My Deal With the Devil*
This week, I started working with Oni Press
I was 17 years old when I first heard of Oni Press. The Portland-based publisher had just rolled out Clerks. (The Comic Book) and my love for the work of Kevin Smith meant I took an interest in this publisher I’d never heard of, and who was suddenly delivering a new dose of the View Askewniverse.
In the years to come, Oni would become the home to a number of groundbreaking original titles, including Scott Pilgrim, Whiteout, and Sixth Gun, while continuing to have a strong presence in the licensed comics market with titles like Invader Zim and later, Rick and Morty. At any given time since 1998, I have had at least at least one or two Oni titles on my pull list, and with the recent relaunch of the EC brand as an arm of the publisher, they’ve been as much on my radar as any other giant nerd’s.
Last week, just before writing my piece thanking all of the people who had been so kind and supportive following my October layoff, I started working as a freelance copywriter for Oni Press. I’m not writing comic books and my job isn’t public-facing, but I’ll be writing stuff that you’ll probably read (assuming you’re reading Oni books), and will share some of it publicly when and if I’m allowed to call it out.
I’m very excited to be working with Oni. I’ve known President and Publisher Hunter Gorinson for years, and have never had a bad word to say about him. Everyone I have met there so far has been delightful, and Daniel Crary, with whom I’m working most closely, has been incredibly patient about me asking a new question every thirty seconds.
Having had kind of a crazy week on the family side of things (nothing terribly serious, but a lot of chaos), I haven’t done a ton of work there yet. I’m going to be spending some time today and tomorrow knocking out a little to-do list. That said, it’s been very exciting to start a new gig after so many years in the same place. There are some challenges at Oni that I’m very excited to tackle, and I’m happy and proud to be part of bringing cool things to the audience. That is what I have been saying I wanted to do over the course of the last few months, and it’s one of the governing principles behind ECV Analog.
Also! Making money on a freelance basis allows me to commit more time to ECV Analog and my books, because my schedule is going to be much more forgiving than it was when I had a salary and was expected to be sitting at my computer for 8 specific hours a day.
More news coming soon. In the meantime, go read some comics.
Since I’ve been very bad about doing this before now, here’s a batch of links to my existing books, which presumably make great holiday gifts if you are lucky enough to know somebody in one of these niche fandoms:
Best Movie Ever: An Oral History of Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont’s Josie and the Pussycats
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/best-movie-ever-russ-burlingame/1140177148?ean=9798988311720
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Best-Movie-Ever/Russ-Burlingame/9798988311720?id=9340900023696
https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311720
The Gold Exchange: The Unofficial Booster Gold Companion
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gold-exchange-russ-burlingame/1143464630?ean=9798988311737
https://bookshop.org/book/9798988311737
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Gold-Exchange/Russ-Burlingame/9798988311737?id=9340900023696
A Legend In His Own Time: A Fast-Forward Guide to the Greatest Hero You’ve Never Heard Of (with Kevin Allen)
Getting the Fin Right: The Collected Savage Dragon Interviews vol. 1 (with Gavin Higginbotham)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/getting-the-fin-right-russ-burlingame/1146574344?ean=9798988311744
I'm so excited for you and this new opportunity. Congratulations!