Ok, so I could really use some recomendations on what to read, but before you go shouting out stuff, lemme lay down some stuff for ya.

I am a manga fan studying the great empire of sequential art. I've only recently realised that I need to expand my horrizons past manga and get into somthing new. Thus, two months ago, I purchased my first American comic book. Teen Titans. I decided to go with somthing I knew well. Since then, I've only purchased one thing. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not somthing I'm really farmiliar with, but good. And as I flip through that Teen titans volume earlier today, I realise that I had purchased the very last issue they were to release! Yea, that sucks! I mean, here I am trying to get into this kind of stuff and they cut off the series the second I decide to jump in! i guess I'm lucky that I got an issue at all I suppose.

So what I like. I like Buffy and Teen Titans, oviously. I like the two of them because theres alot of multifaceted characters and the stories have nice flow, Buffy moreso than TT, but I jumped into Buffy in like the middle of the 8th season, so I have no idea where I am. Total fail. But anyway. I like nice, clean, modern drawing styles, none of this buffed out doom and gloom stuff. I also enjoy strong female leads in stories. Its just easier to relate. Oh, and I also like things like mind control and insanity. I watch way too much Heros. Right.

So if I havn't asked too much or scared anyone away with my overblown talking, can you please recomend somthing? I'm desperate to chack out anything, so feel free to say what you like even if you don't think I will : ]

Anyone there?! Recomend, perhaps? I've been on like 4 different sites and no one has really helped me with anything!

Geez, people.
I've been bumming around here for the last day or so and nothing.

Oh, come ON!! Somebody gimme somthing! Anything! Why does everyone on these forums hate me?

um.... Well I know one comic I have been reading.. It's called Gunnerkrigg Court.
It has a leading female lead.. along with her best mate.
It's a online comics which has 3 pages added a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But it quite a way in..

Anyway.. It dosen't fit perfectly with what you are looking for dosen't hurt to mix it up while your still looking?

Here is the link ...

http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=1

I thought bumping was against the rules...?

Anyway, I'm gonna throw the Umbrella Academy in there. My personal favorite. :)

I don't know if you'd like them but Misfile and Sequential Art are really good web comics. The first is about a boy who gets "misfiled" in heaven and turns into a girl with a boy brain. There's also a girl who loses two years of her life.
The second is harder to describe. Basically, there's a pervy penguin, a human artist named art, a cat girl called Kat and later another character enters. A lot of them are one day stories, but they have a rather long plot line going now.

Gloom cookie. It was recommended to me by a guy that noticed I only was reading manga. It is really really good. Well the first book is, the second not so much, and after that I lost intrest. But the first on is really good. Beyond that I have nothing..

I think you might enjoy Tank Girl. I know I do. :3

Gloom Cookie is awesome as well.

Well, you might take a look at the trade paperback compilations of titles. They're more expensive, but they tell a complete story arc in one volume. In that vein, I'd recommend Sandman, and you should probably start with volume one, Preludes and Nocturns. You can find it at most bookstores, and pretty much any comics shop.

I read Teen Titans as well.

I would recommend trying out Birds of Prey, although I've seen a nasty rumor that the series is ending soon so you'll probably have to pick it up in trades. It has strong female characters and some fairly good writing I enjoy it.

Also Runaways (marvel comics). I don't read this one as often so I don't know what it's been like lately but the early stuff in it was pretty good. The only real problem I have with it is that they keep restarting the series, I think it's on it's third volume/ series now.

powers is about super heroes, but with a spin. it's kind of on the dark side but interesting and addictive.

preacher is awesome, though a little heavy going and gruesome. it's got guns and vampires and incest and southerners and angels and.. all sorts of good stuff.

the walking dead is one of my current favourites. it's basically about what the survivors do after a zombie apocolypse goes down. the characters are really neat.

birds of prey is all about girl power lol. yes. really good. i'm sad because they've just stopped running this.

as recommended by others, sandman series is a definite must. must must must. no question.

