Oni Press, the Portland, Ore.–based independent comic publisher, has hired Kickstarter veteran Sam Kusek to the company’s management team as director of business development.

In this newly created role, Kusek will oversee the company’s programming and operational strategy for crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter; the growth of Oni’s e-commerce 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.

Kusek most recently served as senior outreach lead for Kickstarter, where he oversaw the launch of more than 1,200 comic book and graphic novel campaigns. Prior to that, Kusek oversaw special projects at Boom! Studios, including crowdfunding-driven pre-order initiatives with partners including Alcon Entertainment, Hasbro, and the Jim Henson Company.

Kickstarter has proven a powerful platform for Oni, which publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, along with periodical comics for such properties as Adventure Time, Choose Your Own Adventure, and Rick and Morty. In October, Oni’s campaign for a graphic novel adaptation of the Murder Drones TV series became the platform’s fourth highest-grossing comic, raising nearly $1.7 million.

Oni is not the only comic publisher to find success leveraging Kickstarter for TV licensing projects—in December, a Swat Kats adaptation led by Massive Publishing cofounder Kevin Roditeli broke the platform’s funding record for a single-issue comic book.

Kusek’s hire tracks with a recent series of transformative changes at Oni, which began after president and publisher Hunter Gorinson took over the press in 2022. In particular, Oni has focused more on interfacing with fans by building up its presence in the direct market, introducing webcomics, and running crowdfunding campaigns.

Highlights of Oni’s 2026 slate include the first installments in a publishing partnership with Archie Comic Publications, three new series under Matt Kindt’s Flux House imprint, and an annotated edition of Maia Kobabe’s 2019 memoir Gender Queer.

“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,” Kusek said in a 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.”