Be Not Afraid #1

by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Lisandro Estherren (Artist)

Cora Reims lived the isolated life of a simple farm girl until one fateful summer day, prophetic visions brought her a visitor made of pure light… an angel. In the aftermath, Cora gave birth to a child, a the offspring of an angel and a human woman, seemingly imbued with evil itself.
17 years later, that child’s cherubic appearance can no longer hide his monstrous nature. Frogs boil in their skins as he passes. Crops rot. The townspeople live in fear, knowing that atrocities follow closely behind him.
Now, on the eve of his 18th birthday, Cora receives a new vision… Heaven itself has called upon her to destroy the abomination born of her own flesh and blood.
Be Not Afraid is a breathtaking new series from visionary writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle (Maw, Hello Darkness) and acclaimed artist Lisandro Estherren (Nightmare Country, Redneck).
Equal parts feminist rage and folk horror, this descent into Hell itself is fueled by the mythological underpinnings of American Evangelical tradition, presenting brutal cosmic horror through the lens of Southern Gothic; a truly otherworldly journey that can not be missed.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror

Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2025

About the author

Jude Ellison S. Doyle is an author, journalist, and comic book writer living in upstate New York.

Under his former pen name “Sady Doyle,” Jude founded the feminist blog Tiger Beatdown in 2008. He is the author of "Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear... and Why" (Melville House 2016), which has been called "smart, funny and fearless" (Boston Globe), "compelling" and "persuasive" (New York Times Book Review). The Atlantic predicted that "Trainwreck will very likely join the feminist canon." Doyle’s second book, "Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy and the Fear of Female Power" (Melville House, 2019) was named a Best Non-Fiction Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews and was shortlisted for Starburst Magazine’s Brave New Words award. His first non-fiction book under his real name, "DILF: Did I Leave Feminism," will be published by Melville House in the fall of 2025.

In 2021, Jude published "Maw," a limited-series horror comic with artist A.L. Kaplan, for Boom! Studios. His follow-up, "The Neighbors" with artist Letizia Cadonici, was published in 2023, and was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD award for “Outstanding Comic.” Both are now available in collected edition, and Jude’s third series, "Be Not Afraid" with artist Lisandro Estherren, is forthcoming from Boom! Studios.

Reviews

[Craig Schorling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good foundation is set in this issue. The art is a bit inconsisten but there are some really nice panel at times. We have a son that is evil and a mother that is ready to be rid of him. The ending felt really nice and shows promise to be a solid horror story moving forward.

[RSC_Collecting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very intrigued by this first issue. A Woman's son is evil. He has evil powers and does evil things. The woman claims it is God punishing her for what she and his father did. The boy's speech is gorgeous. It's subtle and firm. Chilling and clean. Every word he says sends a chill down your spine. Like each syllable is crafted to be evil. It's amazing. The pacing is beautiful too. Things are fast when they need to be and agonizingly slow when the mood is right. Showing you what needs to be shown and letting your mind do the rest of the work. It's really really good. I am very excited to see more from this series.

[Mat · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh. I'll give #2 a chance but so far it's only ok. rwl review is 2.5 stars. art is a saving grace. but seems a pretty cut and dry story. bummer too because I really was excited to read this one

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review for the entire series. I got the entire series as an ARC via Netgalley. No spoilers.

The best part is the artwork and the growing sense of dread and hopelessness. Things got so bleak that I lost hope for everyone living in Enoch. At one point, it felt like death might actually mean less suffering for them.

This novel will likely resonate the most with readers who have questioned their faith at some point. Strong believers might find it blasphemous, and readers without religious baggage might not relate to it as much. I fall into the group that should have related to it most, but I often found myself thinking, “I’m sure there’s a deeper meaning here, but I’m not quite getting it.”

The story wrestles heavily about the morality of the Christian God. For example, does God view humans like we would view flies in a jar? The poor mother is portrayed as the Anti-Mary, and the Eve. She’s the whore who was seduced and gave birth to sin.

