My favourite comics which can be read with just one purchase:
From Hell by Alan Moore - Alan Moore's harrowing and intelligent take upon Jack The Ripper. Beautifully and evocatively told, it is a tome of a book which takes a long time to get through, but never stops being exciting and engaging. It is remarkably well researched, but that doesn't stop it from going down bizzare and conspiracy laden paths. Even the appendix is a great read.
David Boring by Daniel Clowes - Don't read this if you can't handle somewhat depressing stories. A really well told tale about a young man looking for some sort of meaning in the city he lives in. It takes a strange twist in the second half, becoming even more captivating, though certainly no less sad.
The Arrival by Shaun Tan - No words in this one. Just incredible hand-drawn pictures laid out to tell the story of a man arriving in a strange county, full of unfamiliar sites and peoples. Find a copy and flip through it. Breathtakingly beautiful.
Maus by Art Speigelman - One of the most famous alternative graphic novels, it's a haunting and inventive look at the holocaust. Full of humour and fun, despite the often bleak subject matter. It won the Pulitzer Prize, once upon a time.
Zot! by Scott McCloud - This collects all the stories from this 80's comic book. It's a really fun mix of manga and superhero storytelling, which often stops to look at the more down-to-earth aspects of the characters, placing a large focus on their everyday lives, and not just the adventures.
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud - A fun and intelligent take on what makes comics exciting, and why they're worth reading. Told as a comic, it's incredibly engaging. By the same author as
Zot! above
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware - Chris Ware is undoubtedly a genius, and this large and intricate book makes that really clear. Not light reading, this one will mess with your head. Really depressing at times, but hard to put down. As close to something like
Ulysses as comics has yet produced.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel - A remarkable coming of age tale, full of literary references and moving passages. My absolute favourite example of comics as a memoir. It's an enchanting story of a girl growing up, discovering her sexuality, and learning her family's secrets. My mother even liked this, and she can't stand most comics, unless they're
Calvin and Hobbes.
Louis Riel by Chester Brown - A historical comic about a famous Canadian rebel and his attempts to fight the Canadian government. Well researched and told, it's exciting, and even somewhat educational.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - Another memoir/coming of age story, this one about a girl growing up in Iran. Passionate and moving, it was turned into an excellent movie last year.
If you feel like something with multiple collections, Neil Gaiman's
The Sandman is great, and easy to jump into. The Hernandez brothers'
Love and Rockets is also available in collected format and is a great read.
If you want comic strip collections, any book of George Herriman's
Krazy Kat will make for excellent reading.
Alan Moore's
Watchmen and
V for Vendetta are seen as classics these days, and are both good reads. I haven't read
The Killing Joke, but if you were to get it, try to find it in
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore, where it will also include lots of other stories, for the same price.
I've also really enjoyed Frank Miller's take on Batman, in
The Dark Knight Returns and even in
The Dark Knight Strikes Again, butI haven't found myself to enjoy any of his other work, though I haven't read Batman: Year One.
If you ever do feel like buying some comics from the newstands, I highly recommend Captain America and Thor, both of which are easy to jump in to with just one or two trade paperbacks of recent issues, and are being excellently written. Kevin Smith has also started writting a three issue Batman story,
Batman: Cacophony, which looks to be fairly good, based off the first issue.
Oh! And you should check out just about anything by Will Eisner!