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Oni Press Announces New Hires and Promotions

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Oni Press has announced a series of new hires and promotions for key positions throughout the company’s Editorial, Operations, Production & Design, and Administrative divisions. 

Oni new hires

First, Oni is proud to welcome several new additions to its ranks, including:

Karl Bollers, Editor

Karl Bollers is a veteran editor with more than 25 years of industry experience at Marvel Comics, Valiant Entertainment, and Bad Idea. Additionally, Bollers is a well-known writer, having earned an Eisner Award nomination for his series Watson & Holmes and contributing to series including Marvel’s Emma Frost, Machine Man, and What If?, as well as Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Valiant’s Archer & Armstrong. 

Megan Brown, Editor 

Megan Brown is an editor who, during her time at IDW Publishing, helped spearhead their original graphic novel initiative and worked on licensed titles including Marvel Action: Captain Marvel, GLOW, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Trek, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and more. When she’s not editing, you can find her writing comics, writing novels, or scouring local antique stores for VHS tapes to add to her growing collection.

Andy McElliott, Operations Manager 

Andy McElliott became part of the Oni Press family as the Operations Manager in June 2023. Having dedicated the past 8 years to logistics and operations management, Andy operates behind the scenes–basically the wizard behind the curtain. He diligently works to ensure that Oni titles make their way onto shelves and into the hands of enthusiastic fans. He likes to drink hot black coffee, even in the middle of the summer.

Winston Gambro, Graphic Designer 

Winston Gambro is a comic creator that previously created the cyberpunk mystery, Overflow, the all-ages mystery Gumshoe City, the horror-romance, Haunted House: A Love Story and is currently drawing Lights in the Sky. He’s currently designing Dwellings by Jay Stephens, The Man from Maybe by Jordan Thomas and Shaky Kane and the upcoming Invasive by Cullen Bunn and Jesús Hervás. He lives with his cat, Hazel.

Matt Harding, Pre-Press Technician 

Matt Harding has worked in comics production for over ten years at companies like Black Mask Studios and Madefire Motion Books and now Oni Press. When he’s not working, he can be found writing and illustrating comics like All the Devils Are Here, Not Forgotten, From the Static, Lower Your Sights, and Hyperdrive.

Chris Robinson, Consulting Editor

Chris Robinson is the editor of All-Negro Comics 75th Anniversary Edition, and previously edited Black Panther, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Ghost Rider, and much more for Marvel Comics.

Kaia Rokke, Marketing & Communications Coordinator 

A recent graduate of Sweet Briar College, Kaia will help manage marketing, publicity, and social media efforts for Oni’s growing slate of comics and graphic novels.

Oni staff promotions

Additionally, Oni is proud to recognize multiple members of its team for recent promotions:

Troy Look, VP, Publishing Services

A veteran of Oni Press since 2011, Troy Look came to Oni from Dark Horse Comics, where he had previously served as Prepress Technician and contributed to series including Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Conan, and Star Wars. Over the course of the next decade, he was subsequently promoted to Production Manager and later Director of Design and Production. As VP of Publishing Services, Look oversees all production, manufacturing, operations, and logistics on Oni’s behalf. He is extremely grateful to work with one of the most talented teams in the industry. 

Jeremy Colfer, Director of Development

A veteran film and television executive based in Los Angeles, Jeremy Colfer has two decades of experience in content development with globally recognized media organizations, including MGM, and Sony Pictures Television. In his new role, he oversees development of Oni’s extensive library of comics and graphic novels.

Angie Knowles, Director of Design & Production

Angie Knowles began her career at Oni Press as a Prepress Technician in 2016 and climbed her way up to the role of Director of Design & Production. She applied fresh out of college with a degree in Digital Arts, dreaming she could work on graphic novels all day. Now, she’s worked on hundreds of books and comics by compositing and quality-checking artwork, sending files to print, and designing books and logos.

