It’s high time for hard crime in Sebela & Moustafa’s High Crimes

Kathmandu. It’s a name that conjures images of far-flung locales, ancient civilizations, and maybe even a Bob Seger song if you’re of a certain generation. But it’s a very real place, and a new comic arriving digitally today from Monkeybrain demonstrates it can be deadly.

High Crimes follows an American expat named Zan Jensen who makes a living as a guide for tourists wanting to climb the peaks of the Himalayas. That in itself might be fodder for a series, but writer Christopher Sebela and artist Ibrahim Moustafa have really turned the screws by bringing in a unique sidejob for Jensen: grave-robbing. Jensen, along with his mentor Haskell Price, have carved out a side business scavenging the personal effects off climbers who die on the mountains, and extort money from their grieving families to bring their bodies back for a proper burial. But that all goes sideways when one of the bodies they uncover harbors a secret.

Monkeybrain has released a number of well-regarded digital comics, including Edison Rex and Bandette, but High Crimes looks like a big departure in terms of style and subject matter — and also something that could be a big draw. The first chapter is available now for just 99 cents, with 15 story pages and several pages of backmatter. Squarely aimed at an adult audience, High Crimes is a unique thriller that deserves attention.

Here’s a preview of the first issue, provided by Monkeybrain: