Just in time for the 10th anniversary of Billy Tucci’s highly evocative original mini-series, Shi: The Way of the Warrior, Ana Ishikawa – better known as Shi – is back! The avenging angel torn between two ways of life returns in Shi: Ju-Nen, a brand new limited series from Dark Horse Comics.
Ten years have passed since Tucci first introduced us to the shadow war, which has raged for hundreds of years between the warrior monks of the Kyoto and Nara Sohei, direct descendants of Japan’s greatest samurai. It was in that series that we met Ana Ishikawa, who set out on the path of revenge but found herself lost in a sea of conflict, much of it within her own soul.
Things have changed in the last decade. Ana Ishikawa returns to her native Japan where she desperately tries to avert an all out war between the secretive sects of the Kyoto and Nara Sohei. And with the Narans on the verge of annihilation, the Kyoto Sohei are about to rub it in-with the encouragement of the Yakuza and with potentially disastrous consequences. Once again, Ana in the guise of Death Incarnate will take up the naginata and don her grandfather’s Kabuki face paint in order to save both cities, even if it means turning to her father’s murderer Masahiro Arashi to do so.
“Aside from producing the best work of my career, my main goal with “Shi: Ju-Nen” was to create a gripping storyline that would also serve as a jumping off point for new readers,” commented Shi creator Billy Tucci. ” 2004 marks 10 wonderful years for both Ana Ishikawa and myself, and couldn’t think of a better home than Dark Horse to afford Shi’s readers (both old and new) the production values and content quality they deserve.”
Shi: Ju-Nen features fantastic storytelling and art by Billy Tucci! Issue one of this four part series arrives April 14 with a retail price of $2.99.
