This is also the first page of the slow down, which is the more horror-like pacing. In fact, welcome to the tree page. =D Ooooh spooky right? Snicker, I'm not trying to downplay this page it's just funny to me to be at such a distance now from when I crafted this comic that I can see the scaffolding.

Anyway in horror things, movies or comic or TV shows there needs to be that point where the characters look around and feels the creepiness of the place they're in. You know, the part where the spooky music plays and the character looks at the apartment/house/cabin/forest and hears a noise that usually isn't the bad thing that's trying to eat them. I tried to keep mine to this page because there's not a lot of room for looking at the trees in a 16-page story.

As for the forest itself... the larger story of this comic was about this giant old forest in Texas that Emily's family has owned forever. They made a pact with it ages ago and one member of her family always acts as the bridge between the rest of the world and the things in the forest. The forest tends to not like intruders however the trees like Emily.

Of course again 16 pages is not a lot of time to develop much (?) or any of these larger story elements not to mention that Emily wouldn't know any of it...

If I were to fiddle with this story now I would have had Emily's grandmother alive in the beginning. Not only could I have the grandmother tell her some of the history of their involvement with the forest but also her death would have more of an impact if the reader got to know her a little. As it is you only meet her here in Emily's memories and really it's only in passing.