JOIN BILLY TUCCI AS HE ILLUSTRATES THE SHI: GATECRASHER COVER LIVE TODAY!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION WITH BILLY TUCCI LIVE ON YOUTUBE HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/live/MiMes9gAldg?feature=share

GATECRASHER ASHCAN EDITION ADDED TO THE “ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD!”IS NOW LIVE ON INDIEGOGO!

Campaign Can Be Found Here:

https://igg.me/at/c3aQ-F8SUGw/x/20487910#/

Crusade Comics’ sixth Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead launched this past weekend and already nears its flexible $15,000.00 funding goal. 2019’s Zombie-Sama was co-creators Billy Tucci and John Broglia’s very first foray into crowdfunding Dorm of the Dead and it featured the Ashcan Edition to Crusade’s follow up campaign, Shi: Return of the Warrior. Dorm of the Dead’s campaign continues the tradition of debuting Crusade’s next project with the Shi: Gatecrasher Ashcan Edition.

“For every new campaign, we offer a preview perk of a future crowdfunding project.” Stated Tucci. Shi: Gatecrasher, will debut Summer which will be complete before launch and this is our first creative salvo!”

The 24-page B/W, Shi: Gatecrasher Ashcan Edition features word-balloon-less artwork by Tucci and script pages by writer J.C. Vaughn. Ashcan comics are unique to other books as they are printed in limited quantities and give readers an insight into the creative process of making a graphic novel by showcasing original pencil art and the writer’s full script pages that are given to the artist.

The cover features Tucci’s iconic Ana Ishikawa, standing alongside Billy’s original conception of Gētokīpā, the character who would eventually evolve into the blockbuster indie sensation, Shi.

Shi-creator Billy Tucci’s pencil rough for the Shi: Gatecrasher Ashcan Edition

EPIC 104-PAGE ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD

All 104-pages of art and lettering are complete for Dorm of the Dead as are most of the colors. Final colors are scheduled for March 15th, and Zombie-Sama will immediately go to press for production. Campaign and fulfillment will be lightning quick and the Indiegogo “indemand” stage will be short as Crusade prepares to launch the massive Shi: Senryaku Omnibus in May 2023. 

In addition to Broglia’s Indiegogo Exclusive, Crusade Comics is offering stunning limited-edition variant covers by guest superstar artists, Irene Strychalski (Fiendish) and Dan Mendoza (Zombie Tramp). 

The campaign also offers Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin. Priced at just $21.00 US, this limited one-shot special edition takes place during the dark days after the zombie apocalypse as Jim Okami searches for the answers that just what triggered it… only to learn the terrifying truth that changes his destiny forever.

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Indiegogo Can Be Found Here:

https://igg.me/at/c3aQ-F8SUGw/x/20487910#/

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Kickstarter Exclusive Launches Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

#StayAlive

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 Icon for 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

“ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD!”IS NOW LIVE ON INDIEGOGO!

Campaign Can Be Found Here:

https://igg.me/at/c3aQ-F8SUGw/x/20487910#/

EPIC 104-PAGE ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD HAS LAUNCHED AND CLOSES IN ON GOAL ON FIRST DAY! 

Crusade Comics’ sixth Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead launched this past weekend and already nears its flexible $15,000.00 funding goal. 2019’s Zombie-Sama was co-creators Billy Tucci and John Broglia’s very first foray into crowdfunding and in just 24 hours Dorm of the Dead has already topped one-third of the original campaign’s seven-month total returns.

“Everyone on #TeamZS has been working so hard these past few months, (in John Broglia’s case, YEARS), to bring you the most entertaining and thought provoking post-apocalyptic, comic book blood-fest ever.” Stated Tucci. “We want to thank all our backers who came out and supported our “little zombie book that could”.

All 104 pages of art and lettering are complete for Dorm of the Dead as are most of the colors. Final colors are scheduled for March 15th, and Zombie-Sama will immediately go to press for production. Campaign and fulfillment will be lightning quick and the Indiegogo “indemand” stage will be short as Crusade prepares to launch the massive Shi: Senryaku Omnibus in May 2023.

