Just 52 HOURS REMAIN for Shi: Sakura! The Campaign closes Thursday at 8pm EST. Deborah and I will be hosting a YouTube/FB LIVE video closing stream on the PopXP. We hope you will join us for what has become our biggest OGN campaign to date!
If you wouldn’t mind, pledge PLEASE PLEDGE and SHARE the link: http://kck.st/3saO8PG on your social media and with friends. Thank you for your amazing support! #ShiStrong Thank you for the wonderful promo Nile Scala!
$75K STRETCH GOAL: THE GARDENIO LIMA SAKURA COVER TRADING CARD!
NEW REWARD ADDED: THE KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE TRILOGY PACK!
With just six-days remaining to Crusade Comics’ Shi: Sakura Kickstarter, Billy Tucci and crew are offering a new reward, the Return of the Warrior Trilogy Pack. “This is a terrific way for fans to get caught up on the Shi: Renaissance.” Stated Tucci. “Because we’re down to the last of Sakura’s predecessor’s, a handful of lucky backers will get a chance to grab the exclusive editions not only for Sakura, but our past campaigns.”
The Kickstarter Exclusive Trilogy Pack Reward Level includes exclusive variant cover editions of Return of the Warrior, Haikyo, and Sakura. Limited to just 30 sets, and priced at $76.00 US, all physical backers will also receive a FREE Shi: Sakura Digital Edition and a set of all accrued Shi: Sakura Campaign stretch goal items.
A NEW ADD-ON REWARD: THE SHI: HAIKYO GLOW-IN-THE-DARK EDITION!
Crusade is also offering a new add-on reward, the SHI: HAIKYO GLOW-IN-THE DARK COVER EDITION on Kickstarter. Tucci originally wanted Shi: Way of the Warrior #1 to feature a glow-in-the-dark cover back in 1994, but by the time it came to printing, he was notified that the then glow-in-the-dark ink was deemed toxic in the United States. Almost thirty-years later he was able to obtain an environmentally safe substitute and the result is the stunning Shi: Haikyo Edition. The add-on reward is just $40.00 US and will also be available as an Indiegogo perk June 1st.
The Shi: Sakura crowdfunding campaign continues to reach historic proportions with total Indiegogo and Kickstarter #NoFanLeftBehind returns of over $200,000.00 via 2,000 backers.
Shi: Sakura Kickstarter Exclusive Campaign Can Be Found Here:
Shi: Sakura Indiegogo Exclusive Campaign Can Be Found Here:
https://igg.me/at/Shi-Sakura/x#/
SHI: SAKURA!
From New York to Nagasaki, this action-packed, 72-page, full-color, psychological samurai thriller reunites Shi-creator Billy Tucci and writer Steven Peros with artist Gardenio Lima, and colorist Brian Miller.
Upon learning that she is full-blooded Japanese, Ana Ishikawa has unlocked a danger that she’s not prepared for… her birth mother’s wrath that comes in the form of an automaton-like killer, bent on destroying all that she loves.
At the same time, her teenage daughter, Hotaru, having survived the trauma in Shi: Haikyo, is empowered by the experience and succumbs to an inner violent streak with savage repercussions.
The final chapter to the Return of the Warriortrilogy sets the final fiery stage for a samurai showdown of epic proportions at New York’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden that will change Crusade Comics canon forever!
Crusade Comics will also be offering other Shi-related items including original art, prints, shirts, commissions, and special editions, including the ashcan to Crusade’s next great adventure, John Broglia and Billy Tucci’s long-awaited sequel to Zombie-Sama. Zombie-Sama 2: Dorm of the Dead
About Billy Tucci
Inkpot Award recipient Billy Tucci is an cartoonist best known for his modern-day samurai saga Shi, which began with The Way of the Warrior in 1994. Through his company, Crusade Fine Arts, Shi has been printed in five languages and sold more than 3 million comic books. In addition to his own creations, the graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology has earned the prestigious Diamond Comics Gem Award and has been nominated for four Eisner Awards. Billy’s DC Comics’ graphic novel, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, was awarded the Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal for its depiction of the highly decorated, real-life 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was comprised of Japanese-American soldiers. His earnest retelling of the Christmas story in A Child Is Born has quietly turned into an international blockbuster, winning the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award. His critically acclaimed Miss Fury: Joy Division saw the return of the Golden Age Iconfor Dynamite Comics. Billy has recently released Shi: Return of the Warrior, Shi: Haikyo, Shi: Omnibus Edition and Zombie-Sama via Kickstarter and Indiegogo uniting backers from over fifty countries and bringing Crusade Comics’ previous exclusive crowdfunding campaign totals to over $1,000,000.00.