Grace Scheipeter, Senior Editor

A veteran of Andrews McMeel Publishing where she worked on series like Big Nate and Phoebe and Her Unicorn, Grace Sheipeter joined Lion Forge Comics in 2017. In the six years she’s been with the company, she has worked on titles like Brenna Thummler’s best-selling Sheets series, Jarrett Melendez and Danica Brine’s award-winning graphic novel, Chef’s Kiss, and Austin Paramore and Sarah Bollinger’s Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song. Grace is passionate about working closely with creators to bring their stories to life and is eager to continue acquiring and editing compelling, beautiful stories for Middle Grade and Young Adult audiences.

Bess Pallares, Senior Editor

Bess Pallares previously served as Editor and Editorial Assistant at Oni Press, and holds a Master’s Degree in Publishing and a certificate in Comics Studies from Portland State University. She edits licensed titles such as Rick & Morty, as well as creator-owned series and graphic novels including the upcoming Invasive by Cullen Bunn and Jesús Hervás, and I Feel Awful, Thanks by Lara Pickle. Pallares lives in the Midwest with her husband and daughter, where she likes to brew specialty coffee and knit with a cat in her lap.

Carey Soucy, Senior Graphic Designer

Over the last 13 years Carey has lent her talents to countless books such as: Skottie Young and Jorge Corona’s Eisner-nominated Middlewest (Image Comics), Skottie Young & Aaron Conley’s Bully Wars (Image Comics), Jim Zub & Troy Little’s Rick and Morty vs. Cthulhu (Oni Press), and Cristian Castelo’s Wild! (or So I Was Born to Be) (Oni Press). She is excited for the upcoming release of her latest design project, Matt Lesniewski’s Faceless and The Family (Oni Press), hitting shelves November 2023. When not in front of her computer, you can find Carey working on her tiny house or playing with her enormous dog.

Sarah Rockwell, Senior Graphic Designer

Sarah “Rocky” Rockwell has been designing at Oni Press since 2019 and has collaborated with fantastic people on great (and a great many) things, including the Eisner Award-nominated Chefs’ Kiss, the award-winning Sheets Trilogy, Invisible Differences, Pink Lemonade, Cindy & Biscuit, Silk Hills, Lamentation, Rick & Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, and XINO. She’d love to tell you more about her non-pixel pushing hobbies, but the list is much too long, so keep an eye (and a tissue) out for Brenna Thummler’s Lights, in stores now!

Gabriel Granillo, Editor 

Gabriel Granillo worked as journalist, multimedia director, and editor for newspapers and magazines for several years before joining Oni in 2022. Notable titles he’s edited include Dega by Dan McDaid, the sci-fi anthology XINO, and Dwellings by Jay Stephens. He also co-edits many of Oni’s licensed titles, including Rick and Morty. In addition to his work at Oni Press, he is also a writer of prose and nonfiction, a somewhat-decent photographer, and an on-again, off-again musician.

Jung Hu Lee, Assistant Editor

Born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in Washington DC/Maryland, Jung Hu Lee graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s English Writing program. Post-university, they worked as a library page, bookseller, newspaper intern, substitute teacher, special ed. tutor, EMT recruit, TV production technician, and research assistant before moving to Portland in 2010. They started at Oni Press in 2013 as a Warehouse Assistant, and then as Logistics Coordinator in 2018. Starting in August 2022, they were introduced to editing work and assisted on such titles as Action Journalism, Let Me Out, Rick and Morty, and XINO. Outside of work, Jung enjoys building Gundam models (known as Gunpla), watching 80’s/90’s anime and Hong Kong films, reading Cormac McCarthy and a good bowl of noodles.

