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Beneath
Deputy Sheriff Jess Delgado is tasked with transporting the sole survivor of a mysterious attack along the Texas-Mexico border to CoreCivil, a for-profit immigration detention center closing down due to wide-spread protests. Housing only a handful remaining detainees and manned by a skeleton crew of disgruntled guards, the detention center becomes a desperate battle ground when something otherworldly emerges from deep below the earth. Something that only fears the light. Deputy Delgado must pull together the guards and detainees – two groups that hate and fear each other – to survive the night. Or fall to the vengeance of the things that live beneath.
124 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2024
169 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 24, 2024
BENEATH (A ComiXology Original) by Steven S. Deknight and art from Michael Gaydos was pretty bad-ass! A Lone Star riff on 30 DAYS OF NIGHT set in a migrant detention facility and against the backdrop of good ol’ boys racism and Aztec mythology. Really cool creature feature horror OGN.
October 8, 2025
What a shoddy job the artist did! Hands down, this is the worst artwork I've seen in any comicbook. From the panels and the artist's acknowledgments section, my impression is that he photographed some of his family and friends an then turned those into comic panels using some "cartoonise me" app or filter. And the software missed some spots. In some panels, the expressions don't even match the situation. This is on the editor too. Ridiculous.
Here, the first two characters are talking about their traumatic experience of encountering and escaping zombie-like creatures, and the third one is supposed to look super angry.
I would have given this okayish story a two-star rating, but minus a thousand stars for the sin of putting this shit in readers' hands who were expecting a comic book.
Here, the first two characters are talking about their traumatic experience of encountering and escaping zombie-like creatures, and the third one is supposed to look super angry.
I would have given this okayish story a two-star rating, but minus a thousand stars for the sin of putting this shit in readers' hands who were expecting a comic book.
August 26, 2024
A bottled one shot, that definitely asks all the pertinent questions like any great work of horror should!
September 30, 2024
That was a full blast, non-stop, thrill of a ride!
November 7, 2025
REALLY LOVED THIS ONE
would watch it as a movie.
also love the lore and art
reminds me of walking dead but with native culture.
would read a whole series based on this
would watch it as a movie.
also love the lore and art
reminds me of walking dead but with native culture.
would read a whole series based on this
June 12, 2025
Few stories can evoke the feeling of watching films such as
The Thing
, Tremors, or
Aliens
for the first time—but
Beneath
by writer Steven S. Deknight and illustrator Michael Gaydos comes astonishingly close. A horrific, suspenseful, and action-packed thriller-horror that had me on edge from start to finish.
Deputy Sheriff Jess Delgado is tasked with transporting the sole survivor of a mysterious attack along the Texas-Mexico border to CoreCivil, a for-profit immigration detention center closing down due to wide-spread protests. Housing only a handful remaining detainees and manned by a skeleton crew of disgruntled guards, the detention center becomes a desperate battle ground when something otherworldly emerges from deep below the earth. Something that only fears the light. Deputy Delgado must pull together the guards and detainees – two groups that hate and fear each other – to survive the night. Or fall to the vengeance of the things that live beneath.
Steven S. Deknight, acclaimed screenwriter and director behind Netflix's Daredevil and Pacific Rim Uprising , brings his cinematic expertise to the pages to the world of comics in a new graphic novel. The terrors that lurk below are fierce and Deknight crafts a script that is cinematic, suspenseful and horrific. It breathes fear and intensity, gripping me to each panel until the final page.
Beneath doesn’t rely solely on jump scares to evoke fear, but showcases the fears that lie within threats that are not otherworldly in our own backyard. The story highlights the dangerous prejudices of individuals who view those different from themselves in beliefs or skin color as inhuman. Even when shit hits the fan, when survival depends on unity, allow their irrational fears to cloud their judgment, creating an environment where humanity itself becomes the true menace while a literal monster looms.
The overwhelming sense of terrifying dread is amplified by the stunning artwork from Michael Gaydos, co-creator of Jessica Jones. Gaydos crafts terror with his dark illustrations and violent action scenes. His ability to build suspense from one panel to the next creates a level of tension so gripping it had me looking around to see what was under the couch. Gaydos gritty illustrations give atmospheric feeling, creating an immersive experience that pulls you deeper into the story.
Originally I had intended to take a few days to read Beneath, thinking a graphic novel would lend itself to a slower read. But what Deknight and Gaydos have created with Beneath consumed me entirely, eager to see where things were headed–while simultaneously fearful of what is next. A true horror comic that gives us the eerie atmosphere of classic horror films while delivering a fresh, spine-tingling story.
Beneath is a beautiful blend of real-life horrors and supernatural terror that is both suspenseful and thought-provoking. Steven S. Deknight crafts a story that feels like an homage to classics such as The Thing and Tremors, while Michael Gaydos vividly brings these horrors to life in each and every panel. Together they've created a horror graphic novel that has the promise of being one of my favorites this year. Beneath is an absolute must-read horror comic.
