Oni Press

Oni Press
Founded 1997
Founder Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Portland, Oregon[1]
Publication types Comics
Official website www.onipress.com

Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon.[1]

History

It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing comics and graphic novels they would want to read. Unsatisfied with the material that was dominating the industry, they believed firmly that sequential art could be used to tell virtually any story. Schreck left the company in 1999, and Oni Press is currently owned by Nozemack.

The company name derives from oni, the Japanese word for the devils or demons popular in Japanese folklore.[2]

Overview

The Oni Press booth at WonderCon 2010

Oni Press used the term "real mainstream," coined by Stephen Holland of the UK comic shop Page 45,[3] to describe its output. Traditional American comic books regard superhero titles as "mainstream" and all other genres as "non-mainstream", a reversal of the perception in other media. Oni Press therefore adopted the "real mainstream" term to suggest that it publishes comic books and graphic novels whose subject matter is more in line with the popular genres of other media, such as thrillers, romances and realistic drama. For the most part, Oni Press avoids publishing superhero titles, unless interesting creators approach these concepts from an unusual angle. However, at one point, Rich Johnston of All The Rage reported that Oni Press and Marvel Comics were creating a publishing deal for Oni creators to work on Marvel superhero characters, but the deal fell apart.[4]

Oni Press publishes few comic books on an ongoing monthly basis - Marc Guggenheim's Resurrection, Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten's Wasteland and Brian Hurrt and Cullen Bunn's Sixth Gun. Greg Rucka's Queen & Country was published monthly from 2001 to 2007. Most of its titles are either irregular recurring miniseries, often published in four to six monthly installments, or original graphic novels.

Oni Press material initially released as comic books is usually later collected into trade paperbacks. They have published well over 100 titles,[5] with multiple books undergoing reprints due to sustained popularity. Several of their books have won the Eisner Award including: Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, Rick Spear and Chuck BB's Black Metal, Hope Larson's Grey Horses, and Greg Rucka's Whiteout: Melt and Queen & Country, with many more receiving nominations.

Oni Press had a film and television production unit, Closed on Mondays, headed by Eric Gitter and located in Los Angeles, California. However, in 2015, because of creative differences originating from the geological distance between offices, Oni and Gitter parted ways, and Oni established a new film and production arm, Oni Entertainment. [6]

List of titles

Notes

  1. 1 2 "About Greg Rucka". Greg Rucka. 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  2. ↑ onipress.com :: F.A.Q
  3. ↑ Holland, Stephen (June 6, 2003). "Guest Editorial: The Real Mainstream". Ninth Art. Archived from the original on January 13, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
  4. ↑ All The Rage: You Could Put Your Eye Out With That - Update
  5. ↑ "List of titles by Oni Press". Comic Book DB. Retrieved February 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/oni-press-restructures-movie-tv-837809

References

External links


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