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:53.419 Like on the first arc. 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:55.580 And um, and he just came up with that. 00:15:55.580 --> 00:16:03.500 And he was like, they I remember like uh my editor reached out, they're like, hey, do you could just give us like a list of all the businesses that you've got like in town? 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:16.860 Um that because I would I would start populating like the streets with like, well, what this is like ace peacock, like men's habadashery, like this is like, you know, there's like the moose market or moose mooseman market, um, or like um different stuff like that. 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:21.980 It was one of those things where like it started showing up as a newspaper and then it started evolving. 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:22.379 Yeah. 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:24.779 And in a way that I wasn't expecting. 00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:27.340 And and it was just so like well thought out. 00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:28.699 We didn't talk about any of that. 00:16:28.699 --> 00:16:29.179 Wow. 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:36.460 But he really just kind of like helped create this thing that started influencing me, and I was working off of that. 00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:42.299 And then to the point where like in issue six, we see the newspapers that Nigel has, or like we we can see like the newspaper. 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:47.500 And so it's like it's one of those things where I was like, we please let's keep doing this. 00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:54.220 Yeah, and then when it came to the second one, we had a talk, and and we I was like, Well, it's gonna be set up like early internet days. 00:16:54.220 --> 00:17:01.819 So I'm thinking, like, you sign into AOL online, you got the disc, like that's the whatever that page is, and like that page would like evolve, right? 00:17:02.059 --> 00:17:07.340 And I think it's a smart way of of bringing in another aspect to like this murder mystery. 00:17:07.340 --> 00:17:14.619 Right now we're focusing on Monica Brewster, she's looking for the killer of her brother, who, you know, if you read the first series, you know who that was. 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:19.740 And you know, you're bringing in this like modern day phenomenon, which is like the internet sleuths, you know. 00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:25.980 I think there's there's literally like a Hollywood movie a couple years ago all about like, you know, someone solving a murder using the internet. 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:34.380 But I thought that was a unique way of bringing in like this modern thing into this world in the early 90s, you know, and set in this early 90s. 00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:37.980 I I guess for me, it just spoke to me being in a kid that grew up on the internet. 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:41.340 Yeah, well, I mean, it's uh that was why I did it. 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:58.059 Like I grew up in like this is I'm essentially like spoiler, like this is I'm just like rehashing my life, like like grew up in a smallish town in the 80s, like in the 90s, the internet came to town and it was a weird thing, and like you're just like you're interfacing with the world larger now. 00:17:58.059 --> 00:17:59.980 And like, and our world's shrinking, right? 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:02.940 Every everything feels like it's like not so far away anymore. 00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:08.779 Um, and then you have a weird subcultures that show up, and it felt like that very much like had to be a part of it. 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.900 I can literally hear the AOL dial-up sound right now. 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:15.500 I'm like, is that my memory or someone trying to log into the internet right now? 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:21.179 Now, I mentioned, you know, Monica Brewster being uh one of the the new kind of like central focus characters. 00:18:21.179 --> 00:18:39.500 Obviously, you still are focusing on Samantha and her trying to like you know get away with things, and and I think also the layer of like, you know, privacy, you know, like even though this is like early 1990s, you know, you're bringing in like the topics of like privacy and you know, like can you really do anything anymore with like the rise of the internet? 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:49.420 But you know, Monica is I think such a cool character because she's obviously mourning, she's also driven, you know, she's uh methodical, um, she's grieving. 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:53.259 And I was curious, like, uh what was it like writing these two kind of different characters? 00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:56.699 Monica, who is, you know,

