Oni Press

Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves 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 now owned soley by Nozemack.

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

Overview
Oni Press used the term "real mainstream," coined by Stephen Holland of the UK comic shop Page 45, 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: thrillers, romances, realistic Drama and so on. 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.

Oni Press publishes few comic books on an ongoing monthly basis - Marc Guggenheim's Resurrection, Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten's Wasteland and, until 2007, Greg Rucka's Queen & Country. 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, 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 & Chuck BB's Black Metal, Hope Larson's Grey Horses, and Greg Rucka's Whiteout: Melt and Queen & Country, with many more receiving nominations.