‘Be Not Afraid’: A Structured Horror Narrative Examining Faith and Isolation in Rural America

Scheduled for release on June 4, 2025, by BOOM! Studios, the forthcoming North American horror comic series ‘Be Not Afraid’ introduces a narrative that merges rural dread with supernatural tension. Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and illustrated by Lisandro Estherren, the series draws from Evangelical religious imagery and the traditions of cosmic horror. Positioned within the publisher’s primary imprint, it is framed not as genre experimentation, but as a precise exploration of faith, power, and psychological rupture.

The story is set in a remote farming community and follows Cora Reims, a woman who, years after a so-called divine visitation, raises a child she believes to be a Nephilim. Seventeen years later, as the boy matures, a series of inexplicable misfortunes befalls their town. Cora, once the reluctant protector of this child, is faced with another vision—this time demanding his death. The narrative engages with rural isolation, inherited guilt, and spiritual extremity, grounding its horror in the moral ambiguities of maternal obligation and divine retribution.

BOOM! Studios has described the series as a confrontation with fear rooted in doctrine and shame rather than external monstrosity. The creative team has positioned ‘Be Not Afraid’ as a story of inner collapse rather than traditional conflict, using horror not for allegory, but to examine personal and cultural consequences shaped by belief systems. The result is a tightly focused narrative that prioritizes emotional disquiet over narrative spectacle.

Synopsis: The Story of Cora Reims

The core narrative of ‘Be Not Afraid’ is structured around a prolonged spiritual and emotional ordeal. At its center is Cora Reims, a young woman living in rural isolation who, after what she interprets as a divine visitation, gives birth to a child she later comes to understand is a Nephilim—a figure drawn from biblical apocrypha as the offspring of angels and humans. The birth is not treated as miraculous; rather, it is approached as a burden that alters the trajectory of her life, isolating her from her community and entrenching her within a private sense of dread.

The plot advances seventeen years, situating the reader in a town that has been subjected to persistent misfortune—floods, crop failures, unexplained deaths—that residents begin to attribute to her son’s presence. While the narrative resists identifying the boy as a clear agent of destruction, it presents Cora as a woman driven to the edge by the accumulating signs of disrepair. The ambiguity surrounding the boy’s nature remains intact throughout, positioning the reader to question whether he is a cause, a consequence, or simply a scapegoat for deeper social unease. The tension escalates when Cora experiences a second vision, instructing her to take her son’s life, a directive that collapses the boundary between revelation and delusion.

Rather than resolving the situation through external confrontation, the narrative is shaped by Cora’s internal disintegration. The town’s moral judgment and the boy’s silent estrangement compound her isolation, producing a psychological descent that is illustrated with restraint. Dialogue is used minimally, relying on visual sequences to depict Cora’s fractured perception and the shifting line between faith and madness. This narrative design is consistent with the creative team’s broader approach: to render horror as a sustained consequence of personal belief, rather than through overt supernatural exposition. The result is a narrative that functions less as a mystery to be solved and more as an account of conviction eroding under the pressure of lived experience.

Creative Team: Doyle and Estherren’s Collaboration

Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Lisandro Estherren approach ‘Be Not Afraid’ with a shared intent to structure horror through psychological and cultural tension rather than visual escalation. Doyle, known for his prior work on titles such as ‘Maw’ and ‘Hello Darkness,’ engages this project as a continuation of his long-standing inquiry into systems of belief, personal disintegration, and gendered trauma. In early interviews and publisher materials, Doyle refers to ‘Be Not Afraid’ as his most severe narrative to date, identifying the creative departure not in subject matter, but in the methodical tone through which the story unfolds. The project strips away metaphor and aesthetic embellishment in favor of direct confrontation with shame, particularly as it is shaped by institutional religion and family.

Estherren, whose previous work includes ‘Redneck’ and ‘The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country,’ complements Doyle’s narrative structure with a visual approach defined by sparseness and unease. His illustrations—marked by controlled panel pacing and restrained linework—function less as depictions of horror and more as indicators of spiritual corrosion. Dialogue is frequently subordinated to pacing, and his use of space conveys the slow accrual of pressure rather than sudden disruption. Estherren has referred to the series as a personal investigation into “spiritual horror,” a term he applies not to any overt religious spectacle, but to the quiet unraveling of moral certainty.

The collaboration between Doyle and Estherren is framed not around thematic alignment but narrative discipline. According to BOOM! Studios’ official communications, the pair developed the series around a shared editorial philosophy that prioritizes internal conflict and cultural specificity. Their work refrains from excess or allegory, relying instead on consistency of tone and careful visual structure. Unlike titles that rely on horror tropes for atmospheric effect, ‘Be Not Afraid’ is deliberately quiet in its staging. The result is a creative partnership that prioritizes tension built over time, with neither writer nor artist deferring to spectacle. The collaboration is unified less by subject matter than by a mutual restraint that allows the narrative to operate without sensationalism.

Artistic Direction and Cover Art

The visual presentation of ‘Be Not Afraid’ reinforces the series’ tonal objectives through a combination of tightly controlled interior art and a curated selection of cover designs. Reiko Murakami, whose prior work often features psychologically charged portraiture, delivers the primary cover illustration for the first issue. The image, grounded in stillness rather than motion, presents a figure cast in shadow against a rural backdrop, anchoring the series’ visual identity in restraint and psychological ambiguity. This direction is consistent with the comic’s narrative concerns, offering a composition that suggests internal conflict rather than depicting any overt supernatural presence.