mourning, but also like on this quest. 00:18:56.699 --> 00:19:00.380 And then you got Samantha, who's a little more methodical, pragmatic, low-key. 00:19:00.619 --> 00:19:08.139 Yeah, it well, it felt like um it very much tapped into my life like living in Chicago for several years when I was doing Monica. 00:19:08.139 --> 00:19:15.659 And it felt like um, it just felt like somebody that had been like twisted and like kind of ground down by this existence and this pursuit. 00:19:15.659 --> 00:19:21.420 And it's she sort of like re-established herself existentially as like just this person trying to find out what happened to her brother. 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:28.139 Like that's all she she just that's everything is to that end, and she has no like a life or purpose sort of outside of that. 00:19:28.139 --> 00:19:35.659 And especially at this point, like she's very much like you know, cut away like all the other aspects of her life, um, except for this thing. 00:19:35.659 --> 00:19:48.940 And it felt like somebody who was so like sort of cynical and also like you need to have hope, but then you're also sort of punishing yourself for being hopeful um because you know it seems so impossible, like the task. 00:19:48.940 --> 00:19:51.659 Um, and at the same time, you just need to know. 00:19:51.659 --> 00:20:04.059 And it was all that stuff sort of swirled around that like it just like it all kind of felt like the the perfect sort of like tone for the book, and and having her set it with like that first issue. 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.500 Um, it it just kind of all like I don't know, it all kind of fell into place really well. 00:20:07.739 --> 00:20:27.980 I like that you mentioned uh tone because I think that is some uh a very uh key strength of the series is the is your mastery of like this tonal shift where we're you know, one minute we're like living in this cozy, lived in like neighborhood that we, you know, town that we all kind of like wish we were living in, where we knew our neighbors and you know, like there was like the the local shops. 00:20:27.980 --> 00:20:33.659 But then at the drop of a dime, it's like it gets dark quick, you know, like you know, it's it's intense. 00:20:33.659 --> 00:20:44.059 And and I was curious, you know, how do you handle the tonal gear shift uh for artistically from you know Samantha being a charming shop owner to a sadistic cold killer? 00:20:44.300 --> 00:20:49.019 Yeah, it's it's I mean I I uh well thank you for um uh all the kind words. 00:20:49.019 --> 00:20:51.019 And I feel I'm glad to hear it's working. 00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:55.019 Um a lot of it is intuitive, and I'm just kind of going with what feels right. 00:20:55.019 --> 00:21:05.179 I mean, with Samantha and especially that first arc that we did, like a lot of that is that it to me it was the fascination was having such a stark contrast between the two. 00:21:05.179 --> 00:21:12.380 Um, and then the idea that like when you evolve it into Right of

Spring, it's it's it's like it's a meaner book. 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:13.340 Like it just is. 00:21:13.340 --> 00:21:21.420 Like it's I think there's also sort of like the illusion of safety has totally been shattered in Woodbrook because of what happened. 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:31.900 And I like, and that goes in, you know, in hand with a lot of how the um the there's a fallout effect from that first book, and that's kind of what like Right of Spring is like that fallout effect. 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:53.739 Like a lot of the stuff that was set in motion from it, we're watching that play out through like Pauline and Lewis and like how they're dealing with the trauma of like losing Charlie, and like how you have um you know Bertie sort of basically becoming like an introvert, like a major introvert, which is very in line with him being a turtle, uh, and then in him like coming out of his shell, you know, so to speak. 00:21:53.739 --> 00:22:09.420 And uh, and then also with you know, with Monica, like largely like those the main driving force, and that that's like the fallout from you know what happened with what Samantha did and like how this is kind of colliding with Samantha in the town, and like by choice, right? 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:13.900 Like by Samantha reaching out and like kind of bringing this to an end, so to speak. 00:22:14.219 --> 00:22:19.019 I want to shift gears and talk about um you know, you mentioned uh was it the graphic designer, editor? 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:20.699 Oh, Nathan Whitick, yeah. 00:22:20.699 --> 00:22:21.659 He was the he's the designer. 00:22:21.659 --> 00:22:22.219 Designer. 