I can't really stand claremont's dialogue, but man, the dude had an undeniable influence on what we think of as superhero comics today.
Also, Laurie, Young Liars is *really really really* good. I would give it another shot. I definitely didn't appreciate it after one issue, but the story is like, the ultimate unreliable narrator story, and it's really interesting to see how the story melts and folds around itself depending on who's narrating and what mental state they're in. I really like how the 'Oh, THAT'S what's really going on!' changes issue by issue, and Lapham is an incredibly talented storyteller/cartoonist, so I think it works really well. I think there's 2 trades out now for maybe ten apeice? If you want, I'll mail you my copies and you can read them for free.
Did anyone else get Asterios Polyp yet? It's gotten almost universal praise to the point of being boring to keep hearing about it, but it is just a phenomenal work from an insanely talented dude.