Shi: Before the Way of the Warrior

 

Shi: Before the Way of the Warrior

Shi: Senryaku, Shi: Year of the Dragon.

We start with 2 miniseries that tell stories of Ana’s adventures before she became Shi.

Senryaku was a three part miniseries with 36 short stories from Ana’s youth and training illustrating the 36 stratagems of the art of war.  The stories bop around in time, so you get a story set when Ana is 6, to one at age 17, then 13, followed by a story with no date clues.  These are paired with gorgeous artworks of adult Shi in action by some of the best artists in the business.

I had the original 1990s three issue comic but I picked up the 2023 Omnibus which separates the text from the art and it looks amazing.  It’s a cool experiment and worth reading as an insight into Shi and to look at the beautiful artwork (the Omnibus is worth getting for the virgin art as well as some extra artwork)  When I bough the omnibus, the guy at the comic store warned me that it was not a comic story and asked several times if I was sure.  I explained that I had the original editions so I knew what I was getting.

 

Year of the Dragon is an actual three issue comic set in 1988.  It retells a couple of the stories from Senryaku but makes changes.  Ana is 18 years old and Tucci is wearing some of his influences on his sleeve with much of the artwork inspired by Patrick Nagel. The story features an 18 year old Ana going out into the world and hanging with the wrong people and not following either the Christian faith or the Way of the Warrior.  It’s a good prequel that shows Ana rejecting the call before embracing her destiny.

Dimension Hopping 

Next up we have what I like to call “the dimension hopping saga” of Cyblade/Shi & Shi/Cyblade, Funnytime Features, Lethargic Comics, Lethargic Lad, Gen 13, Shattered Image and Weirdsville.  (these all take place after Razor Annual #1/ Razor Shi Special)

It starts in Cyblade/Shi with Ana encountering Cyblade of Cyberforce in a cross company crossover with Witchblade making her first appearance.  It’s a slightly more fantastic story than the relatively grounded Way of the Warrior, with robot shock troopers and ends in a cliffhanger of an explosion.

In Shi/Cyblade, we discover that the explosion seems to have sent the two women into another dimension where they encounter a large number of independent comic book characters.  Toto we are not in Kansas anymore, and it’s a completely bonkers story -  to the point I wonder what the planning meetings between the two publishers was like.

Both Funnytime Features and Lethargic Lad had part one of their story run as a back up feature in Shi Way of the Warrior (6 & 7 respectively) and part 2 in their own title.  Both have Shi interacting with wacky characters in their own worlds.

Shi appears in a brief cameo in Gen 13 #13C, helping Grunge fight off a team of bad girls. Another cameo in Shattered Image #4 telling members of Cyberforce that they could join her as an independent, and that she had met their teammate Cyblade.

Our final cameo, has Shi appear in the main character’s cupboard in Weirdsville #5.

Most of these are fun stories but don’t really add anything much to Shi mythos as a whole and can be skipped. 

Grifter/Shi & Horseman

And Shi is back in reality, teaming up with Grifter from WildC.A.T.S to stop an attack on America on the 50^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. It’s a good action piece that pairs Ana with a man who worked with her father. 

Horseman follows directly on from the events of Grifter/Shi and has Ana meeting an immortal Korean horseman.  The Horseman would later appear in his own series. 

One thing I love is the fact that the independent smaller publishers all seem to be happy to allow the crossovers between their series as well as giving each other a forum to debut new characters.  The Horseman debuted in Shi, Shi debuted in Razor and Razor in Sade.

 Both set up Ana's career as Shi before Way of the Warrior #1.

Shi Remixing the Warrior

 

Tomoe, Shiseiji, Reikishi, the Illustrated Warrior (and a movie that never was

One of the things I mentioned in my look at Way  of the Warrior (WOTW) was how Tucci and the Crusade team grew more confident in their story telling.  At the time issues 5 -8 of Way of the Warrior were being published, Crusade released the crossover /parallel story of Tomoe is told in issues 0 to 3 with Shi #6 and Tomoe #1 being the same story with the issue being published with the two covers Tomoe #1 and Shi #6 and the parallel stories converging again with Shi Vs Tomoe one shot that sits between issues 8 and 9 of Shi WOTW.

Tomoe then encounters Witchblade again between issues 9 and 10 of WOTW.

Do you need to read the Tomoe comics to understand what is happening in WOTW?  I’d say except for Shi Vs Tomoe you don’t need to read those comics to follow the story but they enrich your reading of those comics telling us what Tomoe is doing.

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Shiseiji is where we see the Manga influence appear and we get a story told in Manga style (read back to front) with Manga influenced art that explores the unnamed illegitimate son of Ana’s nemesis Arashi hunting Shi and discovering that she is Ana. The battle between him and Shi does not end well for the bastard.  Even unluckier is the meeting with Tomoe.

