Capuchin said:
What is the best manga that you have read that doesn't involve much comic relief, you know the traditional devices, bug-eyed reactions and super-deformed moments...
Basically I'm looking for something a little more serious and uncompromising.
Nausicaa of the Valley if the Wind. I guess you've got a few goofy moments in there, but it's all gritty post-apocalyptic, warring nations, end of humanity type stuff after that. Gripping stuff, beautifully drawn and a definate classic of manga.
If you can stomach the feeling that you could be being educated (I found this manga in my secondary school library of all places!), you could try
Barefoot Gen for the ultimate sobering manga. Actually that's not strictly true, because it makes a point of being light hearted in a sort of "there's hope for us yet" way, but the first two books are certainly harsh, harsh stuff, and the clincher is always the fact that
it actually happened, something that rarely can be said for most manga you'll read. Not for the faint of heart: atomic bombs have nasty side effects and the artist is not afraid to show them.