The twenty-eighth comic: #331 Lady Snowblood
Lady Snowblood was unexpected in several ways. The weird uncomfortable unexpected part for train reading is the nudity that's in every chapter. This, I believe, is because it was first published in a Japanese edition of Playboy. It's not too graphic, but there are several sex scenes in there, often feeling a bit gratuitous.
I knew about the revenge storyline going in, but the focus on that was in a limited number of chapters. While they're entertaining, by the time the revenge killings she makes come up, we can often see her dominate the situation. The better chapters feel like the one where she isn't always in control (or doesn't seem to be) and is surprised. The blackmailing shopkeeper's apprentice is probably the best example of that, set up as a bigger story but not always working out. The erotic ending is weird, but at least a lot of it makes sense in context.
The art is simple and effective. They obviously pay a lot of attention to the erotic elements, but the setting of late nineteenth century Japan gives them more to play with, allowing for a bunch of interesting get ups. It allows gives the setting its own style, playing with innovations and changes in society that were relevant at the time and add more depth to the plot.
It's an odd entity, but the comic works.