Kickstarter Veteran Joins Independent Comics Powerhouse to Bolster Crowdfunding, E-Commerce, and Licensing Initiatives for Award-Winning Publisher’s Ambitious 2026 Slate
Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey award-winning publisher of comic books and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to announce that respected industry veteran Sam Kusek has joined the company’s management team as Director of Business Development. In his newly created role, Kusekwill oversee the company’s programming and operational strategy for crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter, the growth of Oni’s ecommerce footprint, and the further development of Oni’s inbound and outbound licensing programs across comics and graphic novels, tabletop and video games, merchandise and collectibles, and more.
Kusek most recently served as Senior Outreach Lead for Kickstarter, where he oversaw the launch of more than 1,200 comic book and graphic novel campaigns, helping globally recognized publishers and independent creators of all shapes and sizes bring their projects to life. Kusek came to Kickstarter from BOOM! Studios, where he previously served as Special Projects Manager and oversaw nearly $6 million in crowdfunding-driven pre-order initiatives with partners including Alcon Entertainment, Hasbro, the Jim Henson Company, and more. Prior to BOOM!, Kusek also served as Operations Manager for Tiny Onion, where he helped coordinate merchandising and specialty collectibles for multiple Eisner Award-winning creator James Tynion IV’s signature publishing imprint. With previous experience that also includes editorial, events, and retail within the comics industry, Kusek also owns and operates Cave of Monsters Games, a boutique tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) publisher based out of Portland, OR.
“Having worked with Sam professionally many times in recent years, I can assuredly say that he shares the same great passion that drives everyone at Oni: To work with our industry’s most talented creators to tell impactful stories that can find the largest audience possible,” said Oni President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson. “With a proven track record of reaching fans and readers around the globe, Sam is both a perfect and powerful addition to our growing and formidable team as we prepare for Oni to break even more new ground in the months and years ahead.”
Kusek’s appointment comes at an opportune time for Oni Press as the company celebrates a string of significant successes – including the company’s record-setting Kickstarter campaign for the graphic novel adaptation of Glitch Productions’ smash-hit animated series Murder Drones, which grossed more than $1.8 million and currently ranks as the platform’s #4 highest grossing comics campaign of all time – and looks ahead to several major milestones in 2026 and beyond, including the recently announced launches of New York Times best-selling creator Matt Kindt’s Flux House publishing imprint and a new partnership with Archie Comics that will begin with a wave of highly anticipated new series this fall.
“2025 was a really exciting year for comics, and I can’t think of a publisher who is pushing the boundaries of what comics can do more than Oni Press,” said Kusek. “Building on so many of the company’s recent successes, I’m excited for the opportunity to help define even bigger and more unexpected frontiers for one of the most important independent publishers in the business. We have big plans, so stay tuned!”
In the coming months, Oni Press will publish a high-profile slate of comics and graphic novels, including the new hardcover collections BENJAMIN by Edgar Award nominee & Philip K. Dick Award winner Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman Trilogy, EC’s Cruel Universe) and artist Leomacs (Refrigerator Full of Heads, Rogues), and FREE FOR ALL byEisner Award-nominated cartoonist Patrick Horvath (Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees), alongside the long awaited adaptation of historical figure Ms. Opal Lee’s life in FIRST FREEDOM: THE STORY OF OPAL LEE AND JUNETEENTH by acclaimed journalist, producer, and author Angélique Roché (My Super Hero is Black), artists Alvin Epps (I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005: A Graphic Novel), Bex Glendining (On Starlit Shores), and rising star Millicent Monroe, and GENDER QUEER: THE ANNOTATED EDITIONby Maia Kobabe. Later this year New York Times best-selling writer and cartoonist Matt Kindt will bring his FLUX HOUSE publishing imprint to Oni Press for an array of new series beginning with the MIND MGMT / FORT PSYCHO FCBD 2026 SPECIAL, MIND MGMT: NEW & IMPROVED #1 in June and FORT PSYCHO #1 in August.. In the fall Oni Press and Archie Comic Publications, Inc. will launch an ambitious and wide-ranging publishing partnership with ARCHIE #1 written by multiple Eisner Award nominee W. Maxwell Prince (Ice Cream Man, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum), with art by Fábio Moon (Daytripper, Casanova),and Nick Cagnetti (Spirit of the Shadows, Pink Lemonade) in September 2026, followed by SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH #1 written by Hugo Award nominee Corinna Bechko (EC Comics’ Blood Type, Green Lantern: Earth One) with art by Kano EC Comics’ Cruel Universe, Gotham Central)in October and ARCHIE IN HELL #1 written by Harvey Award winner Patrick Horvath Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, Free for All)with art by Russ Manning Award winner Tyler Crook (Out of Alcatraz, Harrow County)in November 2026.
Headquartered in Portland, OR, Oni Press has endured as one of the industry’s premier publishers of comics and graphic novels for nearly three decades – winning multiple Eisner, Harvey and Ringo Awards in the process. Oni Press operates under the umbrella of Polarity – a diversified media company owned by entrepreneur David Steward II that also counts Lion Forge Entertainment amongst its growing stable of entertainment entities.
More news on the publisher’s upcoming releases will be revealed at ComicsPro in February. For more updates on Oni Press, visit them on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.