American Yakuza - Acts 1-4 of Our Japanese Murder-Mystery!
Xavier seeks a killer, Masashi craves the American Dream, and Kyomi wants justice—but in Japan’s yakuza underworld, surviving comes first...
Check out our LATEST Kickstart project LIVE NOW!
🌸 AMERICAN YAKUZA – ACT IV 🌸
The penultimate issue of our gripping Japanese murder-mystery is here. Act V is around the corner, so we're nearing the end—and everything is on fire. (Literally and figuratively.)
What Is American Yakuza?
From the shadows of neon-soaked streets to the bloodlines of old crime families, American Yakuza is a noir-infused murder mystery drenched in culture, betrayal, and brutal beauty. Created by Charlie McElvy, Anthony Stokes, and Chris Moses, and brought to life with stunning visual storytelling, this is a saga that’s equal parts Yakuza video game energy and prestige TV pacing.
Our story follows Xavier, a retired American MMA champion who arrives in Japan searching for answers about a friend's death—and finds himself entangled in the deadly politics of a crumbling yakuza dynasty. Each act has pushed him deeper into the spider's web, and now...well, something's gotta give.
🫵🏽 Why You Should Back Act IV 🫵🏽
Act IV is the turning point. The alliances are unstable. The enemies are many. And nobody walks away unscathed.
We’re diving into the final beats of this first series, with only one more chapter to go before we close the curtain on this world-spanning epic. Expect jaw-dropping reveals, character-defining choices, and moments that will have you yelling at the page (in the best way).
But don’t worry—we’re keeping this campaign description spoiler-free for newcomers. If you are new to the series, you can catch up with Acts I-III (available as part of this campaign), and if you’ve been here since the beginning… you already know it’s about to get wild.
What Makes American Yakuza Different?
A multicultural crime drama with authentic Japanese influence and bold, modern storytelling
Complex characters navigating loyalty, legacy, and revenge
Cinematic visuals that leap off the page
High emotional stakes and hard-hitting action in every issue
A fully realized world, meticulously crafted across five acts—and almost complete!
📕 Cover Art 🎨
🪙 NEW COIN DROP 🪙
🎯 Why We're Crowdfunding 💰
We’re coming to you to help us print, produce, and distribute Act IV—and to ensure this story reaches the epic conclusion it deserves. With your support, we’ll finish strong, and reward our Backers with exclusive extras, stretch goals, and a front-row seat to the finale. The book's script and line art are complete and paid for already.
👤 MEET THE AMERICAN YAKUZA SQUAD 👤
🥷🏾 Anthony Stokes is a screenwriter turned comic book creator whose output in the last few years has included such thought-provoking works as Intrusive Thoughts, Decay, The Exorcist Club (w/ Chris Moses), Prescription Paradise, and more!
🥷🏾 Chris Moses is co-writer, and founder of Red Sea Comics. He writes and kickstarts titles such as I Summoned a Demon and She’s Kinda My Type, The Exorcist Club, CTRL+Z and more!
This dope dynamic duo of deftness are co-writing and co-creating this series with Xion Studios bighead Charlie McElvy.
🥷🏾 Italian art sensation Damiano Restivo lays down his cinematic line work for all 100 pages of our story. A consummate professional, recent art school grad, and a terrific artist & storyteller, Damiano's work is as nostalgic and classic as it is edgy and fresh.
🥷🏾 John Rauch, or simply 'John', is an industry veteran with scores of titles padding his resume, including a long stint on Robert Kirkman's Invincible as well as books for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, IDW, and more...! John has worked on Xion Studios projects since 2008 in various capacities. This is the first full-length series debut for John's palette on our books. Expect a digitally painted cover variant in the coming campaigns.
🥷🏾 Taylor Esposito is a Ringo Award-winning lettering artist whose wordslinging talents have graced such comicbook titles as Space Ghost, Flash Gordon, The Worst Dudes, No One Left to Fight, A Death in the Family: Robin Lives! from DC Comics, and more...! This uber-talented letterer is as skilled as he is prolific. And he's gracing our book with his craftsmaship!
🥷🏾 Charlie McElvy is the founder & publisher of Xion Studios and Blind Squirrel Comics. The head writer and co-creator of all of the Xion Universe (Nightcare and Stray, notwithstanding), this is his first fully-collaborative writing project and he knows he couldn't have chosen a better group of humans with which to work.
五 Join Us As We Wrap Up Act V 五
This campaign isn’t just about printing another issue—it’s about getting you one step closer to the final chapter. The final act. THE TRUTH. Damiano has already handed in the Act V pencils & inks, and we've handed the color chores over to John to get started.
So if you’ve been waiting to jump in, now’s the time. And if you’ve been riding with us since Act I—thank you. You’re the heart of this story.
🗡️ One family. One betrayal. One last shot. 🗡️