For Additional Information:
Deborah Tucci
Crusade Fine Arts, Ltd.
support@billytucci.com
You can find Billy Tucci on Twitter, Facebook @billytucci and Instagram @billy_tucci
To all our American backers. I hope this Memorial Day weekend brings you beautiful spring weather and time well spent with family and friends. I too look forward to taking some time off, doing yard work, seeing friends, (hopefully seeing “Top Gun 2”) and marching in our local parade. I take great pride in Memorial Day weekend and try to do my best to honor the reason for the holiday and to keep the memories alive of our valiant military men and women who have fallen in combat.
I have taken soil from many battlefields in my lifetime. From Waterloo in Belgium to dropzone of Holland, and the Vosges Mountains and Normandy beaches of France. Stateside, I have visited the wooded hills of Gettysburg and amber prairie of The Little Big Horn, but most importantly, I have visited the fields of white marble dotted with thousands crosses, crescents and Stars of David. Beneath these glistening markers are the remains of so many fallen young men and women. Many of whom, like the Japanese-Americans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Unit had traveled half a world away to fight for another’s freedom while their own families were incarcerated behind barbed wire back home.
Is it fair? Never? Is it worth it? That is probably the hardest question man has ever asked. War truly is the worst of humanity, but when there are evil men in the world, who do monstrous things, good men must uproot their lives and selflessly rise to stop them.
One such man, I’d like to believe was my great, great uncle, Pvt. Thomas Henry Elliott, who like many men of his generation went to war and never came home.
I learned of him through Ancestry.com as there he stands in my family tree, eternally young. My uncle was an infantryman (as I would become myself 74 years later), but he did not fight for the United States of America. No, my uncle was a British soldier who fought the Germans as a “Tommy” in the 1st Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. According to Ancestry, here he is leading a squad of men at the front. Even though he was just a Private, at 32 years, he was older than most. It’s easy to see how an older man, would take the young soldiers (some as young as 17) under his wing and act more like a father than a brother to them.
For those who have seen the documentaries or films such as “1917”, you can get a small sense of the carnage and slaughter that was the Western Front of “The Great War.” An muddy, disgusting world of pain and death that so many, many young men were forced to go “over the top” and through the gates of hell known appropriately as “No man’s land.”
Before this week, my uncle was really nothing more that a mere photograph on an internet website.
I had mentioned my uncle to a wonderful friend, Ayse. Many of you know Ayse from her wonderful comics, Charlie’s London . Ayse and her amazing husband Yan, were visiting France to pay their respects for Ayse’s Great, Great Grandfather who too was killed in “The Great War”. I had given Ayse my uncle’s name and she was able to actually find his burial sight. After visiting Ayse’s grandfather’s grave, she and Yan took a ride to the Department du Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais Cemetery and found my uncle’s grave.
They had purchased a cross and wrote a note that his sacrifice will never be forgotten by his American cousin. Words can never, ever express my appreciation to Ayse and Yan for doing something so noble, so loving to a man they’ve never met in person, but that is just the kind of people they are. The kind of people who hold honor and sacrifice atop the pedestal as we all should.
Good people.
Memorial Day is not a day to celebrate. It is not a day for gift-giving, but my dear friends gave me an amazing gift that will be cherished for the rest of my days.
The gift of remembrance.
So thank you, Ayse and Yan and thank you to all those who gave their Tomorrow’s so we could have our Today.
My uncle was killed in action, 12 August 1918, France and Flanders. I was born some 48 years later the day after.
He will be eternally young, and he will never be forgotten.
You’ve marveled at Gardenio Lima’s incredible artwork on Shi: Return of the Warrior, Haikyo and now, by far his best Shi work to date, Sakura!
Gardenio is my art-partner on Shi. An amazing young man who brings his extraordinary drafting skills to the Shi Renaissance and I could not be happier working with a finer artist. Gardenio is constantly bringing my rough pencils to life and crafting some of the most beautiful Shi pages of all time.
