Long before I started down the road of blogging about comics, I used to pick up some great relationship comics from a small publisher called Oni Press. Roughly a decade later, this Portland-based company is still going strong, and like Dark Horse, is playing for the home team show at the Rose City Comic Con.
While Oni might still be best known for being the home of Scott Pilgrim, the publisher has a wide variety of offerings. They do Westerns with 6th Gun, batshit crazy work with The Auteur, dystopia such as Wasteland, and still keep working on relationship books, like A Boy and A Girl.
Some of the new work from Oni includes:
- Meteor Men, by Jeff Parker, Sandy Jarrell, and Kevin Volo, about a boy who has an alien encounter that changes his life (reviewed by James Kaplan here)
- Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks by Jamie S. Rich and Dan Christensen, featuring a hypnotist who self-practices and ends up in a trap of his own devising (reviewed by Rob McMonigal here)
- Princess Ugg by Ted Naifeh, about a barbarian who tries to improve her life by education, and struggles with what it means to be a young woman (reviewed by Doug Peach here)
- Mermin Book 3 by Joey Weiser, continuing the story of a sea creature who comes to land to escape his fate (review of the series by Rob McMonigal here)
- The Bunker by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari (review here by James Kaplan)
These and many other books should be available at the Oni Table.
In addition, Oni has a few panels they're a big part of:
Saturday:
Oni Press: Creator-Owned Comics for You (Panel Room 2, 3PM)
Join Oni Press Editor in Chief James Lucas Jones along with Stumptown's Greg Rucka and Justin Greenwood, The Bunker's Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari, I Was the Cat's Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey, and Meteor Men's Jeff Parker and Sandy Jarrell for a rousing roundtable discussion on just what it's like for independent creators in today's comics industry.
Sunday:
Oni Press Presents: All-Ages Monsterpalooza! (Panel Room 2, 2PM)
Join Oni Press Editorial wizards Jill Beaton and Robin Herrera, along with a slew of all-star Oni Press artists for a fun interactive monster-creation art battle! Kids of all ages are welcome, and every attendee receives free comics!
Spotlight: Jeff Parker (Panel Room 7, 2PM)
From the humble beginnings as a comic artist to being one of the most sought after writer's in the industry, Jeff Parker has shown that his unique take and sense of humor adds a level of depth to his characters rarely seen in the industry. Come step into the mind of the man currently behind Aquaman, Batman ‘66, X-Men: First Class, and so much more.
Ban This! (Panel Room 4, 3PM)
From Captain Underpants to Watchmen, comics are among the most frequently challenged books each year. Just in time for Banned Books Week, this panel of nonprofits, publishers & creators discusses why comics are challenged and what you can do about it. Featuring James Lucas Jones (Editor-in-Chief at Oni Press), Sarah Mirk (Author and Online Editor of Bitch Magazine) Jonathan Hill (Americus), and Justin Stanley (Founder of the Uprise Books Project).
Oni is probably one of the most underrated publishers right now, because despite the fact that they have a ton of good graphic novels and a nice grouping of single issue comics coming out monthly, they are not big on total volume of comics. But their quality is arguably better now than it's been in years (which is saying something), and I hope you'll stop by to see them at Rose City!
Can't make the show? You can visit Oni Press on the web here.