00:22:22.219 --> 00:22:28.059 I'm glad that you brought him up because it feels like you know, it's a small team, but a a purposeful team. 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:37.659 Like everyone plays a very you know, you're playing writer and artist, graphic designer, and then we've got Hassan Otsman Elho, whose lettering plays, I mean, one, he's the best. 00:22:37.659 --> 00:22:39.099 He's one of the best, right? 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:41.659 He's literally nominated for the first time. 00:22:41.659 --> 00:22:43.900 Yes, he is nominated again uh this year. 00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:47.820 Uh and I mean like it's for many books, but I'm proud to say mine's one of them. 00:22:48.139 --> 00:22:48.219 Yeah. 00:22:48.219 --> 00:22:54.300 But his lettering plays such an integral role in establishing like the tone and the voice of Woodbrook and all of the residents. 00:22:54.300 --> 00:23:00.300 As a solo writer and artist on this project, can you talk a little bit about the collaborative process? 00:23:00.300 --> 00:23:03.099 Like, what does that look like when you're handing off pages to Hassan? 00:23:03.340 --> 00:23:11.500 Oh, it's very I mean, it's very much like, you know, um, I like I hand off like I always feel like I hand off pages of the art and it comes back as a comic. 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:12.139 You know what I mean? 00:23:12.139 --> 00:23:19.900 Like I've I'm obviously like I've got sequential art and like a layout and it's the it's that, but like it's not the whole thing until I get it back and I see what Hazan's done. 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:28.619 And like, and it's always like it's so funny because there'll be panels that I didn't realize were gonna be my favorite panels when I like finished a page, you know what I mean? 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:29.500 What are some examples? 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:58.059 Oh man, my all-time favorite in Right of Spring is like um it's so small, and like spoiler, the um it's so it's in issue six and it's when um Charlie, it's after Charlie's come around the back and Chip's gone and uh Chip the Fox is gone, and Charlie comes around back and uh Samantha finds the trucks like not where it was supposed to be, and then she sees that Lewis is in the truck, and he's having this whole moment of like, who are you? 00:23:58.059 --> 00:24:02.460 Like he's for the first time like realizing like what a monster Samantha is, you know what I mean? 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:07.579 And then she's like, You could like I can't let you take the truck, like I need the truck, and she's gonna shoot at him. 00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:13.340 And so he defloors it and leaves, and she shoots, and she hits instead of him, she hits the rear view mirror. 00:24:13.340 --> 00:24:17.019 And it's this moment of like it's this panel of him reacting to that. 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.900 And I think I had like a gasp or something like that, but instead. 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:27.179 It's like this, like it's that startle and freak out, and him having the moment of like being like, oh my god, like all that in that moment. 00:24:27.179 --> 00:24:39.179 And and Hassan's just like this little like scribbled, like uh expressive thing, and it's so perfect that it like it's just like one of my all-time favorite panels and like the everything I've done so far. 00:24:39.179 --> 00:24:42.699 It's just like everything in that moment, he like he nailed it, you know what I mean? 00:24:42.699 --> 00:24:48.300 Like, it's like such a cherry on top, and it make it really just like it makes the moment, it's incredible. 00:24:48.300 --> 00:24:51.340 Um, and his he does touches like that all the time. 00:24:51.340 --> 00:24:54.059 Like, he'll, I mean, he's mentioned in interviews too, like that. 00:24:54.059 --> 00:24:56.860 This isn't a discovery or anything. 00:24:56.860 --> 00:24:59.900 The way part of his magic is he'll like he'll just throw stuff out. 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:00.219 Yeah. 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:04.139 And like, and if it doesn't work, he's also like super cool to be like, no problem. 00:25:04.139 --> 00:25:04.780 You know what I mean? 00:25:04.780 --> 00:25:09.820 I just thought it'd be uh, you know, I just had an idea I wanted to rent a bite, and you get to see it in that first pass in the lettering. 00:25:09.820 --> 00:25:15.179 And um, and like they're like 99.9% of these things