Gardenio’s always loved drawing. He was born in the countryside of Brazil, and his only to comics when he met Ed Benes in 2007. After that Gardenio started studying and soon improved in the production of illustration and pinups. But his true passion was always passionate comics. Gardenio became a ardent student of the craft, studying pages from so many other professionals. Two years ago, I came upon several of his beautiful pages, and hired him to do my “finishes”, a sort of inking through pencils. I’ve been using the pencil-to-digital color technique since 1995 and love the uniquely watercolor look to the final pages.
I think Gardenio and I form an incredible team, and his sense of design and layouts have improved many of my original panels and the result is simply awe-inspiring.
It is truly an honor working alongside such an amazing young talent and I am so happy to share Gardenio’s work with you all!
I do not want to give away too much, but here’s a sample: (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shi-sakura-graphic-novel-indiegogo-exclusive/x/20487910#/updates/19) of Gardenio’s black and white illustration before being colored by Brian Miller.
SO NOW IT’S TIME TO UNLOCK YOUR INDIEGOGO $140K STRETCH GOAL: GARDENIO LIMA SAKURA COVER TRADING CARD!
Thus far Six Stretch Goals have been unlocked and are FREE to all backers who have pledged for a physical-tier perk. They include:
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 56-pages to 64-pages.
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 64-pages to 72-pages.
Shi: Kuroi Hana 5” Vinyl Sticker.
Shi: Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card.
Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Trading Cards.
Asha Kishna Sakura Cover Trading Card.
Again, thank you all for your amazing support. Let’s smash that $140K Stretch Goal!
In its first thirty-five days, Crusade Comics’ Shi: Sakura #NoFanLeftBehind crowdfunding campaign continues to reach historic proportions with total Indiegogo and Kickstarter returns of over $200K via 2,000 backers.
Newest Stretch Goal Announced: The Gardenio Lima Cover Trading Card!
Thus far several Stretch Goals have been unlocked and are FREE to all backers who have pledged for a physical-tier perk. They include:
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 56-pages to 64-pages.
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 64-pages to 72-pages.
Shi: Kuroi Hana 5” Vinyl Sticker.
Shi: Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card.
Shi: Kick-To-The-Face Bookmark.
Asha Kishna Sakura Trading Card.
FINAL EIGHT DAYS TO BACK ON KICKSTARTER
The Indiegogo Exclusive Campaign will remain “indemand” IGG store-mode until fulfillment, allowing backers the freedom to order Shi: Sakura into the summer. Kickstarter, however, has no such option and once the campaign ends on June 3, 2022, all pledging will be closed.
Shi: Sakura Kickstarter Exclusive Campaign Can Be Found Here:
Shi: Sakura Indiegogo Exclusive Campaign Can Be Found Here:
https://igg.me/at/Shi-Sakura/x#/
Both platforms have limited graphic novel editions exclusive to their particular patrons.
SHI: SAKURA!
From New York to Nagasaki, this action-packed, 72-page, full-color, psychological samurai thriller reunites Shi-creator Billy Tucci and writer Steven Peros with artist Gardenio Lima, and colorist Brian Miller.
Upon learning that she is full-blooded Japanese, Ana Ishikawa has unlocked a danger that she’s not prepared for… her birth mother’s wrath that comes in the form of an automaton-like killer, bent on destroying all that she loves.
At the same time, her teenage daughter, Hotaru, having survived the trauma in Shi: Haikyo, is empowered by the experience and succumbs to an inner violent streak with savage repercussions.
The final chapter to the Return of the Warriortrilogy sets the final fiery stage for a samurai showdown of epic proportions at New York’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden that will change Crusade Comics canon forever!
