What's your favorite manga (or comic)?

Hey, I wanna get into reading a bit of manga so I was wondering what are your favs?

I'm not picky with genres, I like to try everything so don't worry about my taste.

I've been reading Ichi the Kiler and really surprised how close the movie adaptation was to it. I'm enjoying it, tho I think some of the actions are hard to make out sometimes. It's also making me appreciate the movie even more than I did.

Can't really pick a favourite so I'll just name a few.

20th Century Boys is a pretty great, genre-spanning saga that I would wholeheartedly recommend over the film adaptations. It falters slightly toward the end and I don't know that it's my favourite manga but it's probably one of the first I'd think to call essential. On that note, Monster, an earlier work by the same author (Urasawa Naoki), is a similarly great read that I probably like better overall but isn't as easy a recommendation since it takes some effort to get into before it becomes as compelling a read as 20th Century Boys is from the get go. I'm a fan of his so I'd probably recommend his other works too if you find yourself liking them but that's definitely a slightly skewed opinion.

I am a Hero is an easy recommendation if you're interested in a zombie manga, and Blade of the Immortal is a pretty good samurai epic.

If you can read Japanese then I'd definitely recommend Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) which is just an amazingly heartfelt story that unfortunately doesn't have an official English release yet. There is an anime to be seen at least which is great too but somewhat fumbles the ending in comparison to the manga.

Evangelion RE-TAKE if doujins count. Best to read it (either the original or "All-Ages" version) after watching NGE since it acts as an alternate ending.

The full book version of Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind - amazing story with all the pen and ink artwork done by Hayao Miyazaki, and closely followed by Princess Mononoke (also by Miyazaki).

I'd say One Piece is my all time favorite but you are in for the long haul if you start that one. It started back 1997 and Eiichiro Ido rarely takes any sabbaticals unlike the guys that created Hunter X Hunter and Berserk which I both recommend.

Too many favorite manga to count so here are some random recs:

Teppu was a great inversion of the battle shounen protagonist while also showing some realistic MMA training/fight scenes, though it ended too suddenly and I doubt it will be getting an official translation stateside.

If you liked the movie Edge of Tomorrow, then check out the manga it was based off: All You Need Is Kill. The ending is slightly darker but it's pretty good.

Hinamatsuri has just started getting an official translation, about a mid-level Yakuza who has to take care of a girl who literally landed on his head after time-warping from a distant future. The story is a lot more funny than it sounds, trust me.

I'll second @imhungry on 20th Century Boys and Monster. Also check out Master Keaton for the artist's older work set around the Cold War. All good stories by Naoki Urasawa, though they each span hundreds of chapters so it'll be some lengthy reading.

I'm gonna sort by completed and on-going since I know it's hard to keep up with manga that are weekly/monthly and constantly wait for updates. This is only a small portion of my manga list so if you want more recs let me know.

Completed:

-Slam Dunk: One of the most popular series ever in Japan and way more than just a typical basketball manga. Gorgeous art by Takehiko Inoue also helps greatly.

-JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Parts 1-7(if you want to watch the anime go right ahead but if you want to get through it faster/get ahead of the anime since it's only on part 5 it's still worth it)

Kare Kano: One of the best shoujo manga I've read period, and an all time classic.

Any Naoki Urasawa work is basically free real estate.

Parasyte: If you want a b-movie plot of an alien parasitic creatures invading earth done masterfully check this out.

Now for on-going stuff:

Beastars: What if Zootopia was done differently and animals living in a society wasn't as disney as it seemed? One of the best manga to come out in recent memory and the characters while being animal feel more human than some characters in other works.

Dungeon Meshi: Ever wondered what a griffin egg tastes like? Or how to make mimic stew? When the main party of the series is broke and can't afford food to eat while they explore a mysterious dungeon they resort to eating the very monsters that they have to go through. Hilarious and very creative with it's premise.

Golden Kamuy: A crazy series involving a search for gold, skinning humans for their tattoos, and the most ridiculous events you could imagine taking place in this post russo war era japan thriller. It's a wild ride and still has time to also dive deep into Japanese Ainu culture that is fascinating to learn about.

Appleseed, by Masanori Ota (AKA Masamune. Shirow)

Mai, the Psychic Girl, by Kazuya Kudō and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami.

Crying Freeman, written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami.

Lone Wolf and Cub, writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima

Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki (writer/Illustrator)

Ran and the Gray World is one of those things I love more and more the more I think about it. It's one of my favorite manga ever, but it is unequivocally the one I consider best looking, at least in terms of art that appeals to me. It's absolutely fucking gorgeous. It's not particularly deep, but it deals with some themes I think a lot of people can appreciate especially if you're older.

I haven't read a ton of Western comics, but out of those that I have, Monstress is far and away my favorite. Another series that's a delight just to look at it, but the story here is excellent. It can get more than a little wordy, but solid world-building, great characters, dope action, and a good dose of occasional humor make it hard to put down.