The story opens with the events of issue 1 of WotW and finishes between issues 9 and 10. I liked the side story that tells us what happened in between issues.

(The Manga influence also appeared in Shi ½ from Wizard Entertainment -also known as Manga Shi ½ and the Manga Shi 2000 miniseries.  More on these later.)

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Rekishi is a two issue retelling/summary of Way of the Warrior from the point of view of Detective Joe LaBianca which nicely summarises Way of the Warrior   . 

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Shi: Illustrated Warrior was published in 2002, a prose retelling of Way of the Warrior by Caig Shaw Gardner.  I initially wondered if it was intended to be the novelisation of the Shi film that never happened. After some research it turns out that the novelisation was just the Way of Warrior comic and independent of the movie – but I presume that there may have been some plans for synergy with the novel and the movie coming out at the same or similar times.

The art is beautiful and Gardner stays fairly close to the events of both Way of the Warrior and Tomoe.  One change is that Gardner inconsistently swaps the races of Ana’s parents so her father is the Caucasian American and her mother is Japanese.  Her mother is still a devout Catholic but it makes for an odd read with the clash of cultures seemingly reduced by the change and undercut by the seeming forgetting of which parent is which race.

 

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Shi: The Motion Picture  – it’s unclear what happened to the movie – Franchise Pictures and Crusade Entertainment released a Cannes Film Festival Preview edition in 1999.

Tia Carrere was both producing (with her husband) and starring in the film.  I could speculate as Carrere and her husband divorced in 2000, Franchise had released Battlefield Earth which had lost a lot of money and lead to a lawsuit against the company at that time. (Franchise’s model is interesting – take passion projects stuck in studio limbo, negotiate reduced salaries for the stars to lower costs and get the film made. There were successes The Art of War starring Wesley Snipes, The Whole Nine Yards starring Bruce Willis)

The Cannes preview gives some script pages and some story boards – the movie seems to be adding new characters and costumes as well as keeping the overall battle between Shi and Arashi.

In interviews I’ve seen Billy Tucci say that Ming Na Wen was at least in talks for Tomoe and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa for Arashi.  More’s the pity that we never got this movie.

Shi Way of the Warrior 1-12 (Crusade Comics)

 

So this is the tale that William Tucci wanted to tell.  The appearance in Razor Annual was just to get the character out there but Shi really came to life in this maxi-series.

It’s here that we meet Ana Ishikawa and her quest to find the man who killed her father and brother – Arashi. 

After the wrapping up of this story, the saga of Shi took a few different directions but this war against the Yakuza story forms the heart of Shi’s story. More than the physical battle, there is a moral battle, Ana is raised Catholic and trained as a Sohei with warring philosophies about violence, an internal battle, the battle between duty and honour. 

Part of the pleasure of this reread is to see the growth of Billy Tucci as both a writer and artist over the years.

The story opens with Shi killing the attackers of a policewoman and witnessing Arashi murder a homeless man. 

The police are shown to be competent, with Peter Denyse and his partner Joe Labianca investigating these Shi killings in New York.  Bodies are piling up and Tucci introduces Shi’s frenemy Tomoe Gozan, in flashback in issue #4 and in the present in #5.

Tomoe is from a rival ninja clan and is hired by Arashi to take out Shi and this takes up a portion of the plot as the pair battle not realising their secret identities.  Interestingly, Tucci then runs a four issue Tomoe miniseries that runs parallel to the story in Shi with Shi #6 also serving as Tomoe #1  and a Shi vs Tomoe special taking place between Shi Issues #8 and #9 and this is part of the growth of Tucci as a writer in that reading just Shi makes sense but adding in the Tomoe material enriches what happens in the story (having said that #9 does feel like a cheat as we are told of the battle between the two women, which we see in Shi vs Tomoe).

The contrast between the two women is highlighted in issues #9-#10 where Tomoe has adopted the role of Shi and how her methodology differs to her friend.

That battle between duty and honour, goes beyond Shi and her struggle between being a Sohei and a Christian, we see it with Tomoe and her reaction to fighting her friend, Peter Denyse’s conflict between the law and justice, even Arashi has his own inner battle.  This last one leads to an unexpected conclusion.

Shi: Way of the Warrior is more than comic about a hot chick killing people and that’s why it is rated so highly in many list of Bad Girl Comics.  Interestingly in an interview in Wizard #56, Tucci says that he doesn’t see her as part of the bad girl movement -  I see where he comes from.  But I think that Shi is part of that movement, Shi utilises the same inspirations as other bad girls but the difference comes from the fact that Tucci had a story to tell, not creating a comic to chase the trend, these characters like Shi, like Lady Death have survived and grown because they were their own thing they didn’t want to be the next Wonder Woman, the next Wolverine they wanted to be the first Shi and blaze a trail.  That legacy can be seen 30 years later with new Shi comics comic out today.  All because of this 12 issue maxi series.

