Oni Press rolls out new era (and new publishing line)

Ahead of its New York Comic Con 2023 panel this Saturday, Oni Press has unveiled something it’s calling ONI 2024: five all-new monthly series showcasing the different genres, new and upcoming creators, and attitudes audiences can expect from the indie publisher across the next 12 months. As the tagline puts it, expect “the loudest thing in color.”

Beginning with the already announced Invasive — a four-issue horror series launching in December by horror maven Cullen Bunn and Jesús Hervás (The Empty Man) — the new titles making up the new launch are as follows (Descriptions courtesy of the publisher):

• Jill and the Killers: “Returning to school after the unsolved disappearance of her mother, teenager Jill Estrada can’t wait for things to return to normal . . . even as her friends become compulsively obsessed with Box Killers, a true-crime subscription game where each month's "unsolved case" is custom-tailored to the life of its player. There’s only one catch: Jill’s game seems to be all too real . . . and when her clues begin to connect to a series of disappearances in her town, Jill and her friends must uncover the truth behind these mysterious crimes before one of their own becomes the next victim.” Four issues by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs (Mary Shelley Monster Hunter) and Roberta Ingranata (Witchblade), beginning in January.
• Cemetery Kids Don’t Die: “The 21st century sucks hard, but it's been made somewhat tolerable by the latest and greatest media innovation to finally unseat the iPhone. Enter the Dreamwave: the first gaming console played entirely while you sleep. Now the obsession of millions around the globe, it's also the one point of solace for four friends whose lives have been marred by trauma and dysfunction. Together, this group of ultra-online ‘Cemetery Kids’ spend their nights roaming the open world of the most immersive and brutal horror game ever created: ‘Nightmare Cemetery.’ Together they seek to dethrone an enigmatic humanoid monster known only as the ‘The King of Sleep.’ Which was fun—until one of them doesn't wake up… and finds their consciousness locked inside a horror game that is anything but imaginary. Now, the three remaining Cemetery Kids must navigate the game’s forbidden landscape to rescue their friend… and pray that the secret lurking at its center doesn't follow them home.” Four issues by Zac Thompson (Hunt for the Skinwalker) and Daniel Irizarri (XINO), beginning in February.
• Night People: “Adapted from Barry Gifford’s acclaimed novel by breakout writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood, The Enfield Gang Massacre) and a rotating cast of stunning artistic talents —including Brian Level (Poison Ivy), Alexandre Tefenkgi (The Good Asian), Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place), and more — follow an uneasy cast of wanted men, cartel-killers, and lost souls through four interlocking tales as they travel a path of intoxication, lust, and spontaneous violence from New Orleans to Egypt City, Florida, and back again.” Four issues by screenwriter Barry Gifford (Lost Highway, Wild at Heart) and writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood) with artists Brian Level (Poison Ivy), Alexandre Tefenkgi (The Good Asian), Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place), and more, beginning in March.
• Akǫgun, Brutalizer of Gods: “In the tradition of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Thor, and the best-selling God of War franchise, superstars-in-the-making Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande — the creative duo behind I Am Iron Man and Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood — usher in a new epoch of African dark fantasy on the ancient continent of Alkebulan with a mythic cycle of cosmic destiny and unrelenting warfare colliding man against god… and blade against blade! Told across three powerfully oversized chapters, steady your mind and spirit for a glorious new comics milestone revealing the fabled origin and battle-tested fury of...  Akǫgun: Brutalizer of Gods!” Three issues by Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande, beginning in April.

A gallery of artwork from the new series can be seen below.

of

Caption

Attribution

In a statement about ONI 2024, president and publisher Hunter Gorinson said, “we’re setting out to redouble the mission that has made Oni one of the most innovative and influential publishers of the past quarter century: to produce utterly distinctive, wholly unrestrained, and singularly provocative series by creators with a relentless passion to make stories that can’t be told in any other medium. These are maximalist comics made for maximum impact, with stories and formats specifically tailored to allow creators to do their best and most daring work.” 

Editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn added, “The first semester of ONI 2024 delivers something for every reader, with stories that are rooted in genre, but twist and turn and deliver new ideas from a delightful cast of established and up-and-coming storytellers. Is it 2024 yet?!"

More information about these titles — and perhaps teases about future ONI 2024 titles — will be revealed at Saturday’s Oni Press: Class of 2024 panel at New York Comic Con, in room 406.2. Gorinson and Hahn will both be present, alongside creators Olivia Cuartero-Briggs, Melissa Flores, Matt Lesniewski, Jarrett Melendez, Emmet Nahil, Jordan Thomas, Zac Thompson, and LySandra Vuong.

Want to read more about the new direction behind Oni Press? Hunter Gorinson and Sierra Hahn explain a lot more in an exclusive interview with Popverse.