Omaha, the Cat Dancer

Reed Waller and Kate Worley drew and wrote a wonderful, erotic/adults-only, anthropomorphic, dramatic soap opera.  Too bad their lives turned out equally turbulent, with both their relationship and the comic coming to an abrupt end in 1995.

The collected versions -- well worth collecting -- are available from various second-hand sources.

Starman

James Robinson took a Golden Age also-ran and turned it into a fabulous study of heroism, family, villainy, self-discovery, and good stuff like that.  He drew on his own imagination, and the richness of the DC Universe, to make something truly wonderful.

Preacher

Garth Ennis' irreverent take on religion and self-discovery.  Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher with a dark past, becomes the host for a spirit born of both Heaven and Hell -- a spirit that even God fears.  Jesse deals with an oddball cast of friends and villains (some one and the same) that only Ennis could dream up.  And for all its venom, it remains, ultimately, an uplifting story about the human spirit and its ability to handle anything that either Heaven or Hell can throw at it.

Sandman

Neil Gaiman has become a comics icon right next to Stan Lee.  His reputation, no matter how much occasionally lampooned, is deserved.  If he never produced another comic beyond his Sandman series, he would still have lifted comics to a new level.  Mythic and personal at the same time, this long-running series described the life and family and world of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, an Immortal being whose human passions eventually lead to his demise.  Neat stuff that a single paragraph cannot convey.

The series is collected in hardcover and trade paperback.  Buy them.  Give them as gifts.

Leave It to Chance

James Robinson and Paul Smith developed a book that everyone said was great for girls, not to mention kids in general -- and fun for adults, too. Nancy Drew meets Kolchak, the Night Stalker. Chance Falconer is the adventuresome daughter of her city's mystic protector.  She figures she's ready to learn the family trade, but he disagrees.  Hilarity and adventure ensued for 12 issues.

Hepcats

Martin Wagner took a collegiate comic strip and turned it into a detailed, moving adult adventure.  Unfortunately either he was not up to the task for long, or else the readership wasn't (stories vary).  Issue 13 never was published, and Wagner quit the business.  

Ironwood

Bill Willingham is another one of those writer-artists I love, but who seems to run into difficulties with schedules and production.  Be that as it may, Ironwood was a wondeful (and graphic) erotic romp through a fantasy realm.  Willingham has a wicked sense of humor, fun characters, and a good eye for detail (though he says the thrill of writing a sexually explicit work wore off quickly).