Image Comics has announced Crimes Against Nature, a new neo-noir crime comedy from writer Eliot Rahal (Bleed Them Dry, Cult Classic) and artist Mattia Monaco (Eat Your Young, Knock ‘Em Dead). The series launches this September and promises a strange blend of crime thriller, friendship drama, and Hollywood satire.
Described as “Koko the gorilla meets The Usual Suspects,” the series follows an unlikely duo forced to go on the run after being framed for a crime they didn’t commit.
At the center of the story is Dr. Kermit Groedan, a famous Hollywood animal trainer, and his closest companion, Amigo the Ape, the first gorilla ever nominated for an Academy Award. When the pair find themselves accused of a crime, they must evade capture while uncovering the truth behind the conspiracy against them. Along the way, long-buried secrets and painful histories threaten to put their friendship to the ultimate test.
The debut issue will feature variant covers by Mattia Monaco, Stipan Morian, Tyler Boss, and a special Witchblade team-up cover by Gavin Smith.
“This story is about two desperate fathers, one at the end of his rope, with nothing left to lose, shooting their shot—and I’m not talking about the characters in our book,” said Rahal. “I’m talking about Mattia and me. Honestly, working on this book has felt like him and me against the world, with help from the friends we’ve made along the way. It’s a feeling I haven’t had since I first started in comics. It feels like we’re committing a crime together. Like we’re doing something special. It’s exciting. Special. And it’s fitting for our first Image book. I’m just so grateful for Mattia. Every panel and page is lightning in a bottle. It’s one of the greatest partnerships of my life. And I think all of that joy and trust spills out into our book about a guy and his gorilla.”
For Monaco, the project also marked a return to traditional art techniques and a reunion with one of his earliest collaborators.
“For me, this book is about coming home. Coming back to traditional art. After nearly six years of working digitally, this was the first project that brought me back to pen and ink and gave me a renewed sense of freedom and experimentation on every page. It’s also a return to where my comics career began. Eliot was the first writer I ever collaborated with in comics on Knock ‘Em Dead. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I’ll never forget the trust he put in me then—or now. At its heart, Crimes Against Nature is a story about the friendship between a man and a gorilla. It’s a story about a friendship that survives against the odds. A friendship forged by fate and challenged by that same fate. In a strange way, it reminds me a lot of Eliot and me. We just haven’t figured out yet which one of us is the gorilla. This book is funny, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and occasionally terrifying. Because no matter how emotional things get, there’s still a six-hundred-pound gorilla in the room.”
With a talking point as unusual as an Academy Award-nominated gorilla and a creative team reuniting for a deeply personal project, Crimes Against Nature looks poised to be one of Image Comics’ most distinctive launches this fall.
Crimes Against Nature #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, September 23:
- Cover A by Monaco – UPC: 70985304857200111
- Cover B by Stipan Morian – UPC: 70985304857200121
- Cover C 1:25 copy incentive by Tyler Boss – UPC: 70985304857200131
- Cover D 1:50 copy incentive by Monaco – UPC: 70985304857200141
- Cover E by Gavin Smith Witchblade Team-Up variant – UPC: 70985304857200151
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