The Beneath graphic novel hits shelves at your local comic shops on July 16, 2025 (FOC: June 23) and at bookstores everywhere a day earlier on July 15.
Deputy Sheriff Jess Delgado is tasked with transporting the sole survivor of a mysterious attack along the Texas-Mexico border to CoreCivil, a for-profit immigration detention center closing down due to wide-spread protests. Housing only a handful remaining detainees and manned by a skeleton crew of disgruntled guards, the detention center becomes a desperate battle ground when something otherworldly emerges from deep below the earth. Something that only fears the light. Deputy Delgado must pull together the guards and detainees – two groups that hate and fear each other – to survive the night. Or fall to the vengeance of the things that live beneath.
Steven S. Deknight, acclaimed screenwriter and director behind Netflix's Daredevil and Pacific Rim Uprising , brings his cinematic expertise to the pages to the world of comics in a new graphic novel. The terrors that lurk below are fierce and Deknight crafts a script that is cinematic, suspenseful and horrific. It breathes fear and intensity, gripping me to each panel until the final page.
Beneath doesn’t rely solely on jump scares to evoke fear, but showcases the fears that lie within threats that are not otherworldly in our own backyard. The story highlights the dangerous prejudices of individuals who view those different from themselves in beliefs or skin color as inhuman. Even when shit hits the fan, when survival depends on unity, allow their irrational fears to cloud their judgment, creating an environment where humanity itself becomes the true menace while a literal monster looms.
The overwhelming sense of terrifying dread is amplified by the stunning artwork from Michael Gaydos, co-creator of Jessica Jones. Gaydos crafts terror with his dark illustrations and violent action scenes. His ability to build suspense from one panel to the next creates a level of tension so gripping it had me looking around to see what was under the couch. Gaydos gritty illustrations give atmospheric feeling, creating an immersive experience that pulls you deeper into the story.
Originally I had intended to take a few days to read Beneath, thinking a graphic novel would lend itself to a slower read. But what Deknight and Gaydos have created with Beneath consumed me entirely, eager to see where things were headed–while simultaneously fearful of what is next. A true horror comic that gives us the eerie atmosphere of classic horror films while delivering a fresh, spine-tingling story.
Beneath is a beautiful blend of real-life horrors and supernatural terror that is both suspenseful and thought-provoking. Steven S. Deknight crafts a story that feels like an homage to classics such as The Thing and Tremors, while Michael Gaydos vividly brings these horrors to life in each and every panel. Together they've created a horror graphic novel that has the promise of being one of my favorites this year. Beneath is an absolute must-read horror comic.
The Beneath graphic novel hits shelves at your local comic shops on July 16, 2025 (FOC: June 23) and at bookstores everywhere a day earlier on July 15.
Read
August 13, 2024We open on the barrier dividing the US from Mexico, and when something under the desert starts messily eating immigrants and would-be border defenders alike, Tremors is the obvious reference point, though minus the laughs. But before long the survivors are holed up in a detainment facility due for closure the next day, making uneasy common cause against the threat outside, and it becomes clear that Assault On Precinct 13 is at least as big an influence. DeKnight brings some of the same inventive way with obscenity that made Spartacus so quotable (Well, ain't this some piss in the Sunday punch"), not to mention that keen understanding of how petty calculations of money or prestige by the powerful can translate to life or death for the disregarded at the bottom of the heap; Gaydos is still the man for moody, low-lit visuals. Yet somehow it doesn't quite come together. Weirdly, I want to place the blame on the lettering; the sound effects, especially that insistent subterranean skritching, are great, but somehow the main speech bubbles feel out of place in the panels, slapped-on, lending the end result the slightly posed feel of a photo-story.
January 10, 2026
This ain't the day for bullsh*t, curtis. We're down to a skeleton crew, and they ain't too happy 'bout losin' their damn jobs 'cause the libtards got their panties in a bunch. And for what? Not like the illegals are going to stop swarmin' over the border. They got to be put somewhere, don't they?
I have decided that 2026 is the year that I use my new tablet more to read more kindle books and graphic novels. The positive in being slow to read many of the Comixology originals that I have had my eye on, is that they are now available to read as collected volumes, saving having to log each of the single issues.
Beneath caught my eye due to the teased gory horror alongside a setting of the Mexican border. The horror of the mysterious creatures which come from beneath is played off against the brutality of the vigilante border controls, the MAGA prison guards, and the squalid conditions detainees are forced to live in.
The creatures come quickly and kill all in their path but you still end up questioning who the real monsters of the piece are. A really well done and clever story which gets 4 1/2 stars.