Maybe you should try Watchmen.

You can buy the entire volume of all the issues in any bookstore with other DC Comics. It's by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Or you can try V for Vendetta. It's very different from the movie.

And that's really all I got.

Electra

I'm a big fan of superhero silliness, so I really loved it when they revamped She Hulk and turned her into a super hero lawyer. :D That series is a lot of fun. Plenty of silly in jokes, all kinds of breaking the fourth wall.

For something a bit more serious, maybe Promethea by Alan Moore. That one was good. Super heroine with a twist kind of thing. Very cool series. :D

I recommend Zero girl and the Maxx, both by sam Kieth and have strong female leads and awesome art style. They are not your typical cape wearing invincible hero types, they go a little deeper than the average super hero story.

Oh and the Authority, I really like that one and Jenny Sparks is one of my favorite female characters.

I don;t know if it's been suggested but if you can get your hands on "Runaways" from the beginning it's a good read. After the first year they keep changing authors until they get Joss Whedon (ie buffy creator) for a few issues that get back to rocking again. the art sometimes changes but as a bonus the trade paper backs of the first year of issues come in handy manga -sizedness books. I've got them somewhere myself if you live anywhere near british columbia canada maybe i can send them to you I'm done with them. :D

Hm, let's see. My current pull list goes like this:
Booster Gold
Teen Titans (I think you picked up Teen Titans Go!, which ended. Teen Titans is still going.)
Titans
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Young Avengers
Red Robin
Gotham City Sirens
Secret 6
Power Girl
R.E.B.E.L.S.
Gen 13
Runaways
New Mutants
Flash: Rebirth
Blackest Night (An 8-issue miniseries that just started)
Batman and Robin
Wednesday Comics

You would probably enjoy the plots and characterizations that Gail Simone writes into Secret Six, and the ever-changing art styles of Runaways. Amanda Connor's art in Power Girl is also AMAZING, and she does a Supergirl spot in the weekly Wednesday Comics too. Red Robin and the new Batman and Robin series may not be your cup of tea, but they are worth a read. Gotham City Sirens only has two issues out so far, but they are BRILLIANT. Young Avengers is always worth a pick up, if only to read some of the best teenager interaction in Marvel comics (the undisputed best being in Runaways). Flash: Rebirth is...well, it's okay. I'm looking forward to the Flash and Kid Flash ongoings more, though. Gen 13 used to be better, before the apocalypse and the cannibal skaters. New Mutants has only just started as well, but it's brillo pads, for sure. Booster Gold is probably the best series I pick up, and not just because I love the character. Teen Titans and Titans are sort of disappointing sometimes, but they've been picking up recently.

Well, those are my suggestions. There's a ton more DC than there is Marvel, but that's only because frankly, I'm just not that into any of Marvel's core characters. Spiderman, Thor, Iron Man, the Xmen, just not my thing, so I don't read them, so I can't properly vouch that they are good series. I will say that the Ultimate Marvel series' are pretty cool, especially The Ultimates. The Ultimate version of the Vision was pretty kickass.

I think the Watchmen is good, but honestly, by the sound of it, not for you. You said you don't like doom and gloom, which the Watchmen is chalk-full of. But then again, it's extremely well written and a great example of a graphic novel with s strong message.

I don't know if you like more light-hearted titles, but I'm going to go ahead and throw in my suggestion: Kyle Baker's Plastic Man. Not your think if you're looking for something too serious, but if you want something a little campy, over the top, and nonsensical, it's one of my personal favorites.

And as a final note, I'd look into trade paperbacks if I were you, simply because they're less of an investment if you're just getting started. That way you don't have to worry about whether you get the right issue or when the next one comes out- it's all in one book. :D

I do recommend Sandman too, as others did. I'm amazed how it all has life in it, it's incredible, actually. Gunnerkrigg Court it's pretty cool too, I'm reading it every month to have more to read. I do read Xyliatales, but I don't know if they updated it or not.