Like most other things, the japanese way of viewing comics is very different from that in the US and UK.

Comics are a part of everyday life for many people in Japan, you can see them being read on trains by Japanese "sararimen". They are normally bound up with several different comics in a thick book, and sold on news stands.

It was manga that got me interested in Japan initially, a friend of mine brought a couple of titles to the role-play sessions I used to attend (the titles were Appleseed and Nausicaa by the way).

I have several long term favorites, the most enduring of which are Ah my goddess by Kosuke Fujishima, and The five star stories by Mamoru Nagano.

Other current favorites are Gunslinger girl and Azumanga daioh. As you can tell, I have a fairly wide range of interests when it comes to manga.