SHI: GATECRASHER INDIEGOGO NEARS $55K TO UNLOCK FIRST STRETCH GOAL!
21-Day Campaign Featuring Coffin Comics’ Lady Death and the World’s Greatest Heroes Opens to Record Numbers!
On Sunday, November 18, 1928, at the height of the “Roaring 20’s”, a hysterical piece of magic debuted in movie theatres across the fruited plain… and the world would never be the same.
“To anyone who knows me, is acutely aware of my love of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being an animator for Walt Disney studios.” Stated Shi creator Billy Tucci. “Alas, life took me into a different career direction, but everything happens for a reason, and I’ve finally come full circle and fulfilled my dream of drawing Mickey and Minnie.”
Tucci is referring to his Shi: Gatecrasher “Everybody Charleston” variant cover featuring Mickey, Minnie, Walt Disney’s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and another “mystery” public domain character which will be revealed on January 1, 2025.
Below is the de-evolution of Tucci’s “Everybody Charleston” cover artwork. Starting with Gatecrasher colorist’s Brian Miller’s celebration colors, to you can see the cover’s Tucci’s pencils and inks and the rough design sketch. The original art for the rough is included in Crusade Comics’ premium Gatecrasher perk which entails all 60-pages of Tucci’s original black and white Gatecrasher art.
Crusade Comics’ 10th Indiegogo, Shi: Gatecrasher’s opening weekend launch was by far the indie publishers biggest campaign to date, garnering total returns just shy of $55,000.00 and clearing 1,000% of its flexible funding goal. The 48-page, full-color, original graphic novel, which launched Friday, November 15, 2024, on crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo. Once the campaign clears $55K, the first stretch goal reward, expanding Gatecrasher from 48 to 56 pages will be unlocked for all backers.
Based on the Story by writer J.C. Vaughn and Tucci, and illustrated by Tucci, Leandro Oliveira, Hi-Fi Colour Design, with lettering by Mindy Lopkin,Shi: Gatecrasher is literally the “destroy all monsters” of comic book characters as Ana “Shi” Ishikawa finds herself trapped in comic book time where she must battle her way through all the decades, genres and trends of comics.
Crusade is also preparing a myriad of unique perks and stretch goal rewards. The campaign will boast many specials, prints, original art and limited variant covers by Tucci along with comic book greats, Stan Sakai, Renie Strychalski, Art Thibert and superstar Rob Liefeld.
Shi: Gatecrasher Indiegogo Campaign closes Thursday, December 5th, 2024, and will also be launching on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with its own exclusive campaign on January 15, 2025.
Join Comics’ Superstars Aaron Lopresti, Andy Smith, Art Thibert, Billy Tucci, Dan Fraga and Graham Nolan on “The Brofessionals” LIVE on The PopXP YouTube channel tonight for an entertaining discussion on the ins and outs of public domain comic and cartoon characters. The Bro’s will also introduce their latest “comic hunts” and what funny books they have their eyes on!
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 contributed to the Eisner Award Winning, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds and Love Is Love. Billy has also earned the prestigious Diamond Comics Gem Award and his DC Comics’ graphic novel, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, was awarded the Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal. The Lost Battalion featured 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 Icon for Dynamite Comics. His Crusade Comics has recently released a series of new Shi graphic novels, Return of the Warrior, Haikyo, and Sakura. Crusade as also released the collected editions Shi: Omnibus Vol. 1, Shi: Senryaku Omnibus, Shi: Way of the Warrior Original Art Edition and Shi: Gatecrasher via Kickstarter and Indiegogo uniting backers from over fifty countries and bringing Crusade Comics’ crowdfunding campaign totals to over $1,500,000.00.