In addition to Broglia’s Indiegogo Exclusive, Crusade Comics is offering stunning limited-edition variant covers by guest superstar artists, Irene Strychalski (Fiendish) and Dan Mendoza (Zombie Tramp). Co-Creator Billy Tucci supplies the premiere Hardcover Edition while also making available the ashcan edition to his next original Shi graphic novel, Shi: Gatecrasher.

The campaign also offers Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin.Priced at just $21.00 US, this limited one-shot special edition takes place during the dark days after the zombie apocalypse as Jim Okami searches for the answers that just what triggered it… only to learn the terrifying truth that changes his destiny forever.

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Indiegogo Can Be Found Here:

https://igg.me/at/c3aQ-F8SUGw/x/20487910#/

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Kickstarter Exclusive Launches Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

#StayAlive

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

Billy and Deborah Tucci

“ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD” LAUNCHES TODAY! 2/25/23!

PRE-LAUNCH PAGE IS NOW LIVE – CAMPAIGN GOES LIVE AT 2PM ET!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombie-sama-dorm-of-the-dead-indiegogo-exclusive/coming_soon/x/20487910

Kickstarter Exclusive Campaign Launches, Wednesday March 8, 2023!

(Baby Bodhi Wishing Dharma Doll Is All Ready For Today’s Launch!)

EXCLUSIVE EDITIONS AND SPECIALS OFFERED:

Zombie-Sama: Indiegogo Exclusive Edition!

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Hardcover Edition Artwork!

 EPIC 104-PAGE, FULL-COLOR, ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD IS ONE FOR THE AGES! 

The world has survived the pandemic. Students have returned to college where their unleashed out-of-control, teenage hormones trigger the zombie apocalypse! Co-Creators Billy Tucci and John Broglia return with this EPIC 104-Page, Full-Color graphic novel chock full of cataclysmic horror!

  • Lots of Stretch Goals In the pipe!
  • Premium-formatted hardcover edition (with cover art by Billy Tucci).
  • The special Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin limited Edition comic by John Broglia!
  • The Ashcan Edition to Billy Tucci’s upcoming Shi: Gatecrasher Graphic Novel!
  • And much, much MORE!

So please sign up for Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead. You won’t regret it and it just might save your life!

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 Icon for 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

“ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD” LAUNCHES TOMORROW, SATURDAY 2/25/23

PRE-LAUNCH PAGE IS NOW LIVE – PLEASE SIGN UP TODAY!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombie-sama-dorm-of-the-dead-indiegogo-exclusive/coming_soon/x/20487910

SPECIAL EDTIONS OFFERED:

ZOMBIE-SAMA: WINTER RONIN AND SHI: GATECRASHER ASHCAN!

Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin One-Shot Special Cover!

 Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin is stand-alone one-shot B/W comic that delves into all the missing action between Zombie-Sama and Dorm of the Dead!

Shi: Gatecrasher Ashcan Promotional Artwork

Shi: Gatecrasher Original Graphic Novel by Billy Tucci and J.C. Vaughn launching Summer 2023!

 EPIC 104-PAGE, FULL-COLOR, ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD IS ONE FOR THE AGES! 

The world has survived the pandemic. Students have returned to college where their unleashed out-of-control, teenage hormones trigger the zombie apocalypse! Co-Creators Billy Tucci and John Broglia return with this EPIC 104-Page, Full-Color graphic novel chock full of cataclysmic horror!

  • Lots of Stretch Goals In the pipe!
  • Premium-formatted hardcover edition (with cover art by Billy Tucci).
  • The special Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin limited Edition comic by John Broglia!
  • The Ashcan Edition to Billy Tucci’s upcoming Shi: Gatecrasher Graphic Novel!
  • And much, much MORE!

So please sign up for Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead. You won’t regret it and it just might save your life!