Supplementing Murakami’s main cover are variant contributions by artists Abigail J. Harding, Jae Lee and June Chung, Ariel Olivetti, and Javier Pulido. Each brings a distinct stylistic perspective that interprets rather than illustrates the source material. Harding’s work emphasizes visual distortion, suggesting the tension between perception and belief. Lee and Chung present a cleaner, more formal rendering, while Olivetti’s version leans into anatomical exaggeration. Pulido’s variant, by contrast, abstracts the material further, relying on flat color and fragmented framing. These differences in approach reflect the publisher’s decision to frame the series through multiple visual registers, each offering a partial perspective rather than a definitive image.

Inside the book, Lisandro Estherren’s illustrations maintain a consistent approach to visual storytelling. His use of open space, washed-out textures, and restrained linework supports the psychological pacing of the script. Panels are rarely crowded, with the compositions often relying on visual emptiness to convey tension. Faces are drawn with minimal detail, prioritizing expression through framing rather than facial markers. This approach mirrors the narrative’s thematic design: ambiguity is not clarified by the art but reinforced through its formal choices. Estherren’s work refrains from sensationalism, preferring quiet sequences that build gradually rather than through visual crescendo. The result is a visual style that remains cohesive with the narrative structure, offering readers a continuity of tone across both script and design.

BOOM! Studios’ Editorial Approach

‘Be Not Afraid’ is published under the primary imprint of BOOM! Studios, a North American publisher that, in recent years, has maintained a catalog of genre-focused titles that allow for structurally unconventional storytelling within horror, science fiction, and speculative fiction. The imprint—home to high-profile releases such as ‘BRZRKR’ and ‘Something is Killing the Children’—has positioned itself as a venue for original narratives developed independently of long-running intellectual properties. Within this editorial framework, titles are structured to allow greater authorial control, while maintaining a serialized format accessible through direct market and digital distribution.

The publisher’s editorial strategy with horror titles differs from approaches seen in other contemporary imprints. Rather than relying on formulaic genre structure or commercial crossover, BOOM! Studios supports stories that are internally self-contained and culturally responsive. ‘Be Not Afraid’ fits this model, structured not as a suspense-driven mystery or action-horror hybrid, but as a slow, psychological dissection of belief and consequence. The creative latitude afforded to Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Lisandro Estherren reflects the publisher’s interest in stories that do not adhere to promotional or tonal conventions commonly associated with mainstream horror comics.

According to the series’ official announcement, Doyle’s pitch was accepted in full, with editorial oversight emphasizing continuity and tone rather than content redirection. This approach aligns with the publisher’s pattern of backing projects that operate with distinct creative logic, while still conforming to the structural expectations of serialized publication. The choice to commission multiple variant covers from artists with contrasting visual styles also reflects a publishing philosophy that treats each series not as a brand extension, but as a contained work with its own framing. In the case of ‘Be Not Afraid,’ this editorial model allows the narrative and its visuals to function cohesively, without dilution by broader franchise concerns.

Release Information and Availability

The first issue of ‘Be Not Afraid’ is scheduled to be released on June 4, 2025, as part of BOOM! Studios’ continuing efforts to provide original horror narratives through both traditional and digital outlets. The title will be distributed across North American comic book retailers, with simultaneous availability through digital platforms including Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play. This multi-channel release model has become standard for the publisher, which regularly aims to reach both direct market readers and digital-first consumers without prioritizing one format over the other.

BOOM! Studios has confirmed that ‘Be Not Afraid’ will debut as a standard single-issue release, structured for monthly serialization. No trade paperback or collected edition has yet been announced, indicating that the initial reception of the series will be gauged through its periodical readership. Promotional materials and preview content began circulating in April 2025, primarily through independent comic outlets and digital review aggregators. This early coverage, while limited in volume, suggests that the publisher is targeting genre-focused readership rather than a broad commercial push, consistent with their treatment of titles with experimental or literary framing.

Previews have also been made available through BOOM! Studios’ website, accompanied by statements from both the creative team and editorial staff contextualizing the series within the publisher’s wider horror offerings. The decision to release early pages digitally prior to publication is part of an effort to establish tonal expectations without relying on plot-based marketing. As with similar releases in BOOM!’s catalog, early access is provided with minimal commentary, allowing readers and critics to engage with the material without interpretive framing from the publisher. The release schedule currently lists the first arc as ongoing, with future issues pending final confirmation based on sales performance and retailer orders.

Conclusion

‘Be Not Afraid’ aligns with a growing segment of contemporary comics that treat horror not as genre ornamentation but as a structural means of examining belief, authority, and interior fracture. Within BOOM! Studios’ publishing framework, it contributes to an editorial shift toward tightly focused, author-driven works that prioritize psychological and cultural specificity over serialized convention.

For readers familiar with Jude Ellison S. Doyle’s prior writing or Lisandro Estherren’s visual vocabulary, the series may offer an opportunity to consider how narrative restraint and visual sparsity interact to construct tension without overt spectacle. As the series unfolds, it invites continued reflection on how horror can be used not to exaggerate but to isolate—and how that distinction may influence future approaches to visual storytelling. Readers may wish to consider how ‘Be Not Afraid’ engages with these elements in their own experience of the work.