The mother talks about believing in the New Testament God, the one who loves everyone and everything. Conversely, Jordy talks more about the Old Testament God, the one who hates women, people who had premarital sex, and LGBTs. “You did [this cruelty] because you were made in his image! You did it because you are cruel, and vengeful, just like he is.”

I really enjoyed this novel. I’m just not sure I got everything, especially the ending. I rounded the rating up to 5, because this book haunted me even after reading it.

[Hannah Haseley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still newish to the world of horror comic so I am not exactly sure how to rate this. I don't think I loved it because it made me uncomfortable but, I think that was the point. It had this eery vibe to it that really made you questions a lot as you read. It never really let you settle into the story because the story wasn't one to settle into. I guess I mean to say that I think it did exactly what it wanted and set out to do.

So the basic story is simple. Our main fmc is Cora, who had a child with an angel, whose name is Jordy. Jordy is not angelic though at all. In fact, she is fairly confident he's a devil and she prays to be rid of him. What happens after really was sort of predictable but in the way that it all makes sense and the ending of this volume was the one I was rooting for throughout (that might not be the case for everyone).

I think that the tone and pacing were fairly on point and the art style is really fitting for the story. Actually, the art probably pushes this book up to a full four stars versus a 3.5.

Overall, I think this was worth a read. It was fairly quick, the story was really engaging, and I will continue this series as the plot was interesting enough that I want to know where the ending is going.

[Lanie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still trying to figure out how I felt about this. The MC is basically raped by a fallen angel; MC gets pregnant and "gives birth" to like a two-year-old who kinda looks like Chucky and is basically bringing on the apocalypse somewhere in the southeastern United States in a town called Enoch. A new not fallen angel but an angel (?) that looks like Death from Supernatural, now approaches the MC to let her know that she now needs to kill her son. Of course she can't.

That's the gist of the story and yes it does kinda sound like a story arc from Supernatural. I'd like to say I am deferring judgement as this does state its volume one, but I can't imagine I'd read volume two. I'm picky with my religious horror stories to begin with but this fell way short of what I was looking for. That being said, given the topic at hand I feel that many people may find this to be an interesting metaphor in terms of women and the church and how the church treats us.

As always thanks to NetGalley and Boom Studios for the eArc!

[Tiffany Seward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comic | Horror | Corrupt Christianity

Thank you to BOOM! Studios for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

•Plot: Be Not Afraid is about a boy named Jordy who has demonic-like powers & harms others. He was born from a human woman and an angel father.
•What I liked: The art style appears to be done with colored pencils.
•What didn’t work for me: God being vilified. The woman is blamed for seducing & procreating with the angel when he grabbed her first.
•Themes / Ideas: The belief of whether God is real or not. That if God exists, they're a villain.
•Who I’d recommend it to: Horror & Christianity mixed. Angel and human evil offspring.

Overall/Thoughts: A human woman who believes she has a direct connection to God that allows her to see things normal people can’t see has a baby with an angel and births a demonic-like son.

[Kelly Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a masterpiece! Be Not Afraid by Jude Ellison S. Doyle is my first five star ARC read of 2026. This graphic novel is a harrowing tale about a devastatingly broken woman and her nephilim spawn, who is sin incarnate. Jordy's existence acts as a curse upon Cora Reims and she is stuck in a toxic cycle from which she can't seem to escape. Lisandro Estherren's gritty art style greatly enhances the Southern Gothic charm of this story and makes a big impact as we spiral into the cosmic hell that is Cora's life.

PS. This is one of those reads that makes me desperately wish for a film adaptation. A masterclass in horror writing with striking visuals that I hope to see brought to the screen some day. Don't skip this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for the digital ARC copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Taikyra.tbr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. I read issues 1-6 for this review. The artwork in this was interesting, it was dark, deeply saturated in red in various parts and drew me right in. The artwork alone gives such an ominous, dreadful feeling. The womans story, the evil son, a town that seems stuck in the past, and the man that comes to help her are all very terrifying. This was steeped in religious trauma and while i can't say i exactly "enjoyed" it, i breathed in every word way too fast.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for access to a digital review copy.