I have decided that 2026 is the year that I use my new tablet more to read more kindle books and graphic novels. The positive in being slow to read many of the Comixology originals that I have had my eye on, is that they are now available to read as collected volumes, saving having to log each of the single issues.
Beneath caught my eye due to the teased gory horror alongside a setting of the Mexican border. The horror of the mysterious creatures which come from beneath is played off against the brutality of the vigilante border controls, the MAGA prison guards, and the squalid conditions detainees are forced to live in.
The creatures come quickly and kill all in their path but you still end up questioning who the real monsters of the piece are. A really well done and clever story which gets 4 1/2 stars.
January 7, 2026
The only saving grace of 'Beneath' is that it was part of Kindle Unlimited so I'm not out any money for it. Otherwise, this is easily the worst thing I'll read this year, guaranteed. 'Beneath' is a prime example of why the vast majority of mainstream comics, movies, television shows, and even trad pub books are failing. Writer Steven S. DeKnight hasn't the foggiest idea of how to create nuanced characters or situations - nope, it's just sterotypical progressive talking points shoved down your throat in the most ham-fisted, unentertaining way possible. The plot is a rip-off of Tremors with some garbage about Aztecs thrown in as an after-thought, the dialogue sucks ass, and the art is some of the worst I've seen in a mainstream book, which is saying something because the big-two have put out some real stinkers the last five years or so. 'Beneath' is trash, plain and simple. Avoid at all costs.
October 30, 2024
Aside from the welcome and effective usage of Central American folklore, there's not much in this that really feels especially new. A ragtag, mismatched group of people holed up inside while an overwhelming threat of monsters besiege the place is an aged trope of horror fiction. But it works. And here, thanks to those folkloric beasties, some very clearly (if not subtly) defined characters and very real world US border politics, it works extremely well. This is bleak, nasty, bloody and stuffed full of conflict and action. The artwork is a bit rough at times but it's never unclear about what's happening, the creatures are simply but savagely realised. Great stuff.
September 26, 2025
When I first started reading this graphic novel, I thought the creatures would be either the Sand Beast from The Invisible Enemy episode of the original Outer Limits TV show or the graboids from the movie Tremors. But they turned out to be more like the creatures from the movies Feast or The Descent.
I understand that the comic was drawn this way because everything was happening at night, and the creatures had cut the power in the detention center. But my only complaint is that the artwork was so dark that I couldn't make out what was happening in the panels. I guess I was experiencing what is known as The Fog of War along with the characters.
I understand that the comic was drawn this way because everything was happening at night, and the creatures had cut the power in the detention center. But my only complaint is that the artwork was so dark that I couldn't make out what was happening in the panels. I guess I was experiencing what is known as The Fog of War along with the characters.
January 18, 2025
Read this because it’s free with Prime, the overall art style of weird actor photos with a sketch filter threw me off most of the time because their expressions usually didn’t match the dialogue’s emotions or it just didn’t fit with the whole panel, also the usual “people are the real monsters” with your average conservative men being dense about illegal immigrants in the middle of a monster crisis, also creators know absolutely nothing about Aztec mythology, “Aztecatl” which is just nonsense, luckily I didn’t pay for this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2025
Taking inspiration from an entire genre of horror, this is a remarkable in your face horror story very in your face and anti-establishment with the presiding political issue of Mexico and US and the drama of trafficking humint and drugs a part of the story.
Prejudices and prejudiced people form a genre themselves in this story where identifying the actual villain becomes a challenge.
Fabulous creature effects with an effective historical back story makes this a fantastic effort.
Prime and comixilogy continue setting the bar higher with their content quality.
Prejudices and prejudiced people form a genre themselves in this story where identifying the actual villain becomes a challenge.
Fabulous creature effects with an effective historical back story makes this a fantastic effort.
Prime and comixilogy continue setting the bar higher with their content quality.
August 7, 2024
30 Days of Night but in 8 hours in the desert Southwest
First off, if you're looking for a solid, terrifying monster story, this is it. Gory dread infuses every page once the story gets rolling and Mr. DeKnight's skill as a writer means it starts quickly and the pace doesn't let up until the story ends.
First off, if you're looking for a solid, terrifying monster story, this is it. Gory dread infuses every page once the story gets rolling and Mr. DeKnight's skill as a writer means it starts quickly and the pace doesn't let up until the story ends.
June 17, 2025
I really enjoyed this little bit of a horror graphic novel.
The story is set on the border of Texas and Mexico. Two groups of people are holed up together in a prison over night when something starts attacking them. A mix of Aztec lore and a creature-feature.
I'm hoping for some more on this story! I definitely need to check out Steven S. DeKnight's other work.
The story is set on the border of Texas and Mexico. Two groups of people are holed up together in a prison over night when something starts attacking them. A mix of Aztec lore and a creature-feature.
