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Samantha "Sam" Strong is the main protagonist of the 6-part IDW comic mini-series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees.
She is an anthropomorphic bear who, despite her friendly demeanor, is a cold and calculating serial killer.
Biography[]
A year after Samantha graduated from college, she traveled the world, hoping to figure out what her true calling was. While in Germany, she hitchhikes and is picked up by a motorist named Otto, with whom she camps. After Otto falls asleep, Sam, seemingly impulsively, ties him up and slashes his throat. She realizes that her true calling is to dismember bodies, which she calls "magic." Sam "finds herself" and realizes that she is devoid of emotions and completely pitiless toward the lives of others. Her callousness is so profound that she would later say that she can't even pretend to know what love is.
Hoping to gain full control of the hardware shop, she began to question her father about their retirement, and after learning they planned to retire only after 20 years to be sure their store was in good hands, Sam murdered her parents by lacing their food with cyanide, dismembering their bodies, then using cans of paint to hide the body parts, a modus operandi she kept throughout her entire murderous career. After this, Sam took full control of the hardware store and told town folks her parents had decided to retire and move to Florida.
Sam has lived most of her life in the small town of Woodbrook, being the daughter of the couple who owned the local hardware store. Unbeknownst to her friends and neighbors, Sam took to the hobby of killing random strangers in the nearby city in order to fulfill her psychopathic urges. She never did this near her hometown, as even one murder in a town as small as Woodbrook would cause quite a stir that would take a long time to die down. Over the course of 20 years, she has killed 43 people, slicing them up and burying the remains in paint cans.
During Woodbrook's annual Founders' Day parade, Sam is shocked to see someone has violated her rule about murders, as Martin, an elderly local, is found sliced and hung from the mast of a boat-themed float.
Sam would begin her investigation the next day. Asking the cowardly Bertie, Sam would learn that one citizen, Melody, mysteriously vanished as she was helping set up for the parade. Sam's investigation would lead to Cherry Gherkins, who is known for her ill temper and utter lack of regard for others. However, Cherry is later found beheaded in the local elementary school the next morning.
Over the next few weeks, Sam noticed Woodbrook becoming ever more deserted. While visiting her elderly friend Lola, her son Nigel admits he followed Sam and knows what she's done and whom she's killed. He then reveals that he'd taken a shine to killing and is, in fact, the killer. Rather than get nervous, Nigel offers to be partners, which Sam angrily refuses, causing Nigel to call her a fraud. A few days later, Sam is angered to see some paint cans she had previously buried on her hardware store's shelves, implying Nigel got them. This caused Sam to have nightmares about being caught, and later screaming out her window, thinking Nigel was watching. The next day while driving, Sam is shocked to see Nigel, taking pictures of her. He then gloats that Charlie, Sam's co-worker, has become the next victim. Nigel gloats, saying that Charlie had been called by Sam, who was actually Nigel in disguise, saying he needed to see her at the shop. Sam was horrified to know that not only was Charlie beheaded, but Nigel had also dug up all of the other paint cans and put them on the store shelves, simultaneously framing Sam for the murders in Woodbrook, and confirming the murders in the city. Mortified, Sam could only drive off as the police issued a BOLO on her.
After some time sulking, Sam hardened her resolve to defeat Nigel. Returning to Woodbrook in the dead of night, collecting all she needed, Sam met up with Lola who revealed she had her theories about both Nigel and Sam. Apologizing, Lola admitted she wants to help stop her son. Sam agreed, knowing just the way too. Nigel would return later, mortified to see his mother stabbed to death, and Sam being the culprit. Sam then injects him with curare, and reveals she found Nigel's dark room, where he kept the photos of his victims. As she gloats over her victim, Sam reveals her intent to frame Nigel for killing Lola, with the provided evidence clearing her name. Several days later, Sam returns to her normal life.
In 1994, Sam discovered a website dedicated to murder victims, and recognized the photo of Daniel Brewer, whom she had murdered in 1986. The post had been written by Daniel's sister, Monica, whose eager to find her brother's body and bring to justice his killer ignited Sam's urges. She replied to the post saying that, in order to find out about Daniel's fate, Monica should go to Woodbrook, something she immediately did, kickstarting Sam's new goal to lure Monica into her murderous trap.