...Completely self contained, a rattling good read, and choc-full of references for the comic geek.

Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun - simply excellent anti-war war adventure story. They genuinely don't make them lie this anymore

right now is Wednesday Comics - printed newspaper size and on similar paper its a weekly collection of one page strips by the cream of comics - Mike Allred, Brian Azzarello, Paul Pope, Joe Kubert, Neil Gaiman- featuring the best DC heroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman... and some slightly more left field choices - Metal Men, Metamorpho etc. It's meant to remind the (American) reader of the comics section in their Sunday papers. There's been three (of twelve) so far and they are magnificent - they'll give you that silver age buzz if that's what you're after.

nuff said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisibles

and "Transmetropolitan" ~ Warren Ellis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmetropolitan

I also loved this series too

"Shade: The Changing Man" ~ Peter Milligan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shade,_the_Changing_Man#Peter_Milligan_and_...

Well worth a go

Second the Invisibles! It's one of the best works of fiction ever written, in my opinion. Although it takes a few readings to fully reveal it's glory.

Grant Morrison's run on "Doom Patrol" is a refreshing take on the superhero team that has some great story arcs and dark humour.

Of course, Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series is an obvious one when talking about great comic books, but bears mentioning, nonetheless.

And pretty much anything written by Alan Moore is worth a look.

for a Roger Mellie retrospective!

For a couple of years in the mid-to-late 80's I was an avid reader of Oink!

http://www.toonhound.com/oink.htm

Roy Race
Hotshot Hamish
Mighty Mouse
Billy's Boots

I would wait by the letterbox for each issue...

I recommend visiting your local public libraries and borrowing your way through their graphic novel sections. You can't go wrong. Try something new. You've paid for it. If a book's in the graphic novel section because that's the nearest classification they have, even better.

"Charley's War" is excellent and "Transmetropolitan" is fun. I like Spider Jerusalem's gonzo gizmos. I'm still a fan of Daniel Clowes's work after twenty years. If you're into comics history there are plenty of 500-page collections of old strips. I prefer the genre compilations to the superhero stuff.

You could also revisit childhood favourites from an adult's perspective. My local library has a lot of Asterix. I worked through them in chronological order because, if nothing else, I could look out for the point the creators lost their spark. It took a surprisingly long time. They still made me laugh.