Warning: This article contains spoilers for Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring #5!
It’s safe to say that Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is one of the biggest indie comics success stories of the past few years. There’s just something about the combination of the adorable anthropomorphic animal characters and the grisly horror premise that resonates with readers. IDW is currently wrapping up the sequel series, Rite of Spring, and IGN can exclusively debut a preview of the final issue.
The series definitely took a sharp turn in issue #5. Clandestine serial killer Samantha finally broke her cover and burned down her store in order to kill the police who were hunting her. With her identity exposed, where does this mild-mannered bear go from here? Find out in the slideshow gallery below:
As with previous issues in the series, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring #6 is written and illustrated by Patrick Horvath and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
“As I write this, the paint is drying on the very last page. It’s bittersweet bringing Rite of Spring to a close,” Horvath tells IGN. “It was a bit of an undertaking trying to thread the needle of putting together a second installment that felt true to the world that we set up in the first book while also shifting gears to allow all the growth that felt necessary. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s come together, even though it felt a little scary to go through with it. A huge thank you to all of the readers, critics, and retailers who have continued to support the book and come along for the ride. I’m still blown away by all of the love this little book has gathered. And a huge thank you as well to IDW for giving me the room to get as wild as we needed to with it. As gnarly as it is, I’ve had the idea for this whole arc for a while, and they’ve been behind me the whole way. I’m thrilled I’ve been able to include everything I’d hoped for in this one.”
As dire as things are looking for Samantha right now, this isn’t the end of her journey. Horvath has already confirmed he’s working on the third volume of his Beneath the Trees trilogy. Plus, you can see Samantha take a detour to the DC Universe as part of the DC K.O. crossover.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring #6 will be released on March 4. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop. You can also pick up the original series on Amazon.
In other comic book news, find out which series was selected as IGN’s best comic book of 2025, and see which comics we’re most excited for in 2026.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