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 Icon for 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

 

A Reiver’s Descendent In Heart, Mind and Blood

By 

William W. Elliott-Tucci

There I was…

Signing books in London about seven years ago. I am a comic book writer, artist, and self-publisher by trade and along with several other “Yanks”, was a guest for a huge annual “comic con” in the “swinging city”.  It was here that a very friendly gentleman, (an Armstrong) introduced himself and struck up a conversation. “I read the article in the Times about you being of English descent and how excited you were to visit the land of your ancestors.” He stated. I told him that indeed, I was born William Walter Elliott Jr. My birth father tragically died just months before my birth and upon my mother remarrying a few years later was adopted by my stepfather, (hence my last name being “Tucci”). We talked about me knowing that my great-grand parents and their children immigrated over from England and even though I’ve never had any contact with that side of the family, am proud to be half English (my mother being of Sicilian descent). 

The man apologized for hearing of my father’s passing and me being estranged from that side of the family. He then said, “Well, I hate to disappoint you, but you’re not English. You’re Scottish.” 

I again reiterated my family’s journey from the UK and even how through www.ancestry.com I was able to trace my family back to the mid-1600s and they were from Shropshire and worked the industrial areas of “The Black Country.” Armstrong agreed that much he was sure was true, but with them being Elliotts’, originally migrated down from Scotland after 1600 and more specifically the border regions of Scotland. He informed me that the Elliot’s were very infamous “Reivers”. Being a “fellow borderer”, himself, Armstrong was very adamant about this. I had never heard of a borderer nor a reiver, but even to this day he and I were “allies” and I was intrigued by that!

To be honest, this blew my mind as I had always adorned everything Scottish. I even joked with my wife all those years ago, that I wanted myself and my groomsmen to wear kilts for our wedding. She wasn’t having any of that, as “you’re half Italian and half English, not Scottish!”

Armstrong and I exchanged addresses and a few weeks later I received an amazing handwritten letter by him and the gift of George MacDonald Fraser’s The Steel Bonnets. I read it with great interest and regaled in the tales of the Armstrongs, Kerrs and yes, Elliots, but knew that facts are facts and the only Scottish lineage I could ever hold would be in spirt.

Fast forward to Christmas before last and my family gifting me Ancestry.com’s DNA kit. Well wouldn’t know it, turns out that I am indeed of Scottish descent…

31% actually! My mother’s side is all Italian (with 3% Greek) while my father’s has an additional 10% Irish and 8% England & Northwestern Europe and 1% Wales. Now this DNA seems to fluctuate a bit here and there. My initial results had my Scottish lineage at 24%, (there is a hysterical “DNA unveiling” with my wife, son and I with film/TV star Thomas Lennon on YouTube), but there’s no doubt that a sizable swath of my heritage is indeed Caledonian. Of course, the first thing I did was re-read The Steel Bonnets (now with greater interest) and begin search Elliot Clan history. 

A New Revelation…

In the past few weeks, I’ve since reconnected with Walter, a childhood friend of my birth father. Now 84 year’s young, Walter too reached out to me via www.ancestry.com as he’s been trying to find me for decades. My paternal grandmother passed away in 1990 and before her death charged him in the event of his ever finding me, to give me all their cherished family photos. It is a painful story about me never seeing them once my mother remarried (I was two-years old), as she wanted me to be raised with her new married name, “Tucci”.  I was the last of the Elliotts, and that my mother would take that away from my grandparents so soon after losing their son was incredibly cruel and it broke their hearts. I learned that my great grandfather and grandfather both passed away within four years of my birth and just how much they all adored me, and prayed daily for me. I learned that the Elliott’s were truly amazing people, who were artists, raced cars, served in the US and UK Armies during both World Wars and were even vaudeville stars. 

My mother has had a very hard life, but she did tell me of my true birth father when I was in high school. I know it was a stress on her as I was so different from my siblings. She did manage to raise six children on her own (my stepfather passed away a few years after they married) and is herself now 84. My wife as you can imagine, is furious with her for taking me away from the Elliotts’, (especially since my mother lost a son to a drunk driver when he was just 17), but to me, despite all that I have missed in life not knowing my paternal family, feel that being angry with my mother today would just add more negativity and open old wounds to an already sad story. I have a tremendous life and want for nothing but health and happiness for my wife and our children.  