Crusade Comics will also be offering other Shi-related items including original art, prints, shirts, commissions, and special editions, including the ashcan to Crusade’s next great adventure, John Broglia and Billy Tucci’s long-awaited sequel to Zombie-Sama. Zombie-Sama 2: Dorm of the Dead
About Billy Tucci
Inkpot Award recipient Billy Tucci is a cartoonist best known for his modern-day samurai saga Shi. Through his company, Crusade Fine Arts, Shi has been printed in five languages and sold more than 3 million comic books. The graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology has earned the prestigious Diamond Comics Gem Award and has been nominated for four Eisner Awards. In addition to his own creations, Billy’s DC Comics’ graphic novel, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, was awarded the Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal for its depiction of the real-life 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was comprised of Japanese-American soldiers. His earnest retelling of the Christmas story in A Child Is Born has quietly turned into an international blockbuster, winning the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award. Billy’s critically acclaimed Miss Fury: Joy Division saw the return of the Golden Age Iconfor Dynamite Comics. Billy has recently released Shi: Return of the Warrior, Shi: Haikyo, Shi: Omnibus Edition and Zombie-Sama via Kickstarter and Indiegogo uniting backers from over fifty countries and bringing Crusade Comics’ crowdfunding campaign totals to over $1,000,000.00.
For Additional Information:
Deborah Tucci
Crusade Fine Arts, Ltd.
support@billytucci.com
You can find Billy Tucci on Twitter, Facebook @billytucci and Instagram @billy_tucci
Shi: Sakura surpasses 700 backers and is now over $65,000.00! To put the campaign’s incredible momentum (and your amazing faith and support) into perspective, its predecessor, Shi: Haikyo‘s total backer count was 720 and earnings, $43K!
Again, THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL 700 BACKERS!
JOIN THE SAKURA KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN HERE: http://kck.st/3saO8PG
Once Sakura ends on June 3, 2022, all pledging will be closed, and I hope that is plenty of time to reach $70K and unlock your next Free Stretch Goal,The Asha Kishna Sakura Trading Card!
Thus far FIVE Stretch Goals have been unlocked and are FREE to all backers who have pledged for a physical-tier perk. They include:
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 56-pages to 64-pages.
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 64-pages to 72-pages.
Shi: Kuroi Hana 5” Vinyl Sticker.
Shi: Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card.
Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Bookmark!
Beautifully illustrated by international superstar Asha Kishna, it fashions Shi as never before in Asha’s uniquely subtle style. Deborah and I were first introduced to Asha at the Dutch Comic Con some year’s back and were simply blown away by her draftsmanship, professionalism, and design. We were honored to have her talents grace a cover to our first Kickstarter comic, Zombie-Sama! and overjoyed that she’s finally sharing her skills on Shi.
With just 10 days remaining, Shi: Sakura now sits for TWO backers away from 700 and over $65,000.00! To put the campaign’s incredible momentum (and your amazing faith and support) into perspective, its predecessor, Shi: Haikyo‘s total backer count was 720 and earnings, $43K (Return of the Warrior garnered an amazing $70K)!
Again, THANK YOU!
Once Sakura ends on June 3, 2022, all pledging will be closed, and I hope that is plenty of time to reach $70K and unlock your next Free Stretch Goal,The Asha Kishna Sakura Trading Card!
The Asha Kishna Sakura Cover Trading Card!
Thus far several Stretch Goals have been unlocked and are FREE to all backers who have pledged for a physical-tier perk. They include:
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 56-pages to 64-pages.
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 64-pages to 72-pages.
Shi: Kuroi Hana 5” Vinyl Sticker.
Shi: Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card.
Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Bookmark – So Close!
Beautifully illustrated by international superstar Asha Kishna, it fashions Shi as never before in Asha’s uniquely subtle style. Deborah and I were first introduced to Asha at the Dutch Comic Con some year’s back and were simply blown away by her draftmanship, professionalism and design. We were honored to have her talents grace a cover to our first Kickstarter comic, Zombie-Sama! and overjoyed that she’s finally sharing her skills on Shi.
Again, DOMO ARIGATO for an incredible campaign! I also want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and well-wishes to our son who had severely broken his collarbone and had to have surgery today. It was successful, he’s in pain, but will be good as new in about six weeks. He appreciates all the support as well.
Will appreciates all the love!
We’ve got lots more Stretch Goal rewards lined up and cannot wait to share them with you.
Shi Sakura is on course to becoming our biggest OGN Kickstarter ever!
SAKURA INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN NOW INDEMAND UNTIL FULFILLMENT!
$140K STRETCH GOAL: GARDENIO LIMA SAKURA COVER TRADING CARD!
Tucci Trooper!
THANK YOU!