Razor Shi

 

For the longest time I thought that there were two Razor Shi crossovers – Shi’s first appearance in Razor Annual #1 (1993) and a sequel that appeared in Razor and Shi Special (1994) and I was kinda right and kinda wrong.

Razor Annual #1 has the story Death Watch over 18 pages (pages 2-19) and the story is to be continued.

 The Razor and Shi Special reprints those original 18 pages and an additional 6 pages making a complete 24 page story. 

So, kinda right and kinda wrong – there’s no text explaining this anywhere in the Razor and Shi Special.  I had the Special for ages and spent forever tracking down a reasonably priced copy of Razor Annual #1 only to find that I already had the story. A little annoying.

But let’s look at the story itself.  It opens with a young runaway on the streets of Queen City at 4am.  The runaway is flirting with a couple of gang members, who decide that they’d rather beat up the young girl.

Razor attacks the pair to protect the girl and in the ensuing scuffle Razor is shot and more gang members appear.

The Balls gang members chase Razor and she escapes into an abandoned building, which she discovers is the headquarters of the gang.

Razor prepares herself for the final stand when an Asian woman with her face painted white appears with a katana and throwing darts and defends Razor.

There is a scuffle and Razor pulls out some flash-bangs and the pair start their assault.  Razo refers to Shi as “China Doll.” Shi decapitates a guy.

This is where the story ends in the annual, a cool action shot with our two heroines in action.

The story continues with the pair killing the rest of the gang members.  Shi offers to tend to Razor’s wounds but Razor tells her she can look after herself.

The pair talk and Shi introduces herself as Shi, which means … DEATH! With a skull reflected in her eye. (great panel)

Razor says “Hey China Doll, thanks for saving my life.”  Shi replies that Razor is welcome and Shi is Japanese. 

The story ends with Razor realising that she is not alone and Shi is a friend.

It’s a simple story that shows us what Razor and Shi are about.

From what I could gather this annual was published in December 1993 between issues 4 and 5 of the regular Razor series.  Razor appeared in issue 0 in July 1991 and the first issue appeared in October 1992 and subsequent issues appearing quarterly.

As a Shi fan, her actions here feel a little out of character.  Also in her first two panels (pages 12 and 13 of the story), Shi has a grey circle around her right eye (it’s a black and white comic), which disappears for the rest of the story.

The soon to be published Shi: Gatecrasher revives Billy Tucci’s original concept for Shi was a character named Ran (Japanese for Rebellion) who had a red circle over her right eye exactly like the one seen in those first panels. 

It’s crazy how late in the process that Shi’s appearance and attitude wasn’t fully locked down.  We don’t even find out her name until Shi #1 (later retitled Shi: Way of the Warrior) in March 1994.  The Razor and Shi Special was published in July 1994.

This is an interesting introduction to Shi that certainly makes me want to know more about both Razor and Shi.  Interestingly Razor and Shi never cross paths again but both would go onto have many crossovers. 

It’s a solid start for Billy Tucci in both art and writing it’s a simple story but it’s well told.  With the exception of Ran becoming Shi – all characters stay on model and are easy to identify.  It’s not perfect but it’s clear that Tucci has talent and one of the joys of this reread is to see his growth as both a writer and artist and his ability to work with other creatives. 

The Great Comic Reread: Shi

Recently I finished collecting all the Shi Comics (well almost, I still have one Lethargic Lad crossover and the Shi CGI preview to find but neither are important to the story of Shi) and then of course Billy Tucci then announces more comics specifically Shi: Gatecasher and a crossover/team-up with La Muerta (another character I collect who also has a number of similarities to Shi)  - so I figure it’s time to read the complete Shi in preparation for these new releases.

Shi is the story of Ana Ishikawa, a young woman whose father and brother were murdered by the Yakuza when she was a girl.  She was trained as a Sohei warrior monk by her paternal grandfather – an unpopular move among his brethren not only because of her gender but the fact that she is half American and a Christian.   Now Shi is trying to take revenge against the man who killed her family and is now a high ranking member of the Yakuza in America.

It's a simple plot (some would say the oldest - revenge) and the interplay between the deadliness of her martial arts and her Christian beliefs make for some interesting tension. Which forms the first series Shi (later subtitled Way of the Warrior)

And then it gets more complicated and the range of stories quickly widens with demons, super-soldiers, werewolves, and kitsune all coming into play.  Shi also became a legacy character appearing in the 12th Century, the 17th Century, World War Two and a dystopian manga future.

Shi also was one of the poster girls for the Bad Girl Art movement in the 90s (a label Tucci doesn’t like) with characters like Razor, Lady Death and Witchblade, featuring strong female comic book characters with cheesecake art, anti-heroines often battling supernatural threats. 