Cora Reims gave birth to a child who is half angel and half human. However, the child has never been right and is feared for the bad things he has done. Cora has to decide whether to destroy him and if God will accept her decision.

I don't often read Manga and graphic novels so I'm sure others who read these more frequently will appreciate this one in a different way. I found it a bit confusing, but the artwork was beautiful and delightfully creepy which made it worth the read for me.

[Curious Madra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for this graphic novel!

Well it certainly has the heavy topic of religion extremism involved here since we see our girl Cora having a depressing life with her horrible religious nut mother, shagging a random “angel of god” and feeling that her son is the devil. It really does remind you a lot of “Rosemarys baby” but this time, the son is a grown up. I wasn’t that gone on the ending, it was abrupt and unfinished tbh tho…

[Adri Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Cora was young, she found God. Then she met an angel, fell for him, and he impregnated young Cora. Was this a test? Was this meant to be a condemnation? If you know your Bible, an angel and a human create Nephilim. The Nephilim were incredibly powerful and bad news for everyone. Jordy is everything that Cora never wanted and so much more. He terrorizes her and the town they live in. Has God punished her?

#ThxNetGalley #JudeEllisonSDoyle #BeNotAfraid

[Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jordy is known as a plague in his town of Enoch. Because everything he touches dies, his is ostracized as a pariah. Close to his eighteenth birthday, a mysterious visitor seeks out his mother Cora, demanding Jordy's end.

I received this graphic novel as an arc and thoroughly enjoyed the read. The art was beautifully drawn and the novel is perfect for those who are fans of religious horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boom! Studios.

[Chevonnika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first volume sets up what will be an very interesting horror comic. It was very dark and gave off an existential atmosphere.

The first volume is a mother who has given birth to evil and is dealing with the consequences of that, and is approached by a mysterious figure.

I can see a lot of potential with the story and imagery. would definitely look into the second volume.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM Studios for the free, pre-publication copy (ARC or Digital Review Copy) of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A truly gothic tale of evils seen and unseen....very creepy and so well done! The artwork was visually disturbing and fit the mood of the book perfectly. A good foundation to a series I will definitely continue!

[Vick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m always intrigued by Southern Gothic Horror, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this. I feel like it was more set up for the series, so I’d have to read the second one to see how the story progresses before I give my full opinion of the graphic novel. I did like the artwork though, the artist was able to depict the dark style of gothic horror very well.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very unusual story and I honestly don't know what to say. It definitely is not a type of book I would be drawn to read and I don't think I would read anything like it again. It did come off as a little confusing in some parts, so perhaps the message was lost. The illustrations were graphic.

[Promise Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this graphic novel. What does a mother do when asked to kill her child even if he is a nephilim that will bring about the end of the world.
The artwork as well was gruesome and brilliant. I sped through this graphic novel and I'll definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

[Britney Ireland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher for the read in return for my honest review and opinion.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this read but I did like the art in the back. It was just not my type of story.

[Alex Fyffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was okay, ill read digitally.

[DOOM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find the art to be very unique and I enjoy the crayon like coloring. The story is interesting enough to keep me reading. 3.5

[Eeviee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Netgalley and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn't overly thrilled about this one, though I do believe it sets the foundation for the rest of the series. I would be willing to continue the series.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 This is my first graphic novel and I was unsure of what to expect. Let’s start with the graphics because personally I really enjoyed them. They were graphic and the color scheme worked perfectly. The story is easy to follow and I’lol definitely be reading the rest of the series. I also loved reading Cora’s dilemma of doing what she is considered right and wrong as opposed to what she believes.

[Julia Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my opinion. This first issue introduces the characters, and their art is great. Cora's son Jordy is evil, and she believes God is punishing her. The story flow and pacing were good, and the tone fit the story. It was engaging. I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror. 3 stars.