What should be in my "ultimate" collection of graphic novels?

[Talysia]

For graphic novels, I'd definitely include some manga, too. Anything by Masamune Shirow - Ghost in the Shell, Dominion, Appleseed or Black Magic.
Hmm, other than that, I'd say The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and art by Yoshitaka Amano. Lots of beautiful art and a beautiful storyline based on an old Japanese tale.

 

[Pointfinder]

Check out The Hedge Night (DDP) written by GRR Martin, its great.

 

[Archimedes]

Lone Wolf and Cub and Sin City - Watchmen too

 

[crumvacker]

Jimmy Corrigan (Chris Ware)
Maus (Art Spiegelman)
Ghost World (Daniel Clowes)

 

[Alienweirdo]

Watchmen and DKR are obvious choices, even though they are undeniably brilliant. Th e great thing about batman is there are so many other great stories about; Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum, Long Halloween, Year One, Dark Victory, Hush, Knightfall, No Man's Land, Face the Face are all exceptional.

For Marvel, i'm surprised no one has mentioned Marvel Secret Wars, the classic one not the new one. a true clash of the titans across the Marvel universe, it introduced the Beyonder as well as the Alien Symbiote that would soon become the popular character Venom.

Moon Knight the Bottom has just come out, and its excellent, both visually and storywise. He may be described as a Batman rip-off, but who cares when the book is this good?

I strongly recommend Hellboy, seriously i can't stress it enough. Mike Mignola reminded me why i love comics again. the artwork is unique, and the stories are entertaining and the humour is dry.

i'll post more when i can remember more

 

[DeepThought]

The Sandman, Neil Gaiman
Watchmen, Allan Moore
V for Vendetta
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Preacher, [SIZE=-1]Garth Ennis[/SIZE]
Fables, Bill Willingham
Transmetropolitan, [SIZE=-1]Warren Ellis
Ghost in the Shell, [/SIZE]Masamune Shirow
[SIZE=-1]Akira, [/SIZE]Katsuhiro Otomo
[SIZE=-1]
Cheer's, DeepThought
[/SIZE]