Shi appeared 130 odd issues across 50 miniseries and one shots published by several publishers – London Night, Crusade, Image, Dark Horse, Avatar. 

It’s fascinating Shi made her debut in a Razor annual and that Tucci seems to operate on the idea that a rising tide lifts all ships and Shi appears in multiple crossovers with other independent characters like Grifter, Cyblade (a crossover that introduced the Witchblade), the Horseman, Lethargic Lad, Eenie Weenie Comics, War of Independents, Ash, Jetta, Fallen Angel, Vampirella as well as Marvel characters like Daredevil and Wolverine.

I really enjoyed the adventures of Shi and it was interesting that Tucci and his fellow writers have built a comprehensive and mostly cohesive history for the character.  I am looking forward to the new adventures to see where they will go.

Let’s explore the world of Shi over the next few posts.

The Soldier Legacy's Strange Tales: Night of the Warrior (2013) Chris Sequera and Paul Mason Black House

This story originally appeared as a back up feature in Sherlock Holmes; Dark Detective issue 7-9.

I've spoken before about The Soldier Legacy on this blog and how much I love that series.  This back up really opens up the universe of that series.

This story is set in 1887 before the events of the first Nikola book A Bid for Fortune.  in this story Nikola is hunting for a green opal set in a ring. It turns out that the man in possession of the ring, Jack Smeight, is responsible for the death of a friend of the current Soldier Legacy and we see Nikola and The Soldier Legacy battle over the ring's bearer.

It turns out that the ring has mystical properties - it is the Lifestone of Cantong and when Smeight kills a man it makes him stronger and he is able to overpower Nikola and Soldier Legacy.

In the end, Smeight is defeated and Nikola hands the ring over to Soldier Legacy for sale to benefit the family of Smeight's original victim. Nikola rejects the ring while it may prolong the life it steals the intellect.

Sequeria and Mason give us a Nikola who is an honourable man with hypnotic abilities, in a story that foreshadows many of the events in the Nikola books.  I read this before reading the Nikola books and I enjoyed it but rereading it after the Nikola books the story is that much richer as I picked up on the small hints that the pair dropped.

Mason's artwork is top notch and the 1887 Soldier Legacy is clearly similar to the designs seen in the WW2 and modern day Soldier Legacies seen in Mason's book yet is unique enough that this is a different man (unlike the various incarnations of Shi from that comic series)   I really like his Doctor Nikola drawings)

The Great Comics Reread: Shi

I honestly cannot remember why I started piking up Shi.  Hell, I can't remember the first one I grabbed but over the years I've managed to collect a stack of comics about 15cm (6in) high.

Rereading the comics I found it a little frustrating -  due to variant covers I've managed to acquire quite a few duplicate copies of the same comic.  Also the reading order was problematic as there is actually several different characters called Shi.  There is the ancient Shi from 1600's Japan Yuri Ishikawa called Toro no Shi (Tiger of Death), a WWII era Shi who first appeared in Shi East Wind Rain as an  "imaginary" version of the modern Shi and the modern Shi Ana Ishikawa and it is not always clear which version the story is about.  For example Toro No Shi appears in Poisoned Paradise but it is modern Shi who is drawn on the cover.  Toro No Shi and modern Shi both appear in parallel stories in Heaven and Earth.

(I have to add a gripe about cross company crossovers being in two parts such as Daredevil/Shi #1 and Shi/Daredevil #1 how am I supposed to know the correct order for them.)

Adding to the confusion, the first Shi story Way of the Warrior has been retold twice, firstly in a two issue miniseries Rekishi by Christopher Golden and in the four issue novelisation Shi; The Illustrated Warrior by Craig Shaw Gardner. (although it was handy in filling in the gaps in my run of Way of The Warrior)

The stories start off in traditional vigilante fashion with 10 year old Ana Ishikawa witnessing the death of her father and brother at the hands of a Yakuza chieftan Arashi.  Ana is then trained by her grandfather as a samurai and eventually she seeks revenge against Arashi.  For the most part Way of The Warrior is grounded in reality.

From there the story expands adding supernatural elements such as Oni (demons) and Kitsune (fox spirits) as well as super science such as time travel.

However, I did enjoy the stories and fact that the series could change from a fuedal war between rival clans to a battle with Oni.

While Ana has a Japanese name and training, her mother was American and raised her as a Christian and many of the stories deal with Christianity.  The Tora No Shi stories deal with the persecution of early Japanese Christians.

All of the Shi books I read have interesting stories and lovely art.  I'll have to keep my eye out for more Shi stories.

I found Shi-Through The Ashes to be an especially moving story with Ana caught in the World Trade Centre during the events of 9/11.  Ana never appears as Shi in the story (she does in the artwork) which made the events all the more powerful - Ana for all her training was overwhealmed by the events of that day and the firefighters are presented as true heroes.