Sakura’s Indiegogo launched on April 20th and in just 30 days, you and over 1,300 fellow backers smashed all previous Shi OGN records by bringing the campaign to over $135,000.00. Thanks to an fun, fun close-out stream on Ethan Van Sciver’s youtube channel, Comic Artist’s Pro Secrets and of course your amazing support and faith, Sakura is now on pace to become our biggest OGN Indiegogo ever!
You have earned your Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face and Asha Kishna Trading Cards, now for if we can hit $140,000.00, you will recieve the Gardenio Lima Sakura Cover Trading Card…
Gardenio Lima is my art-partner, who brings his extraordinary drafting skills to the Shi Renaissance and I could not be happier working with a finer artist and storyteller. Gardenio is constantly bringing my rough pencils to life and crafting some of the most beautiful Shi pages of all time. I will highlight Gardenio’s amazing talents in our next update.
Thus far Six Stretch Goals have been unlocked and are FREE to all backers who have pledged for a physical-tier perk. They include:
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 56-pages to 64-pages.
Shi: Sakura Graphic Novel being expanded from 64-pages to 72-pages.
Shi: Kuroi Hana 5” Vinyl Sticker.
Shi: Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card.
Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Trading Cards.
Asha Kishna Trading Card.
Again, DOMO ARIGATO for an incredible campaign! I also want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and well-wishes to our son who had severely broken his collarbone and had to have surgery today. It was successful, he’s in pain, but will be good as new in about six weeks. He appreciates all the support as well, while his poor mother definately needs a drink!
Deborah and I want you all to know that we consider each and everyone of you as a member of #TeamShi. We are humbled by your incredible partnership and know we have the best fans in the world!
We’ve heard you loud and clear and have now made available the 500-page Shi: Omnibus Vol. 1 as an add-on perk. You can get the 5 lb. oversized, hardcover edtion as a physical perk or a digital version. I am so proud of this collection that gathers all Shi/Tomoe issues from 1994-1996, that unleashes so many wonderful memories and emotions.
With just seventeen days remaining, we’re moving ever closer to the $65K Stretch Goal that you all deserve, the Ana Ishikawa Kick To The Face Bookmark!
Again, THANK YOU ALL for an amazing campaign. We’ve got just seventeen days left before the campaign closes, so please SHARE with your friends, family and on social media:
It’s the Final Fourteen Days For The Shi: Sakura Kickstarter And About Time To Meet #TeamShi!SHI: SAKURA PASSES $62,000.00!
KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/3saO8PG
Tucci Trooper!
With just fourteen days left, Sakura is steadily closing in on our $65,000.00 Stretch Goal, The Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Bookmark! We’ve got lots of other Stretch Goals planned to offer in the next two weeks so please stay tuned to these updates where we’ll be highlighting #TeamShi and some of our very limited Rewards!
Thus far you’ve unlocked several Stretch Goals that are FREE to all backers who pledged for a physical reward:
Expanding Sakura from 56 to 64 pages: UNLOCKED!
Expanding Sakura from 64 to 72 pages: UNLOCKED!
Shi: Sakura Firewalk 5″ Vinyl Sticker – UNLOCKED!
The Sakura Hardcover Edition Trading Card: UNLOCKED!
The Ana Ishikawa Kick-To-The-Face Bookmark: LET’S DO THIS!
MEET #TEAMSHI!
In my opinion, Sakura is the greatest Shi OGN to date and I am incredibly proud to be working alongside the the very same group that brought you, Shi: Return of the Warrior and Shi: Haikyo,#TeamShi! Writer Steven Peros, Artist Gardenio Lima, Colorist Brian Miller and Letterer, Mindy Lopkin. They are supplemented by Designer Nile Scala, Edtor’s Jason Odem, and J.C. Vaughn and Producer Brian Blevins. As always, Crusade’s executive director, Deborah Tucci stands ever vigilant in the wings, ensuring the campaign and fulfillment continues to be among the best in the business!
There is something wonderful about working alongside such amazing friends and colleagues. Each has returned for yet another Shi-enstallment and continues to baffle me with their professionalism and love of the story and character.
It truly is an honor.
In the coming updates we’ll be highlighting our creators and giving insight into their backgrounds and show more preview pages of the book!
Thank you and remember, together we are #ShiStrong!