Sara Harding, Executive Coordinator 

Sara Harding joined Oni Press in February 2022 as Entertainment Executive Assistant. Previously, she has provided her editing talents on .SELF by Christopher Sebela and Cara McGee (Comixology/Dark Horse), All the Devils are Here by Jarred Lujan and Matt Harding (Scout Comics), and various creator-owned anthologies such as Not Forgotten, A Cold, Dark Universe, and Big Hype: Volume One. Additionally, she has written for the horror anthology From the Static (Band of Bards). When she’s not working on several novels of her own, Harding can be found wandering the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Review: Cheech and Chong’s Chronicle: A Brief History of Weed

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Cheech and Chong take us a bit through the history of weed as they attempt to get to a gig in Reno.

Story: Ceech Marin, Tommy Chong, Eliot Rahal
Art: Noah Van Sciver, Soo Lee, Ryan Dunlavey, Butch Mapa, J Gonzo, Chris Visions, Patricio Delpeche, Gideon Kendall, Ellen Lindner
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Color: Mark Rodrigues, Matt Harding

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon
Z2 Comics

Z2 Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
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Hamilton: How The Musical Led Me To The Graphic History

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Over the last few years, I’d heard about a musical called Hamilton. I’m sure at this point you have too. I knew it was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, that the music was contemporary hip hop, the cast was diverse and that it had something to do with American history, and that people were going batshit crazy about the thing. I had no idea why it was garnering such rabid fans, but I was convinced it wasn’t something I’d be into. I mean, this English metalhead who’s interest in American history has always been pretty much confined to the Wild West/Frontier times could see nothing about Hamilton that tickled my fancy. It was a story set about a hundred years before my interest began, and was about the life of the first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton. At the time I couldn’t care less about the play.

And so I ignored it when my friend, a musical fan, would bring it up in conversation and suggest that my wife and I listen to the soundtrack. But still, we had no real interest in Alexander Hamilton and his role as a founding father of the United States, so despite repeated entreaties and recommendations to listen to the play, we never pressed play on the soundtrack.

And then the musical landed on Disney +, but we still ignored it.

However after a few months, and mostly spurred by lockdown boredom, my wife decided that we were going to find out what all the hype was about, and so one Sunday afternoon we pressed play and settled in for the show. Honestly, I wasn’t that taken with it. I didn’t hate it, but had no intention to ever watch it again. My wife, however decided to put it on again a few nights later. I sat on the couch with a book and half listened to the music. I’ll admit to enjoying the songs a little more the second time through, and so when my wife sheepishly asked if I minded if she watched it again on the weekend I had no complaints. I picked up my book again and settled in to listen to the music as I read. I glanced up early in the musical (during the first song, I think) and realized she had the subtitles on so she could catch more of the lyrics which turned out to be a game changer.

I didn’t read my book during this viewing, and was glued to the screen as I absorbed the words that bombarded my ears and eyes. The next time she put it on, I didn’t pick up my book (or my phone). I later asked her why she wanted to keep watching it, and she told me that it was partly to understand what was going on but also because the music caught her and so she wanted to watch it again to see whether she’d like it a bit more.

And she did (so did I).

At this point, so many months since we started down the rabbit hole, we’ll often play the soundtrack for background music or have the TV on with Hamilton playing in the background as we clean, read, craft or in my case work. Needless to say, we’re both big fans of the musical. Something that I never expected to happen.

Perhaps an unintended consequence of the musical, is that both my wife and I have become curious about the historical accuracies and story telling liberties within the musical. Over the last few months, I’ve read more about Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr (sir) and Eliza Schuyler Hamilton than I would have ever expected after my first viewing. My wife once spent an entire evening researching Angelica and Peggy after wondering who Angelica’s husband was. Suffice it to say, we’ve spent far more time learning about Hamilton’s place in the American Revolution than either of us would have ever expected.

I’ve come to realize that while the play is a work of genius (from the way the words balance and weave away from each other to the melodies that recur within the play to the choreography – there is so much to take in that there’s no wonder that people fall deeper and deeper into their Hamilton fandom); there’s a few liberties taken with the historical record.

