Be Not Afraid #1 Review

 

Writer: Jude Ellison S Doyle

Illustrator: Lisandro Estherren

Colorists: Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli

Letterer: Simon Bowland

Cover Artists: Jae Lee & June Chung; Reiko Murakami; Abigail Jill Harding; Ariel Olivetti; Javier Pulido

Designer: Madison Goyette

Editors: Caroline Butler, Allyson Gronowitz & Elizabeth Brei

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Price: $4.99

Release Date: June 4, 2025

 

Cora Rehms is having a baby. It's not something she is looking forward to. Like any would-be mother, Cora feels the burden of carrying a child to term. She dreads the pain of delivery. When her body signals readiness, no one is with her. Can she endure childbirth alone? And will Cora love her child? Let's grab a Bible, leap into Be Not Afraid #1, and find out!

 

Story

Cora's fear of childbirth proves unnecessary. One moment, her stomach is round and full. Next, Cora's abdomen is flat, and her hips narrow. Instead of clutching an infant to her breast, a toddler appears in the doorway. Her son smiles at her, clad in a shirt and overalls. Jordy walks beside his mother as they leave the room.

 

Like Cora, the townspeople don't understand Jordy's sudden appearance. Other children keep their distance from Jordy. As Jordy grows, Geraldine Gish takes him under her wing. Sadly, something changes in their relationship. By his teens, the citizens of Enoch fear Jordy in Be Not Afraid #1. And Geraldine wants him to keep away.

 

Jude Ellison S Doyle's story is a study of fear. It's also a reminder of how easily we can use our abilities to hurt others. Like Charlie X, Jordy doesn't belong in our world. He doesn't respect the boundaries of propriety. And he cannot sympathize with others. Worst of all, Jordy delights in tormenting his mother. As Jordy stands on the brink of manhood in Be Not Afraid #1, Cora wonders how much longer she can live with her son.

 

Art

Lisandro Estherren takes readers through a closed door to glimpse Cora lying on a bed in a thin, modest dress. When Cora stares down at her flat stomach, her fingers arc like a bird’s feet, and her hair coils like snakes. Young Jordy smiles. His eyes glow beneath a mop of hair as Jordy reaches for her. As Cora leaves the room and departs the cave with her newborn toddler, she may clutch Jordy’s hand. But Cora doesn’t smile in Be Not Afraid #1.

 

Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli adorn Lisandro Estherren’s shadowy, etched art with a limited palette. The colors enhance the depth and atmosphere of lines, shadows, and stippling. Like Cora and young Jordy, the color artists guide us into this remote midwestern town surrounded by waving corn. Beneath swirling storm clouds, Jordy’s dark, distorted figure evokes Reverend Henry Kane from Poltergeist 2. But the curly golden locks on his forehead glow like the sun.

 

Simon Bowland places Jude Ellison S Doyle's flowing narrative in boxes and the characters' dialogue in white balloons. The uppercase letters in boxes are more stylized than their cousins, but both are easy to read. Words embolden for emphasis, while lowered voices receive smaller, lowercase letters. Bowland carves dark symbols and words into panels to attend acts of kindness and defiance. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

As children reach high school age, parents often struggle to bridge the gap with their teens' diverging interests. Jude Ellison S Doyle’s flowing, Biblical narrative transforms a fast-paced story about the challenges of one-parent families into a supernatural horror story in Be Not Afraid #1.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

For more covers see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.