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.
