Help Out A Comic Book Newbie

As a continuation on my previous post, I have a confession to make: I’m a comic book newbie. Rookie. Beginner. Call it what you want (not virgin though, cause I have read some comic books), but I’m really just starting out with comic books here. Or should I call them graphic novels? This is one geek lingo I’ve never taken the time to learn and I want to change that.

I do know my superhero lore, but most of that comes from watching the cartoons as a kid and procrastinating reading up on Wikipedia. I’ve only recently (=3 years ago) “gotten into” comic books, but most of the stuff I’m reading is movie or TV related. On the one side those are the comics based on movie/TV shows; I’ve got the Heroes, Buffy and Serenity ones and want still want to get the Battlestar Galactica spin-offs. On the other side, I’m also reading the comics which are getting movie adaptations, like V For Vendetta and Sin City.

Truth though is I don’t want to read comics purely because of some movie. I want to read comics, because of the great stories being told. Now here’s where I need your help: Where the heck do I start?!? Take Batman and X-Men, for instance, I have no freaking idea which line I’m supposed to pick up. And then there are of course a million and one comics I most probably never have even heard of, which deserve to be read too. The pool of choices is just so large and I need some people to point out the best starting points. Faithful readers, help me please?