LOS ANGELES, CA (March 17, 2025) – Visionary horror scribe Jude Ellison S. Doyle returns to BOOM! Studios with his most subversive work yet! BE NOT AFRAID is a breathtaking new series from Doyle (Hello Darkness, Maw) and illustrator Lisandro Estherren (Redneck). Equal parts feminist rage and rural folk horror, this descent into Hell itself is a nightmare ride fueled by the underpinnings of American Evangelical tradition and brutal cosmic horror!
Cora Reims lived the simple, isolated life of a farm girl until one fateful summer day she was host to a visitor made of pure light–an angel from on high. In the aftermath of the angel’s visit, Cora gave birth to a child. A Nephilim, the offspring of angels and humans, seemingly imbued with the very nature of evil itself.
Seventeen years later, the child’s cherubic appearance can no longer hide his monstrous nature. Frogs boil in their skin as he passes. Crops rot on their vines. The townspeople live in constant fear, knowing that atrocities follow him like a shadow.
On the eve of his eighteenth 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 the darkest thing I’ve written, and possibly my favorite: An American gothic about religion, shame, and how it’s possible to be so bad that God and/or your own mother cannot love you,” said Jude Ellison S. Doyle. “Lisandro Estherren’s illustrations are fine art, whether their subject is sublime or horrific. I cannot wait for you to see the world he’s drawn.”
“A deep and poetic story that made me follow its characters to the strangest places,” said Lisandro Estherren. “I’d like to invite you all to join us on this journey into spiritual horror.”
BE NOT AFRAID #1 features main cover art by Reiko Murakami (Hello Darkness), and variant covers by acclaimed illustrators Abigail J. Harding (Parliament of Rooks), Jae Lee and June Chung (Faithless), Ariel Olivetti (BRZRKR), and Javier Pulido (Shazam!).
BE NOT AFRAID is the newest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to critically acclaimed original series, including BRZRKR by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney; Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera; bestselling horror anthology Hello Darkness; Grim by Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano; Stuff of Nightmares by R.L. Stine and A.L. Kaplan; A Vicious Circle by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo; Ghostlore by Cullen Bunn and Leomacs; Rare Flavours by Ram V and Filipe Andrade; Underheist by David and Maria Lapham; Animal Pound by Tom King and Peter Gross; Minor Arcana by Jeff Lemire; Vicarious by Ryan Parrott and Eleonora Carlini; The Creeping Below by Brian Azzarello and Vanesa Del Rey; Bronze Faces by Shobo, Shof, and Alexandre Tefenkgi; In Bloom by Michael W. Conrad and John J. Pearson; and When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee by Gus Moreno and Jakub Rebelka. The imprint also publishes popular licensed properties, including Dune: House Corrino from Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Simone Ragazzoni; Power Rangers Prime by Melissa Flores and Michael YG; and The Expanse: Dragon Tooth by Andy Diggle, Rubine, and Francesco Pisa.
BE NOT AFRAID #1 will be available in comic shops June 4, 2025. It is available for pre-order at your local comic shop. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play.
For continuing news on BE NOT AFRAID and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned towww.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on X.
About Jude Ellison S. Doyle:
Jude Ellison S. Doyle has written two limited-series horror comics, MAW (2021) and The Neighbors (2023), both with Boom! Studios. He’s also written two non-fiction books about gender, Trainwreck (2016) and Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers (2019). Be Not Afraid will be his third comic, and his third non-fiction book, DILF: Did I Leave Feminism, will be out this fall from Melville House.
About Lisandro Estherren:
Lisandro Estherren is an Argentine comic artist living in Rome, Italy. He made graphic novels, short stories and illustrations for publishers and magazines in Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, France and Spain. In the US, he worked on series for RED5 COMICS (Spook); BOOM! STUDIOS (The Last Contract, Strange Skies Over East Berlin); SKYBOUND/IMAGE COMICS (Redneck) and DC COMICS (Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country; Batman the Brave and the Bold; Hellblazer: Dead in America).