are awesome. 00:25:15.179 --> 00:25:15.420 Yeah. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:25.500 And like, and like, if anything, like I'll be like, I just want to, there's a tiny little thing in the background, like if I could just move a little bit over here just to not quite hide it as much or whatever. 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:29.340 But like, it's like they're always great, they're always fun choices. 00:25:29.340 --> 00:25:31.900 And it's honestly, it's like performance to me. 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:38.380 It feels like performance of the characters um and how they're they're like whispering, they're shouting, they're like they're sad. 00:25:38.380 --> 00:25:38.940 Yeah, whatever. 00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:40.460 Like he gets all that. 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:46.300 He has such a nuanced approach to all the lettering in that regard that like it's um it's just a real treat. 00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:50.300 It's I'm very spoiled in that I got him on my first book, yeah. 00:25:50.300 --> 00:25:52.139 Um, and that he said yes to it. 00:25:52.139 --> 00:25:54.699 Uh and I like I said, who's like top of the list? 00:25:54.699 --> 00:25:57.739 Because I was like, yep, like I mean, who knows I'll ever get another shot. 00:25:57.739 --> 00:25:59.099 Like, can I please have the best? 00:25:59.099 --> 00:25:59.900 You know what I mean? 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:04.300 And so um, so it was, you know, and there there are also many, many great letters. 00:26:04.300 --> 00:26:06.300 Um, but Hassan is definitely one of them, man. 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:06.860 Yeah. 00:26:06.860 --> 00:26:20.380 Uh, you know, speaking about uh just other other creators or whatnot, I was looking at the press release for uh the the upcoming Halloween special, and there was a Peach Momoko cover that stopped me in my tracks. 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:22.780 Yeah, and it was like, oh, he's got a Peach Mamoko. 00:26:22.780 --> 00:26:23.019 Yes. 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:25.099 It's like, all right, Patrick's random Patrick's made it. 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:27.099 He needs a treat where nobody sees is here. 00:26:27.099 --> 00:26:28.460 Like, you know, I don't know. 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:31.099 Again, like it blows me away, dude. 00:26:31.099 --> 00:26:32.300 I had no way. 00:26:32.300 --> 00:26:35.259 I had no way of like even thinking that would ever be a possibility. 00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:42.219 And then Ryan, who who's the director of sales at IDW at Mention, is like, hey, so uh Peach Momoko wants to do like a thing for the Halloween thing. 00:26:42.219 --> 00:26:42.860 I was like, shut up. 00:26:42.860 --> 00:26:43.500 Shut up. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:46.460 He's like, uh, she really she really likes the book. 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:47.980 I was like, that's incredible. 00:26:48.139 --> 00:26:58.300 But I mean, uh overall, I uh I I bring up you know Peach Momoko because I think the variants for Beneath the Trees, whether it be the first series or even the second series, the variants that you've done, Peach Momoko. 00:26:58.300 --> 00:27:00.539 I think I saw an amazing Jay Gonzo variant. 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:01.019 Oh yes. 00:27:01.019 --> 00:27:14.380 I'm I'm curious, aside from those two, which artist interpretation of Samantha or anyone in in the Beneath the Trees universe has particularly impressed you or or made you like, wow, I didn't, I didn't even see that angle of that character. 00:27:14.619 --> 00:27:18.380 Um it's it's uh man, there's so there's a ton of good ones. 00:27:18.380 --> 00:27:27.659 Like honestly, the Jay Gonzo one was like I I wasn't uh I didn't again like it, I kind of just see the stuff um and then it's like a total treat. 00:27:27.659 --> 00:27:32.940 Um and so his was a really, really uh a pleasant surprise because I didn't even know he was doing one. 00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:34.699 Um and it's really righteous. 00:27:34.699 --> 00:27:43.739 And then I was also um like blown away by uh the another, this is uh uh from last year for the San Diego and New York variants. 00:27:43.739 --> 00:27:45.340 Uh they had Jared Collum do them. 00:27:45.340 --> 00:27:45.820 Oh wow. 00:27:45.820 --> 00:27:48.300 And um, and they're uh that was also a surprise. 00:27:48.300 --> 00:27:49.340 Like I literally saw them. 00:27:49.340 --> 00:27:52.059 I was like, this is Jared Collum because I know his work because I'm a fan. 00:27:52.059 --> 00:27:56.780 And um, and he is also just like a master watercolor artist. 00:27:56.780 --> 00:28:07.099 And um, and to see his work and gua, he works in gouache too all the time, but his his stuff, his like his approach to it is always like, I was like, oh, that's like that's a good one. 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:24.219 Like he's like he's a teacher as well, and like it shows in the sense that he has a a very advanced understanding of of the medium, and it's like so fun to just watch somebody like I mean, like I feel like I'm just getting shown up like constantly with these covers, and it's like and it's awesome. 