Tag: Magnetic Press

Oni Press moves to Penguin Random House for comics, book distribution

The new deal will kick off in August.

Oni Press and Penguin Random House have announced that Oni will move all of their comics and book distribution to Penguin Random House beginning in August.

This includes Oni’s frontlist and backlist trade books, as well as single issue comics “across all sales channels worldwide,’ including the direct market. Oni Press is currently using Lunar Distribution for comics distribution, who they began working with back in 2021.

“There is simply no better partner than Penguin Random House in maintaining and growing Oni’s longstanding relationship with retailers and readers,” said David Steward II, Chairman of the Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group. “As the gold standard for both book market and direct market distribution, we’re proud to partner with PRHPS to increase the reach for Oni’s distinguished, award-winning library and hit the ground running in support of what is sure to be the company’s most formidable line-up of new releases across our long history.”

The deal also includes their sister publisher, Magnetic Press, whose graphic novels they began distributing last year and is now an imprint of Oni Press.

Smash Pages Q&A | Magnetic Press publisher Mike Kennedy on bringing ‘Freaks Squeele’ to America

The publisher launches all seven volumes of Florent Maudoux’s acclaimed series on Kickstarter.

Magnetic Press has been building a distinctive catalog of internationally acclaimed graphic novels since 2013. With 31 Eisner Award nominations and a win for Best Production Design in 2024, publisher Mike Kennedy has proven there’s a market in the U.S. for stories from Europe. Now Magnetic is taking on one of its most ambitious projects yet: the complete seven-volume saga of Florent Maudoux’s Freaks Squeele, a manga-inspired superhero series that’s been captivating readers around the world since 2008.

Described as “Jujutsu Kaisen meets X-Men by way of Scott Pilgrim,” Freaks Squeele follows three misfit students at a superhero university where heroism is a regulated profession and deadly tournaments are broadcast for public consumption. The Kickstarter campaign launches all seven volumes at once, featuring 1,000 pages of story — plus an exclusive artbook and a limited edition “dorm footlocker” storage box.

We caught up with Kennedy to talk about what drew Magnetic Press to Freaks Squeele, how the publisher approaches translating international works and why European comics continue to offer something American readers can’t find anywhere else.

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