Re:how to get the norms (Score 1)

if they'll read sf, your job is a lot easier... in no small part because you can start them in on transmet. :) and also cerebus, preacher, sandman, the filth, hellblazer, global frequency, the invisibles, v for vendetta... if your reader doesn't want superheroes, but can tolerate weirdness, you're only half a step away.

i'm not so conversant with the more mimetic stuff. strangers in paradise and love and rockets have been mentioned elsewhere; you might manage to slip zero girl in... yeah. i imagine there's plenty of good non-weird manga out there, just because manga IS literature in japan, but i don't know how much makes it to the states that isn't dragonball z or ranma. from hell is weird (and huge), but maybe the people who don't like bowel disruptors can deal with masonic conspiracies, i don't know. sin city. bruno.

i don't think there's much going on in comics that falls within the comfort zone of people who only read from the Literature section (and there's not much going on in interpretive dance that falls within mine; I'm not trying to be snide). but i haven't really looked for that kind of comics, so i'm no authority.