Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Oni Press | Tagged: karl bollers, Megan Brown

Oni Press Adds New Hires From Marvel Comics, IDW, Valiant & Bad Idea

Oni Press is naming seven new hires ahead of NYCC and is also announcing a number of internal promotions for the comic book publisher.

Oni has been on something of a hiring spree of late, following the appointment of President & Publisher Hunter Gorinson and Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn earlier this year. In February, the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher announced the appointment of former Third Eye Comics General Manager Michael Torma as Senior Sales Manager. Last month, Spencer Simpson, former Director of Marketing and Sales for DC Comics and Boom Studios, joined Oni as Vice President of Sales. And today, Oni is following it up with seven new hires with names from  Marvel, IDW, Valiant, Bad Idea and more throughout the company's editorial, operations, production, and administrative divisions. It is also following up with a number of promotions.

• Karl Bollers (Marvel, Valiant and Bad Idea editor) and Megan Brown (IDW Originals, Editor) have been hired by Oni Press as Editors.
• Andy McElliott has joined the company as Operations Manager.
• Winston Gambro, indie comics creator including Haunted House: A Love Story, has been hired by Oni Press as Graphic Designer.
• Matt Harding, former Black Mask and Madefire designer, has been hired by Oni Press as Pre-Press Technician
• Chris Robinson, Marvel editor and editor of the All-Negro Comics revival on Kickstarter has been hired by Oni Press as Consulting Editor
• Kaia Rokke has been hired by Oni Press as Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Additionally, the company has also promoted a number of current staff members.

• Twelve-year Oni veteran Troy Look has been promoted to Vice President of Publishing Services
• Seven-year Oni veteran Angie Knowles has been promoted to Director of Production & Design
• Film and TV executive Jeremy Colfer has been promoted to Director of Development
• Six-year Oni and Lion Forge veteran Grace Scheipeter (Sheets, Chef's Kiss) has been promoted to Senior Editor
• Bess Pallares (Rick and Morty, Invasive, I Feel Awful Thanks) has been promoted to Senior Editor
• Former Image Comics graphic designer Carey Soucy has been promoted to Senior Graphic Designer
• Four-year Oni Press veteran Sarah "Rocky" Rockwell has been promoted to Senior Graphic Designer
• Ten-year Oni Press veteran and former Logistics Coordinator Jung Hu Lee has been promoted to Assistant Editor
• Sara Harding has been promoted to Executive Coordinator

Oni Press Editor-in-Chief Sierra Hahn tells us "It's tremendously exciting to celebrate the achievements of Oni's dedicated, steadfast team who are making some of the most thoughtful, fun, weird, and brilliant comics and graphic novels out there. Please join us in applauding their work and to welcome our new team members whose own contributions and ideas will surely influence the shape of Oni in the years to come." Will do.

President and Publisher Hunter Gorinson says, "No comic or graphic novel is created in a vacuum, and, at Oni Press, we're blessed to have one of the hardest working, most resourceful, and vastly talented teams anywhere in the industry… It's a pleasure and honor to call our growing, 25-strong team both friends and colleagues, and we're energized to unleash a bevvy of surprises in 2024 and beyond."

Here's more about them:

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 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 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 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 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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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 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.

Over the last 13 years Carey Soucy 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 "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 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.

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 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.

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