Good comics

[Perndog]

So I got into Neil Gaiman's Sandman recently because everything Neil Gaiman does is awesome, and I decided I like the format. But I am afraid of comics in general after reading Protoclown and Max's columns and seeing just how bad the writing can sometimes be. I get the impression that comics fans deal with these things out of love for the characters, or the format, or both, which is cool (I do that with shitty science fiction books), but not for me. I get as many giggles as I need from just reading the synopses on this site.

So I was wondering if anyone can recommend to me some comics (or graphic novels if you like) that are worth reading just because they're written well. Good art is optional.