Let This One Be a Devil

Let This One Be a Devil #1-4

by James Tynion IV, Steve Foxe, Piotr Kowalski (illustrator)

From the New York Times bestseller and multi-Eisner award-winner James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, The Department of Truth) and Eisner award-nominated Steve Foxe (Razorblades, All Eight Eyes) comes this ambitious comic book experience depicting bizarre stories of Cryptid encounters.

In the early 1900s, Henry Naughton returns home to the family farm in the swampy Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. One night, he encounters a strange predator stalking the woods. This sends the young scholar on a research project that uncovers the legend of Mother Leeds and the terrible birth of the JERSEY DEVIL in 1735.

JAMES TYNION IV (Blue Book, Something is Killing the Children) and STEVE FOXE (Dark X-Men, All Eight Eyes along with PIOTR KOWALSKI (Bloodborne, Where Monsters Lie) bring the Jersey Devil to life in a supernatural tale of horror that peels back unknown layers of history and reveals local monsters and universal terrors.

Collects Let This One Be a Devil #1-#4.

Tiny Onion Studios and Dark Horse Comics present a line of upcoming creator-owned work from the mind of James Tynion IV across a broad spectrum of his interests, from non-fiction supernatural encounters to high concept coming-of-age monster comics.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Prior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.

Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.

Reviews

[The Void Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let This One Be a Devil, Vol. 1
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
by James Tynion IV, Steve Foxe, Piotr Kowalski

A chilling reimagining of the Jersey Devil legend, this volume blends historical horror with creeping dread and folkloric mystery. Set in the eerie Pine Barrens of early 1900s New Jersey, Henry Naughton’s return home sparks a descent into local lore, where the infamous birth of Mother Leeds’ thirteenth child becomes more than myth—it becomes personal.

Tynion and Foxe expand the legend with layered storytelling and a scholar’s obsession, while Kowalski’s art evokes the swampy isolation and lurking terror with cinematic precision. The narrative unfolds like a fever dream of archival research and primal fear, peeling back the skin of history to reveal something monstrous beneath.

I loved how the creators built out the mythology—giving the Jersey Devil not just teeth, but roots. It’s a tale of legacy, obsession, and the monsters we inherit.

Happy reading 👾📚

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about the infamous Jersey Devil, mainly taking place in 1909 with a family living in the Pine Barrens, while going back to the 1700s and the birth of the Devil itself. While the concept was interesting, and I like stories about the Jersey Devil, ultimately there wasn't much to the story. It was merely the family farm was attacked by the Devil, and townfolk went hunting for it at one point. The idea of it existing is really about all there was to the book. It had potential, but instead sputtered out.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge cryptid/folklore fan and have always had a love for the jersey devil, he’s probably in my top 5 favorite creatures. I love the way Tynion weaves time on this trade, the beginning of the legend, some contemporaries dealing with it and modern people exploiting it for a found footage genre film. It just works so well. The art being a bit heavy with the shade marks really adds to the story, the whole thing just works!

It seems like he always is publishing something that just scratches an itch for me.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by the Jersey Devil, so I really enjoyed this one. I don't think it's anything groundbreaking as far as Jersey Devil stories go, but if you enjoy stories about cryptids and the Jersey Devil in particular, this is definitely worth a read. The art fits the story perfectly as well. Really good read.

[Mal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh i need a million more of these

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark, jersey devil style tale. It has a great build up, and the two timelines really sell the book. I'm short on time to write a big review, but Tynion and Fox do a great job forming a horror slow burn tale.

[Alex Sarll]

I thought True Weird was just an anthology, but apparently it's also an umbrella brand for miniseries like this, though whether the interpersonal side of the story in the comic's main, 1900s, timeframe has any basis in fact there are no notes to confirm. If anything, I hope so, because the resentment of the younger brother forced to grow up fast for the big city book-larnin' of his older brother is so unoriginal that it'd make me disappointed in Tynion and/or Foxe if they troubled to invent it. And truth be told, I've never been that into the Jersey Devil anyway; sure, the story here goes back to the 1730s, but unlike yer man Bigfoot, or even a niche customer like the poor Squonk, he was nowhere to be seen during my big childhood cryptid phase, so I always regard him as somewhat apocryphal (see also Mothman, and don't even get me started on nightcrawlers). But Kowalski's moody art saves the day, never quite letting the creature settle into anything wholly knowable, and really going to town when there's any excuse for a hallucination.

[Michael Doane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This takes an obscure piece of American folklore and turns it into a mythos that carries old world weight. If you’re into cryptids, monsters, Victorian occult stories, dark fairy tales, or weird fiction, this one’s for you.

[Alexa Blart, Library Cop · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandma, a library director, had a copy of the famous McCloy and Miller book The Jersey Devil on a bookshelf in her office the whole time I was growing up. I used to love poring over it, half terrified and half enthralled. So of course, when I saw this beautiful representation of my culture (cough South Jersey cough) on the shelf at the library, I had to pick it up. It's a very quick read but covers all of the major touchstones of Jersey Devil lore--the legend of Mother Leeds giving birth to her thirteenth child (though in the version I grew up with, the Jersey Devil ate its entire family before flying out the chimmney...), the true story of Phenomenal Week (a week in the early 1900s wherein hysteria over the Jersey Devil caused schools to close), and the pejorative use of the term "piney." I felt seen by this book and maybe that's weird! But! It took me back to that creepy old red book in my grandma's office, and I think that's pretty cool.

[Lyndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let This One Be a Devil - Review by Lyn Perry

From Grok: "Let This One Be a Devil" is a horror graphic novel miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics in collaboration with Tiny Onion Studios. It's a four-issue series (collected in a single trade paperback volume) that explores the origins and legend of the Jersey Devil, one of America's most famous cryptids/folk monsters from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

From me: I have the paperback graphic novel that collects all 4 issues and is signed by the colorist, Brad Simpson whom I met at a local comic con. Great guy, great colors – atmospheric but clear; and since the story takes place over different time periods, Simpson captures the mood of the late 1700s and early 1900s very well.

A pretty interesting cryptid horror story, though not overly bloody which I appreciate. At times the dramatic flair was a bit overdone and the plot got bogged down in places. Overall, the story – by James Tynion IV (who founded Tiny Onion Studios) and Steve Foxe – for me was 3.5 stars and the art by Piotr Kowalski was 4.5.

As mentioned, colorist Brad Simpson did a fabulous job and the letterer Tom Napolitano did a great job as well. Chapter breaks were done by Gavin Fullerton and evidently he did the original covers as well, which I’d like to have seen included in this collection. The cover for the graphic novel is by Max Fiumara, and it’s kinda cool but has nothing to do with the story itself. This is not how the cryptid is depicted within the story or by the interior art.

If you like legendary horror that borders on myth, this one’s a solid entry.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
One of Tynion’s better comic adaptations of “real” allegations of supernatural myths in recent years. The Jersey Devil backstory from the early 1900s and then the early 1700s is interesting enough, and well grounded in a (fictional?) story about a “college boy” returning home awkwardly to his small town roots. One hilarious bit of included trivia is that apparently Ben Franklin had a publishing rivalry with the almanac-producing Leeds family (who originated the devil myth), and the rivalry was nasty enough that Franklin mocked their fondness for astrology by predicting their adult son’s death based on astrology in his Poor Richard’s Almanack, then published a fake obit for him anyway when he didn’t die on the predicted date, and then claimed the still-alive son was an impostor or ghost until he genuinely died five years later. Hilarious but reprehensible stuff!

I appreciated the slightly wood-cut style of Kowalski’s art here.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and sweet look at the origin of the Jersey Devil, through the eyes of a small town terrorized (perhaps?) by the creature. We get some flashbacks, some flash forwards, and a little throughline of one brother never quite living up to the other's expectations.

I can't even put my finger on why, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. Maybe it was just the fact that the Devil itself wasn't even a player in the story, and it was all about the interpretations of it, which is exactly how urban myths end up springing up in the first place? That or Piotr Kowalski's art, which I always enjoy on stuff like this. There are a few panels interspersed throughout the story that have the Devil looking out at the reader, and honestly, chills.

And the final few pages really cap it off nicely. No spoilers, but it just really rang true with everything that the book was trying to say - monsters are monsters through others' eyes, but that doesn't mean it's the truth.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ni fu ni fa. Tynion pone el nombre y se pira, y el resto de peña hace un cómic que, bueno, pues mira, no es que sea un bodrio total, pero no va a entusiasmar ni a los fans de los críptidos siquiera. Es, simplemente, la historia canónica del nacimiento del Diablo de Jersey, más vieja que el mear, con una cacería fallida de por medio, algún detalle más o menos curioso, como el del pobre canguro camuflado como Diablo para engañar a los tontos, y una chorrada sin sentido en la que unos chavales de hoy en día se van de camping a los Pine Barrens no se entiende muy bien si a descubrir la verdad sobre el Diablo de Jersey, o a filmar una peli sobre el bicho. ¿El dibujo? Bien, gracias.

Tynion, deja de hacer el Asimov, hombre. No pongas el nombre y luego te pires, que además se te nota, tío...

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book that does for the Jersey Devil what Tynion's other recent work has done for stuff like UFO encounters, etc. The story really isn't all that scary, as it tracks down some of the legends behind the creature at different times in history. Is there a devil? Is it all just made up? Who knows by the end of this. The art is strong throughout, but there needs to be a bit more meat to the story next time out...

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always felt like the Jersey Devil is a really under represented cryptid in horror media, so I was excited to read this period piece comic based on the urban legend. I love the ambiguity here - is the legend real? What exactly is the real story of the devil? My only complaint was that it was all over a bit too quickly. I would have loved a longer, meatier story.

[Chr*s Browning]

Fairly predictable coming of age/two brothers separated by calling short story married to an illustrated version of the Wiki page for the Jersey Devil. A bit better than that sounds, but still mostly slight.

[The Smoog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but not really what I was expecting. It’s more about a reconciliation between two estranged brothers than anything supernatural, and the supernatural elements were thrown in kinda confusingly. Really nice artwork though.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oddly framed, but moving for a spooky tale.

[Anwar Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una buena historia contada aprovechando el medio del cómic. De inicio a fin es interesante, pero el final tiene ese toque interesante y cautivador

Muy recomendada

[Mee Too · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this was some sort of ode to the ‘jersey devil’ folklore 🤷🏽

Didn’t much care for it. Kinda boring and oddly written.

2.4🌟🤷🏽

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, main plot was just okay but art was amazing and it's kind of a tribute to the idea of the devil, which i enjoyed since it's one of my favorite monsters ever, specially the og folk tale.

[Kaitlyn Whitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5🌟

[Rickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real climax, just kinda is. Hoping there is more to it.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many different perspectives of the urban legend of the Jersey Devil. It doesn't seem to always be hostile towards humans. Plays with it's targets.

[madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

so boring I almost forgot to add it to my gr

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something good there even if the book isn’t that great.

[Jaiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story

[Nick Cochran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was pretty fun. The art in the book was also very pleasant to look at.

[Johnathan Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read with really cool artwork. Will be buying the next one to see what’s next!

[milo in the woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

weird!!

not my favourite art style, but a very unique creepy folkloric story that managed timelines very well.