Christian Ward Signs Exclusive Deal with Oni Press for Three New Creator-Owned Comics
Before Comic-Con kicks off in San Diego later this week, PW can announce that Eisner Award-winning writer/artist Christian Ward (Invisible Kingdom, Batman: City of Madness) has signed an exclusive deal with Oni Press for three new creator-owned books. This deal comes in the wake of Ward and Oni’s successful partnership on the upcoming miniseries The Forever Home, which debuts its first issue in September.
Since his first published work 18 years ago, Ward has worked with almost every major comics publisher. As an artist, he worked on Invisible Kingdom with G. Willow Wilson for Dark Horse (for which he won an Eisner for Best Painter/Digital Artist) and Ody-C with Matt Fraction for Image. More recently, he’s written the Event Horizon prequel and sequel comics for IDW.
But working on The Forever Home with artist Sami Kivelä for Oni Press “just felt very special,” he tells PW.
“I met [Oni Press editor-in-chief] Sierra Hahn a few years back at New York Comic-Con, and it became clear really quickly that we shared a lot of the same sensibilities.” Ward says. “[We do] comics that aren’t exactly the norm, that are just a little bit off-kilter, and reaching for something new. So whenI pitched The Forever Home, which I genuinely think at this point in my career is the best thing I’ve ever done, I knew I wanted to have it at a place where they wouldn’t talk about tweaking this or that, but where they want to support our vision.”
The Forever Home is set in the future, when the Earth has become an apocalyptic wasteland. But genius inventor Henry D’mour has built a safe, secure, and perfect home to protect himself and his family.
Having previously worked with Kivelä on Machine Gun Wizards for Dark Horse, Ward knew that the artist wanted to draw something different—so why not go to the future? Ward has nothing but praise for Kivelä’s art on The Forever Home.
“Sami is a sleeping giant in the industry. He’s not as well-known as he should be. I’m really hoping that The Forever Home is the thing that makes him a name that lots of writers and publishers want to work with,” Ward says.
Although The Forever Home #1 is still a few months away from comics stores, it has been completed—meaning readers won’t have to worry about any delays. The experience was so fruitful that Ward decided to pitch Oni publisher Hunter Gorinson a few more ideas. Gorinson was immediately receptive to all three.
“All three books are very different, but they all feel uniquely Oni. I really dig what they do, I dig their sensibility, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with continuing our professional relationship together and just making lots more comics babies,” Ward says.
He expects the first of the three books to start rolling out in 2027, because “it’s a very ‘now’ idea,” with the other two probably following in 2028. Although Ward is understandably reluctant to tease too many details about these future projects at this moment, he does say “you will be able to get a sense of what a Christian Ward book is. People will be able to pick one up and know ‘I’m going to have a good meal and it’s going to leave me feeling full.’”
Readers can get a taste of the first few pages of issue #1 below before it hits stores on Sept. 9.
