Ten's going to be hard, because I haven't read that many, but I do love:

1. The Maxx, Sam Keith - I was completley blown away by the style of this book, and it was one of my first forays into the comic world. When the story shifts to a different character it's not nearly as good, but the first half is amazing.

2. Sin City, Frank Miller

3. Preacher, Garth Ennis

That's all I can think of right now. I know there are others that I really NEED to read. Like all of Alan Moore. And there's a really beautiful-looking one I always admire the cover to and then forget the name of, that looks like it takes place underwater.

1. Watchmen
2. Blankets
3. Arkham Asylum
4. Ruse: Enter the Detective (even if no one else liked it, wah!)
5. Paradise Kiss (just because I love the punk guy with the safty pins)

I know there are more. What are they? Hmm.

Also a nod to The Big Book of Death.

I haven't read enough of the genre to have ten core favorites, but here my top picks:

Fun Home - Alison Bedechel
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Kim Deitch
Pyongyang - Guy Delisle
Jimmy Corrigan:Smartest Kid in the World - Chris Ware

I've been devouring the Fables series lately. I can't even fully explain why. There's something about the concept of fairy tale characters making their way in the contemporary world, threatened by a mysterious Adversary who conquered their homelands, that kept me reading beyond the first cheesy installment Legends in Exile.

I realllllly need to delve further into this graphic novel world -- I've sadly only read one so far: Art Spiegelman's Maus (which, might I add, I adored). For reasons unknown, Maus II is still sitting on my shelf unread (note to self: bump to top of reading list) and I also have Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers which I have flipped through but not read cohesively yet.

SO. Question. What should I try next then? If I like Spiegelman, I would like __________?

If you like Maus you should pick up Marjan Satrapi's Persepolis, which is about a girl growing up in Iran during the revolution.

You might also like Blankets by Craig Thompson or La Perdida by Jessica Abel, neither of which are quite so intense, but both of which are beautifully drawn, well told, touching and profound.

i own Blankets, and while i am a fan of it, i don't really understand the hype everyone seems to place with it. it's cute, i enjoyed it, i'm glad i have it, but i just don't understand the overall profound aspect, you know? not to be disagreeable, i just like discussing these things. ^^

sandman was my first graphic novel collection. i love it as well, though i think it's one of those series you appreciate more at a certain emotional phase in your life.
blue monday is awesome and great fun, as is jinx. right now i'm really into adrian tomine though, summer blond has been one of my top choices for the last few years, and i plan to start the preacher run soon.

hah, sorry this ended up being so long.

Blankets was a big deal for me in part because it was one of the few truly poignant examinations of Christianity I'd ever seen. People I know either fell hard from the flock, or they hated Christianity to begin with, or they are dewy-eyed converts. To see something that shows this very complicated relationship with the religion in a way that's not crazy was intense for me (I had a similar experience with Christianity).

I think the stuff with the girl was good, but the stuff with his brother was what blew my mind.

My Mom actually has both of the Persepolis books and keeps nagging me to read them so I will get on that at some point!

I've heard a lot of good things about Blankets so I just might have to check it out.

I will eventually be reviewing La Perdida. I'm way behind, and it's one of the ones that's giving me fits.

If I like Spiegelman, I would like __________?

Anyone else who came up through RAW.

...unfortunately, not a single name is coming to mind right now. I remember stories, but not artists, from that magazine...

1. V For Vendetta - Alan Moore
2. American Splendor - Harvey Pekar
3. From Hell - Alan Moore
4. Watchmen - Alan Moore
5. Swamp Thing - Alan Moore
6. Transmetropolitan
7. Hellblazer
8. Ghost World - David Clowes
9. Sandman
10. something by R. Crumb

Top ten graphic novels... off the top of my head, so this is subject to revision etc.:

1. Jeff Smith, Bone
2. Garth Ennis, Preacher
3. Neil Gaiman, Sandman
4. Yoshihiro Tatsume, The Push man and Other Stories
5. Yoshihiro Tatsume, Abandon the Old in Tokyo
6. Brian Azzarello, 100 Bullets
7. Alan Moore, Watchmen
8. Renee French, The Ticking
9. Hideshi Hino, River of Hell
10. Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Crap, I totally forgot Sin City. Replace #10 with it...