CRUSADE COMICS RELEASES LIMITED, REMASTERED, SHI: WAY OF THE WARRIOR #5 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

LIMITED TO UNDER 100 COPIES, BILLY TUCCI’S FAVORITE SHI COMIC OF ALL TIME OFFERED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH WWW.BILLYTUCCI.COMFEATURING SPECIAL “BLACK METAL” EDITION COVER BY THE LEGENDARY MARC SILVESTRI!

Shi: Way Of The Warrior #5 was the comic that launched a small, self-published “hot” title into the stratosphere of historical stand-alone issues. The book literally “turned a page in comics’ history” that spawned a multitude of imitators, including Eidos Interactive’s Tomb Raider. WOTW #5 also garnered much critical acclaim and led Shi towards several mainstream crossovers, (amongst them being Marvel’s Daredevil and Wolverine), action figures, statues, apparel, millions of comics sold and multiple Eisner-Award nods.

The release of Shi #5 was not just critically acclaimed by fans and reviewers alike; it also boasted Crusade Comic’s first “variant cover”, featuring artwork by the legendary Marc Silverstri.

Crusade is offering just four very limited specials of Shi: Way of the Warrior #5 “TUCCI TROOPER EDITIONS” exclusively through www.billytucci.com.

Now, to celebrate its 30th Anniversary, we have recolored and updated Billy’s original cover for this variant. Limited to just 75 numbered issues and signed by Shi-creator Billy Tucci.

The variant’s variant! Celebrating Shi #5 with variant cover by Marc Silvestri (recolored by Wes Hartman), this close-up cover in his iconic style is certainly still a showstopper! Limited to just 75 numbered issuesand signed by Billy Tucci.

The limited “Aqua Foil” edition with foil cover providing flowing colorful effects, reminiscent of moving water, perfect for the theme of this stunning, fan favorite cover by Billy Tucci. Limited to just 30 numbered issues and signed by Billy Tucci.

With actual “ceramic” steel cover, featuring Marc Silvestri’s fantastic Shi face coming out of the glistening darkness, this metal edition is not to be missed! Limited to only 15 numbered issues and signed by Billy Tucci.

The official Crusade Comics webstore is also offering the SHI: Way of the Warrior #5 Print-Pair, ($40.00 US). Featuring the cover prints of both variant covers of Shi #5 by Billy Tucci’s and Marc Silvestri’s. All signed by Billy Tucci.

Join Crusade Comics’ Billy and Deb Tucci LIVE as they debut the very first TUCCI TROOPER EXCLUSIVE, Shi: Way of the Warrior #5 30th Anniversary Special! This limited Edition, 32-page, Full Color, remastered special showcases the Shi comic that launched a small “hot” self-published title into the stratosphere of comics canon, leading to millions of comics sold, awards and mainstream success and crossovers. The Tucci’s will take a page-by-page walk through memory lane revisiting this special edition that changed the face of comics and launched a genre. The pair (with special guests) will also reveal Shi: Gatecrasher finished pages, the new www.billytucci.com website and interact with fans on what they’d like for Shi’s future!

As the first 40 (of 52) pages of Shi: Gatecrasher are now in the color phase, Crusade Comics has opened up the Kickstarter campaign to Late Pledges, offering fans a last chance to grab some very special rewards before the campaign closes.

Shi: Gatecrasher! is a 56-page, full-color, original graphic novel featuring Coffin Comics’ Lady Death, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo and the world’s greatest public domain heroes.

For the first time ever, a Crusade Comics’ Kickstarter has cracked the illustrious, six-figure threshold as Shi: Gatecrasher currently tops $104,000.00. Alongside platform, Indiegogo, the Long Island-based publisher’s 10th crowdfunding dual-beneficiary campaign totals are now fast approaching $211,000.00, making Gatecrasher Crusade’s fastest-paced and seventh-straight original Shi graphic novel to top six-figures.

“We did it!” Exclaimed Shi-creator Billy Tucci. “Thanks to you, Shi: Gatecrasher is total gasoline and Deborah and I want to start by thanking Shi: Gatecrasher’s team of creatives, J.C. Vaughn, Steven Peros, Leandro Oliveira, Brian Miller, Kristy Miller, Mindy Lopkin, Nile Scala, Stan Sakai, Tom Gaadt, Rob Liefeld, Brian Pulido, Irene Strychalski, Wes Hartman, and Brian Blevins for all their wonderful contributions to this incredibly fun project.”Tucci continued, “Thank you Kickstarter, but most importantly, thanks to all our wonderful backers for your faith and support in funding Shi: Gatecrasher. This fellowship has brought us all together and we are humbled by your faith, championing, and support. We are all #TeamShi!”

In Gatecrasher, Ana Ishikawa, (allied with RAN, Shi-creator Billy Tucci’s original concept for SHI) finds herself trapped within comic book time and must battle through a cartoonist’s history to find her way back to her daughter, Hotaru.Starting in 1928, Shi: Gatecrasher takes the reader on an amazing adventure across comics’ incredible decades, trends, and genres. A funny book fantasy that sees Ana and Ran encountering war, westerns, horror, apes, nazis, space vixens, superheroes, romance, robots, dinosaurs, crime, and you guessed it, zombie bad girls!

Based on the Story by Tucci, scripter J.C. Vaughn and editor Steven Peros, Gatecrasher is illustrated by Tucci, Leandro Oliveira, Fred Benes and Brian Miller with lettering by Mindy Lopkin.  Gatecrasher is literally the “destroy all monsters” of comic book character collision!

Gatecrasher features several striking variant covers by comic book greats, Art Thibert, Renie Strychalski and Tucci.

And as a bonus, four-color legends also join #TeamShi with multi-Eisner award winner, Stan Sakai and superstar Rob Liefeld lending their extraordinary talents as they cover Shi for the very first time!

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: Sun Flower 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. Senryaku Omnibus, Shi: Way of the Warrior Original Art Edition via Kickstarter and Indiegogo uniting backers from over fifty countries and bringing Crusade Comics’ crowdfunding campaign totals to over $1,750,000.00.