00:28:24.219 --> 00:28:25.099 It's a total dream. 00:28:25.099 --> 00:28:26.539 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:28:26.539 --> 00:28:27.659 Exactly, exactly, yeah, yeah. 00:28:27.659 --> 00:28:34.059 But um, but uh, but that Jared Cullin was like a total surprise because I was just such a fan for a while and nobody told me anything about him doing anything. 00:28:34.059 --> 00:28:34.380 Wow. 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:40.300 And then to get him on the Halloween special, like he's doing he's doing his own um segment for the Halloween special he's writing and do and painting. 00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:45.420 You know, on that topic, can you talk a little bit about um what we can expect from the Halloween special? 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:47.099 Because this is like a unique one-shot. 00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:51.500 I know you've like you're enlisting some friends and and colleagues to also jump in here and tell the story. 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:52.699 What can people expect from that? 00:28:52.699 --> 00:28:53.820 Who's

who's on the project? 00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:54.539 Let me run through. 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:57.500 It's gonna be it's Che Grayson with uh Matt Emmons. 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.460 Um it's gonna be James Tiny and the fourth with Tyler Boss. 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:02.539 Um it's uh Lethal Combo. 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:02.940 Yeah, yeah. 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:07.340 It's Jared, as I mentioned, um, and also Tony Fleece and uh uh Dave Wactor. 00:29:07.340 --> 00:29:09.259 And it's gonna be it's an anthology. 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:12.539 So it's a series of stories, takes place a couple years after Right of Spring. 00:29:12.539 --> 00:29:13.099 Oh, nice. 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:21.820 Uh kids that are teenagers at that point are sort of sitting around the campfire around Halloween telling spooky stories about you know a woodbrook, basically. 00:29:21.820 --> 00:29:26.860 Um and um, and yeah, and it's gonna be it's I mean, like listen, Halloween's my favorite season. 00:29:26.860 --> 00:29:34.380 It just felt like the perfect thing to do uh for like another Ashcan project to, you know, do in between volume two and volume three. 00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:37.500 And so um it was just a uh it was uh I don't know, man. 00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:41.420 As soon as people joined on and they said yes, I was like, oh my god, yeah, okay, cool, we're doing it. 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:43.980 Like I can just tell from your energy, you know, I had a chance to talk. 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:45.980 Shoutouts to Kim as well as Greg Katman. 00:29:45.980 --> 00:29:53.259 Like the energy all the entire IDW staff that I've had a chance to interact with, the energy that they all exude about this project. 00:29:53.259 --> 00:30:00.539 It's gotta be really nice to have had and continue having the like this support from a publisher like IDW. 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:06.139 Like, uh is there anything specifically that they've empowered you that you didn't think that like would be possible? 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:10.380 I mean, it was um from the very beginning, they've just been cheerleading the book. 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:18.619 And I they had all the belief in the world with this book, especially at the beginning when I was like as a first time like comic creator too, right? 00:30:18.699 --> 00:30:18.860 Yeah. 00:30:18.860 --> 00:30:21.179 Like that's that's uh unprecedented how much you know. 00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:25.739 Like I've done stuff, but I've never, I mean, this is my own first book that I've ever like really put out. 00:30:25.739 --> 00:30:32.380 And um and they were just a hundred percent behind it like the whole way, um, like hard selling it, like that first issue. 00:30:32.380 --> 00:30:37.019 Um, and it was uh it just blew me away because I wasn't expecting, I don't know. 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:51.739 I mean, obviously they wanted to do well um and and they believed in the project, and uh, and they just really put everything behind it to make sure it got out there um and to try and just get over that, you know, that big first hurdle, like me being a who made it? 00:30:51.739 --> 00:30:53.259 Like, who is this person? 00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:56.699 Um, and so it's you know, I and it's never stopped. 00:30:56.699 --> 00:31:03.420 Like it's even like I'm still getting pleasantly surprised by all this stuff that shows up at the booth here uh this year in terms of the plushie. 