BOOM! Studios’ new series Be Not Afraid combines elements from The Omen, The Exorcist and even the classic Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life” to tell the story of Cora Rehms and her demonic son Jordy Rehms, who Cora gave birth to after having relations with an angel. Through his childhood, Jordy has terrorized Cora, Cora’s mother and the town of Enoch where they live, and now that Jordy’s turning 18 years-old, his powers are at their fullest. Cora’s desperate to find a way to end his reign of terror.
Be Not Afraid #1, written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with art by Lisandro Estherren and colors by Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli, creates an eerie atmosphere from the first page, as Cora and Jordy’s backstory is told. Especially creepy is how cherubic Jordy looks as a young boy, with curly blonde hair, big blue eyes and the most sinister smile ever. In some panels, he looks so nightmarish that he’d send Chucky from the Child’s Play films fleeing in terror with the simple flash of a smile.
The book follows Jordy around Enoch, as he takes delight in terrorizing the populace. He preys on even the most feeble people and those who speak against him (even in the most polite way) are brutally struck down. Things are no easier at home as we get an extended scene of Jordy, Cora and Cora’s mother “celebrating” his birthday, with Jordy disfiguring Cora’s mother so badly that Cora refers to her as “it” now instead of the mother she grew up with. It’s probably the most chilling birthday scene you’ll ever see in a book.
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Lisandro Estherren, Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli’s art makes the town of Enoch feel malignant, gloomy and otherworldly. Most of the time, characters’ faces are either partially or fully covered in shadow and the colors are mostly shades of brown and gray, the colors of rot and decay. The only time the book diverges from that are with splashes of red (blood) and blue (for Jordy’s icy blue eyes).
As I read the book, I wondered why people didn’t just leave the town. It may be that Jordy has made it so they can’t leave. After all, when you live to torture others, you’ve got to ensure that you always have an available pool of entertainment around. Even though the “demonic child” plot has been used a lot in the past (including The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby, among others), writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle makes the backstory and atmosphere of the book unique enough that I’m curious to see where it’s headed.
I’d love to see more of Jordy’s angel father and how he and Cora met, along with what went so wrong that such an evil child was born from a being of pure righteousness. We’re given brief flashes of Jordy’s father, but hopefully he’ll be given more attention in the future. Also, it would be interesting to see things from the viewpoint of Enoch’s citizens. Are they plotting a way to dispatch Jordy or have they just resigned themselves to their fate? Can you live a normal life under these conditions?
I look forward to learning more about Enoch next issue and taking another nightmarish walk through its shadowy streets.
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