As we noted the other day, Sam Kusek departed his job as Senior Outreach Lead for Comics at Kickstarter, but he hinted at a new job in comics. And now we know where he’s landed: at Oni Press as Director of Business Development.
In this new position, Kusek will oversee Oni’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.
It’s yet another significant hire for Oni’s executive team. Before he joined Kickstarter, Kusek was a Special Projects Manager for Boom!, overseeing some of their biggest crowdfunding campaigns. He also worked with Tiny Onion as Operations Manager. And at Kickstarter he helped launched more than 1,200 comic book and graphic novel campaigns — all while running his own company Cave of Monsters Games, a boutique tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) publisher.
Like most comcis publishers, Oni is moving more into crowdfunding – last year a Murder Drones graphic novel campaign grossed more than $1.8 million, making it Kickstarter’s #4 highest grossing comics campaign of all time
“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 in a statement. “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.”
“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 in his own statement. “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!”
Those big plans include Oni’s reimagined line of Archie Comics, their acquisition of Matt Kindt’s Flux House imprint, and many high profile projects inclding Patrick Horvath’s Free for All; FIRST FREEDOM: THE STORY OF OPAL LEE AND JUNETEENTH by Angélique Roché, Alvin Epps, Bex Glendining, ands Millicent Monroe; and GENDER QUEER: THE ANNOTATED EDITION by Maia Kobabe.
And doubtless many surprises to come. Some of which will be revealed in February at ComicsPRO.