00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:13.500 If anybody's seen the plushie, we've got Daniel the duck, plushie with tearaway chunks, we've got um awesome skate deck, they've got uh and then merch um beyond that too with shirts and totes and stuff. 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:20.780 And it was very much like a it's just all like I knew it was in the works, but to see it in reality are like, you guys, you guys are this best, thank you. 00:31:20.780 --> 00:31:21.739 So it's pretty cool. 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:22.940 Halloween special. 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:25.820 I know there's a third volume that that had recently been announced. 00:31:25.820 --> 00:31:27.820 You mentioned Plushie's skate deck. 00:31:27.820 --> 00:31:30.539 I mean, Samantha had a cameo in the DC KO. 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:36.300 I mean, it's like the beneath the trees uh train is is going strong, man. 00:31:36.300 --> 00:31:45.900 Um, I do got one question about, you know, we mentioned like this is like your first like full-length comic book project, but prior to this, you were working in movies as a storyboard artist. 00:31:45.900 --> 00:31:49.099 Uh I got movie credits on weapons and southbound. 00:31:49.099 --> 00:31:52.219 I guess I guess what elements of like your work as a storyboard art? 00:31:52.219 --> 00:31:53.579 Like, was it an easy transition? 00:31:53.739 --> 00:31:55.420 Yeah, to come in like a storyboard comics. 00:31:55.420 --> 00:32:18.539 Well, it's funny because like and it's I've also written and directed stuff, and it's a um in my mind, I sort of like I kind of take in the comic and execute it as you would like a production in the sense of like I'm wearing all the different hats of like a director in the sense of I'm directing, you know, uh the actors and getting a performance, but I'm also the actors, so I'm like giving the performances I'm drawing and trying to create it. 00:32:18.539 --> 00:32:18.940 That's good. 00:32:18.940 --> 00:32:26.860 Um, and then also there's like, you know, I'm doing like set deck and like, you know, the production design of like the place and what it looks like and like wardrobe. 00:32:26.860 --> 00:32:32.300 I'm trying to doing wardrobe design and trying to figure out like why are they wearing what they're wearing and like props are really important, and like what are these props? 00:32:32.300 --> 00:32:36.380 And like in my head, I have all these like department heads being like, oh, this but not this and whatever. 00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:37.659 You know, you are the department head. 00:32:37.659 --> 00:32:38.300 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:32:38.300 --> 00:32:49.340 And you're like, you sort of like I kind of claw my way through the comic that way and like kind of put it together with with some, you know, a thoughtful appraisal of like what these what these different you know aspects should be, you know what I mean? 00:32:49.340 --> 00:32:51.659 Uh so that it's honestly been helpful in that regard. 00:32:51.659 --> 00:33:01.099 And then like shot selection, it's the storyboarding's like, it's definitely not a one-to-one storyboarding is different than um than doing comics. 00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:04.699 Storyboarding is very much like you're just trying to get everybody on the same page. 00:33:04.699 --> 00:33:07.099 This is what the camera flow is gonna be like. 00:33:07.099 --> 00:33:10.059 Um, and it's like it's just these they're guardrails. 00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:15.820 And then in this, it's like you're very much like this is sequential art, this and it's the thing. 00:33:15.820 --> 00:33:19.099 Like, storyboards, like nobody sees like those don't that's not the thing. 00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:20.539 The thing's the movie, you know what I mean? 00:33:20.539 --> 00:33:23.900 Um, and you can do so much more in a comic. 00:33:23.900 --> 00:33:39.259 So like it's uh it definitely lent itself to like uh favorably in terms of like emotional impact through just like uh visual storytelling um and just kind of being mindful of like what that is and how to how to best utilize it. 00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:46.380 But then you're also like sort of jettisoning the whatever hangups you have about like shooting something and be like, yeah, yeah, but this is a comic. 00:33:46.380 --> 00:33:51.900 Like we can literally like pretend like this gutter is actually like a slit throat, and like you can, you know what I mean? 00:33:51.900 --> 00:33:54.300 Like you can like really just kind of go wild with it. 00:33:54.699 --> 00:33:55.980 It reminds me of something I think. 00:33:55.980 --> 00:34:09.900 Um I had Jimmy Palmiati on the uh show a while back, and he said something I still think about that comic books is like the purest, most direct form of um uh you know, delivering a creative vision, you know, yeah. 