COMICS WARLOCKS

I was raised in a very religious, conservative household, so Be Not Afraid hit me harder than I expected.

Be Not Afraid
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Jude Ellison S. Doyle
Artist: Lisandro Estherren
Colorists: Francesco Segala, Gloria Martinelli
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artist: Reiko Murakami
Release dates: June 2025 – February 2026

This series comes from writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle, whose work I already love from The Neighbors and Maw, and artist Lisandro Estherren, who brings such a raw, unsettling energy to this series. Together, they build something that feels deeply personal, disturbing, and very intentional.

At the center of the story is Cora. Cora grew up in a strict religious community, holding onto a faith that, instead of protecting her, was used against her. Through guilt. Through shame. Through control. And that context matters, because it shapes everything that happens next. She gets pregnant from what is described as a connection with an angel.

And it doesn’t take long to understand that this is not a miracle story. Her son, Jordy, is what the Bible calls a Nephilim. He has the face of something divine, but his existence brings suffering. Everything around him decays. Everyone around him is affected. His very presence feels wrong.

And after a lifetime of raising him, of carrying that burden, Cora is finally given the opportunity to end it. But before we even get to that moment, we need to talk about Jordy, because that’s where this story really got to me.

There’s a line that completely stopped me.

“Jordy wasn’t a sinner. He was a sin. For him, God’s mercy was not an option.”

That hit deep. Growing up, I was taught that what I felt in my heart was a sin. I didn’t have the language to understand what it meant to be queer, only the fear that I was something that wasn’t supposed to exist. That I was something God didn’t want.

And then you read Jordy’s words.

“I am not supposed to exist, so why do I? Why didn’t he stop me?”

“Do you have any idea how often I’ve wished I didn’t exist? That I wasn’t like this?”

That’s where the horror shifts. It’s not just about monsters or religion or something supernatural. It becomes something much more human. The fear of being wrong just for existing. The weight of being told that who you are is something that needs to be erased.

The horror is layered with religious symbolism that hits even harder if you have that background. You can read between the lines. You can see what the story is really saying beneath the surface. It’s not subtle. And it shouldn’t be.

The writing is sharp, emotional, and deeply intentional. And the art matches it perfectly. It’s unsettling in a way that’s not exaggerated. It pulls you into the discomfort instead of letting you look away.

Be Not Afraid is heavy. It’s uncomfortable. It’s personal. It made me think about the things I was taught. The things I believed. The things I was told I was. It hit somewhere deeper than just a horror story. It brought back that feeling of questioning myself.

And maybe that’s what makes this book so powerful. Not just the horror. Not just the imagery. But the way it made me sit with those questions again… and see them differently now.