@Kareem:
I'm actually somewhat interested in European comics. It seems like all the comics that get focused on are American and Japanese so I've wondered about comics from other countries. I have heard of Tintin, Asterix and 2000 AD. How do European comics compare to American comics and Manga quality wise?
Just like with Japanese or American comics, they have their fair share of great, mediocre and bad titles. Though, there is a certain richness of styles, genres and sensibilities, not present in either Japan or USA. It's surprising how much the authors and titles vary from one country to the other. From UK to France, from Spain to Belgium, from Italy to Croatia, etc.
For example, you have a penciller like the Spaniard Jordi Bernet, who tells these brilliant hard-boiled and brutal gangster stories in his Torpedo, drawn in a style which is part humor, part pin-up.
Then you've got a guy like the Italian Hugo Pratt, who told these fascinating globe-trotting stories of an English sailor named Corto Maltese. Reading these tales makes you wish you could simply drift in the waters of the Pacific.
Next, there's the Frenchman Rene Goscinny, who probably would've been a top-class stand-up comedian, if he hadn't decided to be a comic book writer. His Asterix is a tale of a small courageous Gaul and his adventures in his Roman-occupied homeland (and abroad). And it's laugh-out loud funny.
The Englishman John Wagner tells an SF epic in his Judge Dredd, a story of a cynical judge, jury and executor in a dirty, savage and hopeless future.
There are a lot of comedy books, some light-hearted and some a bit grittier, a lot of crime titles, a lot of war and slice-of-life titles, covering different topics. There's a huge lot of history-themed comics, a lot of adventure, sex and violence.
Work-for-hire is rare, most titles are creator-owned, some titles get continued with different authors if they get the original author's blessing.
I could go on and on like this. I could speak days about authors like Frank Bellamy, Jean Giraud, Giancarlo Berardi, Darko Macan, Jean-Michel Charlier, Frank Hampson, Herge, Edvin Biuković, Magnus, Enrique Sanchez-Abuli, Winshluss, Lewis Trondheim…