On a high note, my wife loves the Elliott name, which she prefers to “Tucci’ (the name I was raised with) and has given in to me wearing the tartan kilt. She accompanied me (looking striking in her Elliot tartan sash and Clan brooch) to our first Burns Night Celebration in New York City and gets a kick out of my new obsession. I’ve yet to inform her that I’ll be ordering a set of more appropriate lowland Elliot trews. My sons have also found pride in their once-unknown heritage connection with my oldest is even getting a tattoo of the clan crest.

My newly found “Uncle Walter” will be sending me the dozens of photos he’s saved all these years. I can never thank him enough for his incredibly noble and fifty-plus year quest to reunite a family and to change not only my life, but that of my wife and children.

So now you know the story of a 55-year-old man happily having his heart filled of a lifelong void and knowing there is no doubt that he truly is of Scottish descent, a lowlander of the great riding clans.

I am an Elliott, and one who will forever be a proud borderer… no longer just in spirit, but also in blood.

Fortiter Et Recte!

Billy

About William W. Elliott-Tucci

Believing he was of English heritage his entire life, award-winning comic book writer/artist and publisher William W. Elliott-Tucci (born William W. Elliott Jr.) was first made aware of his Scottish lineage by a “fellow borderer” in London a few years back. Ancestry DNA testing confirmed this in 2022 when “Billy” found out he was 31% Scottish (with 10% Irish and 8% England & Northwestern Europe). The cartoonist is best known for his modern-day samurai saga Shi, which debuted in 1994. Through his publishing house, Crusade Fine Arts, Shi has been printed in five languages and has seen more than 3 million comic books in print worldwide. In addition to his own creations, the graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology has earned prestigious awards and nominations for DC Comics’ Batman, Harley Quinn, and Sgt. Rock. 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 and earning a Five-Doves rating from the Faith and Family Focused dove.org. Billy’s critically acclaimed Miss Fury: Joy Division saw the return of the Golden Age Icon for Dynamite Comics. He has recently released Shi: Return of the Warrior, Shi: Haikyo, Shi: Sakura, and the Shi: Omnibus Edition with three more Shi graphic novels slated for 2023. Billy lives on Long Island with his wife Deborah and their two sons. He is looking forward to sharing our storied borderer heritage and hopes to connect with and bring together Elliots far and wide into the clan.

CRUSADE COMICS LAUNCHES NEXT INDIEGOGO

February 22, 2023

Bayport, NY 

CRUSADE COMICS LAUNCHES NEXT INDIEGOGO:

“ZOMBIE-SAMA: DORM OF THE DEAD!”

“DORM OF THE DEAD” LAUNCHES SATURDAY 2/25/23

PRE-LAUNCH PAGE IS NOW LIVE – PLEASE SIGN UP!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombie-sama-dorm-of-the-dead-indiegogo-exclusive/coming_soon/x/20487910

Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead Kickstarter Exclusive Launches March 1, 2023.

EPIC 104-PAGE, FULL COLOR DORM OF THE DEAD IS ONE FOR THE AGES! 

The world has survived the pandemic. Students have returned to college where their unleashed out-of-control, teenage hormones trigger the zombie apocalypse! Co-Creators Billy Tucci and John Broglia return with this EPIC 104-Page, Full-Color graphic novel chock full of cataclysmic horror!

VARIANT COVER BY FAN FAVORITE IRENE STRYCHALSKI (FIENDISH!)

VARIANT COVER BY INDIE SUPERSTAR DAN MENDOZA (ZOMBIE TRAMP)

  • Lots of Stretch Goals In the pipe!
  • Premium-formatted hardcover edition (with cover art by Billy Tucci).
  • The special Zombie-Sama: Winter Ronin limited Edition comic by John Broglia!
  • The Ashcan Edition to Billy Tucci’s upcoming Shi: Gatecrasher Graphic Novel!
  • And much, much MORE!

Please sign up for Zombie-Sama: Dorm of the Dead. You won’t regret it and it just might save your life! – 

Shaun Riley (Foree Electric)

Kill em’ all and let the dean sort it out!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zombie-sama-dorm-of-the-dead-indiegogo-exclusive/coming_soon/x/20487910

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 Icon for 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