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:10.860 It's a smaller team. 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:11.500 Oh, yes, yeah. 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:14.619 You can move faster, it's like the purest sense of what you want to communicate. 00:34:14.619 --> 00:34:15.099 Thank you. 00:34:15.099 --> 00:34:19.500 And I think that you, oh my God, when you make a movie, like it's the hardest thing in the world. 00:34:19.500 --> 00:34:22.940 And if you can get like 80% of your idea, that's like a eureka. 00:34:22.940 --> 00:34:23.739 You know what I mean? 00:34:23.739 --> 00:34:26.539 Like you're like, yeah, yeah, you're doing great. 00:34:26.539 --> 00:34:29.420 More likely it's like a 60% of what you're hoping to make. 00:34:29.420 --> 00:34:29.820 It's up. 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:35.259 Like there's so many factors, there's so many people, there's so many problems, there's so many notes that show up or whatever. 00:34:35.259 --> 00:34:42.380 And like, I'm working on this, we've just like been talking about like it's it's myself, it's designer, it's Haas doing the letters, you know. 00:34:42.380 --> 00:34:45.420 I work with an editor, Jake Williams, and then we put it out. 00:34:45.420 --> 00:35:01.659 And it's like, and that's the team, you know, and it's so small and wonderful and flexible, and you know, and like if if you have to work through something, even like I'm also working on RT and Hell right now, and it's like working with Tyler Crook, who's incredible, and like in that one, like we'll be like, this layout's not working. 00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:03.579 I'm so sorry, this layout is not working. 00:35:03.579 --> 00:35:07.739 Like, um, uh, I I need to like we need to kind of reappraise this thing. 00:35:07.739 --> 00:35:09.420 And then Tyler be like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:13.739 Here, let me like rework this part and that part, and like that, this is it, and it's even better. 00:35:13.739 --> 00:35:17.259 Yes, like, and it just and it happens like that, you know what I mean? 00:35:17.259 --> 00:35:23.099 And it's like all of a sudden gels, and it's so much more dynamic of a team that way. 00:35:23.099 --> 00:35:24.539 Um, it's wonderful, man. 00:35:24.619 --> 00:35:25.179 I love comics. 00:35:25.179 --> 00:35:27.900 Yeah, the teamwork and the energy comes through in the work, man. 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:35.900 Um, last question for you Beneath the Trees, Volume One is out, Beneath the Trees where Nobody Sees, right of Spring is also now out in trade paperback collected edition. 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:44.300 Any last words or parting words for anyone that might just have, I don't know who would be on the fence after hearing you gush and like express like just how much this project means to you. 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:48.940 But for anyone that's on the fence about checking out Beneath the Trees where nobody sees, what would you say? 00:35:49.179 --> 00:35:53.739 Um, I would say like it might, I would say, I mean, if you're into it, like listen, it's a horror book. 00:35:53.739 --> 00:35:56.219 So, like, if that's like the thing, I totally understand. 00:35:56.219 --> 00:35:59.500 There's some people, it's just not for them, and I can appreciate that. 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:00.940 Um, it does get gruesome. 00:36:00.940 --> 00:36:14.539 I will say this, it's and this has been like one of the best things, the biggest compliments I've ever received about the book, is that like it's gotten people that aren't normally into comics back into comics or into comics for the first time, which is like incredible to hear. 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:19.179 And now also people that are just like, they're like, you know what, I just don't like horror, but I like this book. 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:25.900 And so it like is a lot more palatable, I think, than people might think it would be if you tell them it's a horror book straight off. 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:31.179 Um, and I I think it's just like it's there's a lot more to it under the hood than most people think. 00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:33.500 I think that's part of the reason why it's so compelling. 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:36.219 But I mean, like, yeah, if you're interested at all, like please give it a shot. 00:36:36.219 --> 00:36:37.019 I'd really appreciate it. 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:37.500 There we go. 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:41.659 Look, if my cosine means anything, absolutely go check out Benefit the Trees When Nobody Sees. 00:36:41.659 --> 00:36:42.940 Patrick, even great. 00:36:42.940 --> 00:36:43.819 Thank you so much, man. 00:36:43.819 --> 00:36:44.779 I appreciate you so much. 00:36:44.779 --> 00:36:45.259 Thank you so much.