The upside to the obsessive areas of the fandom is that many fans also tend to research the actual historical events and people that we see in the play – my wife and I aren’t unique in having done this.

While Miranda does take some liberties for the most part he gets the essence of the history right (regarding some of the inaccuracies: Angelica was married before she met Hamilton in real life but after in the play; Hamilton met Aaron Burr in 1773 rather than in 1776; there’s more, but if I try and list them then I’ll probably miss one or two and ultimately that’s not the point of this paragraph). But Hamilton, as with so many other movies based on history, was never going to be a one hundred percent historically accurate retelling (it does have to entertain the audience after all) – but it’s close enough so that when you inevitably do decide to do a bit of research you won’t notice any glaring inconsistencies. Given how well the music falls into place the small details he took creative liberty with are more than forgiven in my eyes.

All this is to say that after picking up a few books on Alexander Hamilton, my wife found me a graphic history of the man titled, funnily enough, Alexander Hamilton written by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Justin Greenwood. The reset of the credits includes inking and background assists by Matt Harding, colors by Brad Simpson, and letters by Patrick Brosseau.

I bet up until this point you were wondering what relevance Hamilton the musical had with this website, eh?

The book isn’t a graphic novel or comic in the typical sense, which I found interesting. The majority of the book is told in narration bubbles with the odd supplemental dialogue/speech bubble, which is at odds with modern comics’ tendency to focus on dialogue or internal monologues. The speech bubbles that are in the book tend to be more of an extension What Alexander Hamilton does do is convey the details of the founding father’s life in a very informative and conversational way, and never shies away from depicting Hamilton the man as a less than perfect man. Hennessey puts forward that while Hamilton was a great man, he wasn’t necessarily a good man. He made mistakes, he made decisions that allowed people to take advantage of others, and he was arrogant almost to a fault.

Hennessey’s book gives a lot of context to Miranda’s play, giving more context to lines such as “and the evidence suggests you engaged in speculation.” Speculation was the process of buying the war bonds given to ex soldiers at a pittance hoping the government would pay full value for the pieces of paper that were effectively worthless to the ex-soldiers. With this context, and Hamilton’s position as treasury secretary, it’s much easier to understand why the accusation would be so damning had Hamilton been engaging in the practice. Context such as this would have been hard to include in the play itself, but this is why the book is such a valuable tool – that it’s also easy to read with nice artwork is an added bonus.

Since Hamilton debuted on Disney +, I’ve mentioned to people that I’ve watched it and listened to the soundtrack quite a bit. What they don’t expect is just how much I’ve listened to the soundtrack or watched the movie. I don’t have an exact figure because Disney + doesn’t track it, nor does the old iPod I use in the car and because I’ll use an Alexa device and also Spotify on my phone, I’ve no way to track the exact number of times the songs have played. If I had to guess, I’d wager it’d be close to 500 times between the show and the sound track. Which is crazy when you think about it. Utterly insane.

And yet, I know I’ll watch and listen to it again (probably today).

But I also know that I’ll be going back to that graphic history again because although there’s a lot of truth in the play, I think it’s important to be able to tell where the storytelling takes over – and Alexander Hamilton is a fantastically informative piece of work that taught me new things about the man and his role in shaping America today.

It’s also a really good book, and I’m a sucker for a comic book teaching me history. .

Review: This Nightmare Kills Fascists

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There has been an awakening in the public arena due to the 2016 American Presidential election. An election the world is still reeling from the ramifications. Artists, especially those who operate in the comic realm, were (and are) particularly incensed. This cognizance of international politics is very present in the excellent anthology This Nightmare Kills Fascists.