I'm hoping for some more on this story! I definitely need to check out Steven S. DeKnight's other work.
September 17, 2025
What started as and could have remained a perfectly acceptable Tremors rip-off instead made most every character unlikable and allowed a comic about subterranean monsters to be infested with lefty politics. Add to that 'art' which looks more cut-and-paste AI than actual human product for most of the book, and you have a Bad Read.
October 4, 2025
This came up as a free comic book/graphic novel on Prime reading so I downloaded it to give it a try. I read through it in one sitting, there's not a huge amount to it but it was a fun half an hour. The premise is nothing original, monsters coming from under the ground, a bunch of people thrown together must survive until morning. It was fine.
October 22, 2025
quick atmospheric read
Was decent, a page turner for sure. The art style threw me off a little bec some of the expressions were off somehow but as soon as the action started I couldn’t stop until I was done with the whole book. Very atmospheric and I love that the main character is not annoying unlike many other side characters
Was decent, a page turner for sure. The art style threw me off a little bec some of the expressions were off somehow but as soon as the action started I couldn’t stop until I was done with the whole book. Very atmospheric and I love that the main character is not annoying unlike many other side characters
November 17, 2025
Boring and unoriginal
Hispanic culture is more than just cliches of boarder towns and illegal immigration. This book is repetitive, boring, and uses the same tired plot elements we've seen a million times over. The art is dreadful. Weird dead-eye looking characters with facial expressions that seem drawn for a different story. Absolute avoid, even when free on Comixology.
Hispanic culture is more than just cliches of boarder towns and illegal immigration. This book is repetitive, boring, and uses the same tired plot elements we've seen a million times over. The art is dreadful. Weird dead-eye looking characters with facial expressions that seem drawn for a different story. Absolute avoid, even when free on Comixology.
August 9, 2024
Creepy!
This is like a combination of tremors, night of the living dead and an x-files monster of the week (my favorites!). I can't say anything without giving too much away. I can say Steven DeKnight is the genius behind Starz Spartacus and I'd really like to see this become a movie!
This is like a combination of tremors, night of the living dead and an x-files monster of the week (my favorites!). I can't say anything without giving too much away. I can say Steven DeKnight is the genius behind Starz Spartacus and I'd really like to see this become a movie!
August 9, 2024
It is a zombie story set during one night at an immigrant detention center in south Texas. Dark artwork sets the mood, but there is too much story in too little time, and the ending is left open. For those into the zombie genre, this is probably a good read. For me, it was merely average.
September 30, 2024
Extremely well drawn and written
It kept me on the edge of my seat through the one session read through. I highly recommend for horror/graphic novel fans. Almost felt like a movie.
It kept me on the edge of my seat through the one session read through. I highly recommend for horror/graphic novel fans. Almost felt like a movie.
October 9, 2024
This is a graphic novel. If you like zombies and monster stories, you will enjoy it. People are disappearing into the ground. Yikes! Appealing art and an engaging storyline. I can only hope we get another book from the creators.
October 15, 2024
The premise, while good, has been done before. The execution was filled with stereotypes and the writer's vocabulary was so lacking he had to substitute good words with foul language so much he caused me to give the book a 1 star rating.
November 4, 2024
Aliens on the border
While it involves an ancient Aztec curse, the action is more reminiscent of James Cameron's film Aliens.
Monsters from under the earth converge on a detention center near the Mexican border.
A real page turner.
While it involves an ancient Aztec curse, the action is more reminiscent of James Cameron's film Aliens.
Monsters from under the earth converge on a detention center near the Mexican border.
A real page turner.
November 23, 2024
Thought provoking contemporary creature feature that takes place on the Texas/Mexican border. Great art, realistically fleshed out characters and full of lore and legends. The monster mayhem is bloody but never distracting or gratuitous. A fantastic read that I consumed in one sitting!
May 8, 2025
I enjoyed the story but the art style really threw me off. The characters expressions never seemed to actually match what was happening and looked more like a photo with a filter chucked on it and some sketching over it so it didn’t really hit for me.
August 20, 2024
nonstop action packed.
Great story and a very well written. I could see this being developed to me motion picture would be a great movie.
Great story and a very well written. I could see this being developed to me motion picture would be a great movie.
September 29, 2024
Like a horror film in your pocket
Reminded me heavily of Tremors and classic B-Creature Features. Quick, and fun read with a satisfying storyline and interesting art style.
Reminded me heavily of Tremors and classic B-Creature Features. Quick, and fun read with a satisfying storyline and interesting art style.
October 16, 2024
Nice and sweet
Definitely a good quick horror read. Characters feel real and the actions as well. Wish there were more but it wraps up nicely
Definitely a good quick horror read. Characters feel real and the actions as well. Wish there were more but it wraps up nicely
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews