I recently just finished reading Dark Horse's reprint collection of Koike & Kamimura's "Lady Snowblood" manga. The cover design is a very snappy homage to Tarantino's "Kill Bill" poster design...which is very fitting since the "Lady Snowblood" movie series were a huge inspiration for the "Kill Bill Vol. 1". In fact Lucy Liu's character is Tarantino's reinterpretation of Lady Snowblood.But enough about all those references. This is the series that started it all! Published in Japan from 1972-73, it's a rousing read that celebrates Koike's narrative mix of historical detail and violent fiction. With a deadly female protaganist, Koike explores the fascinating relationship between sexuality and violence. The stories and art are a bit scattered in the first 2 volumes but gets really good in volumes 3 & 4 as Lady Snowblood mission of revenge becomes the focal point of the story.I love Kamimura's interpretation of Lady Snowblood. From the very first page illustrated, he captured the perfect mix of vulnerability, beauty, lust and ferocity. With every panel of Lady Snowblood shown, you can understand how the people of Snowblood's world fall in love with her beauty...and yet there's still that glimmer of bloodlust in her eyes!One of my small quibbles with Kamimura's art is he doesn't render everything in the comics with the same affection and passion he obviously has for Lady Snowblood. Despite all that, it's a read I highly recommend.