In “Diane The Hunter” the proliferation of violence on women is explored, as a pair of assailants, walk right into a “wolf trap”. In “Thermonuclear Hunger Strike,” a worst-case scenario of what the world will be under President Trump is played out, with an assassin taking apart the oligarchy that is left. In “The Pledge,” a young man despite his girlfriend’s pleas pledges a fraternity who is known for their misogyny and racism. During a hazing ritual they unleash an ancient evil. In “Dear Jane,” a woman who wakes up from a sleep undergoes a carefully constructed game, one that is the stuff of nightmares. In “Black Friday,” a man’s impulsive actions to leads to death of a stranger ad the one person he would kill for.

In “This Land,” America is reimagined as a country drawn along racial lines, literally. A family gets into a dangerous game of fox and hound, as a band of racist vigilantes chase them down, ending in the bloodiest way. In “Yellow,” a woman who has been emotionally abused by her husband over time, eventually hits turning point, one which she redefines her sense of self worth.  In “A Forest,” a man who was protesting deforestation, gets killed by something, not from this world. In “Devil Daddy,” a young lady who was raped by Satan himself, reclaims her power.

In “Long Division,” one woman who is helping to build the wall along the Mexican border, becomes part of it most horrific section, one where torture of American becomes legal. In “Thank God,” the evils of taking the Bible literally is played in this one high school. In “Do Unto Others,” the demagogue virtues of religious freedom is explored, ending up in just desserts. In “Fury From The Deep,” the dangers of fracking is brilliantly told and just how those who run in the industry has no limits on the evils they will do. In “Office Party,” a Senator who opposed heath care gets a Scrooge like visit, which leaves him not changed but horrified.

In “The Abyss Of Observation,” a writer’s observations about the Siege of Sarajevo, is played in dramatic fashion. In “The Price Of Fashion,” a young lady obsessions with clothes, proves deadly for one of her lovers. In “One In Heart and  mind,” a woman’s faith is shaken once she finds out exactly who her pastor is.

Overall, an engrossing anthology which pulls you into every page and highlights each artist and writer at the top of their game. The stories by each writer shows their depth at wielding a meaningful story while remembering to entertain. The art by each artist displays their synchronicity with each story providing readers with depth and warmth. Altogether, a book which means to stir the incendiary nature of every good human being. It not only does that but makes them aspire to higher.

Story: Vita Ayala, Justin Jordan, Ryan Ferrier, Michael Wernke, Erica Schultz, Forrest Helvie, Tyler Chin-Tanner, Ryan Lindsay, Matt Miner, Tini Howard, Christopher Sebela, John Bivens, Dave Ebersole, Joe Corrallo, Andrew Shaw, Eric Palicki, Fabian Lelay, Ryan Cady
Art: Eric Zawadzki, Crees Hyunsung Lee, Kelly Williams, Juan Castro, Claire Connelly, Joseba Morales, Yosam Cardenas, Soo Lee, Ariela Kristantina, Christian Dibari, Katy Rex, Matt Harding,  Jamel Jones, Sean Van Gorman, Don Cardenas, Fabian Lelay, Philip Sevy
Story: 10 Art: 8.8 Overall: 9.4 Recommendation: Buy

Preview: Gwar: Orgasmageddon #4

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Gwar: Orgasmageddon #4

writers: Matt Miner, Matt Maguire
artist: Tom Neely, Matt Maguire
covers: Jonathan Brandon Sawyer (A), Matt Harding (B), New Costume Reveal Photo Cover (C)
FC | 32 pages | $3.99 | Mature

Join GWAR, SAWBORG and BOZO (the DESTRUCTO brothers), SEXECUTIONER, and ROBO-SLEAZY as they finish their quest to get back to the present, fix the future, and kick Mr. Perfect’s stupid butt all over the timescape! The final issue has dinosaurs, samurai, nazis, penguins, robots, 30s gangsters, robots, robot penguins, crack dealers, grindhouse movies, and not only that but it reveals GWAR’s new look! That’s right folks: GWAR’S NEW COSTUMES AND THEIR ORIGIN right here! Join GWAR and creators in the finale to this ridiculously bonkers chapter of Scumdog Lore!