Preludes and Nocturns (Sandman vol.1), by Neil Gaiman

The introduction to The Sandman universe according to Neil Gaiman. It's a single great plotline about how Dream is imprisoned by an evil warlock who was trying to catch Death, but got her brother instead. The artwork on the covers is absolutely brilliant; it's a shame not all the graphic novel is like that. Then again, very few graphic novels use lavish and elaborate art work all the way through and what ultimately matters is the content, which in this case leaves nothing to be desired. Read this and you run the risk of getting hooked on the series. I did.