Personally, I recommend escaping the world of American comics and finding some of them other countries to read books from. Historical accident might have made it so all comics produced here are over-drawn cosmic nonsense about superpowers and people wearing underwear outside their clothes, but obviously you can imagine writing a story about something else, right?

I recommend comics about competitive wine tasting.

http://www.vertical-inc.com/dropsofgod/

That's a ridiculous generalization, there are many varieties of comics created in the U.S., not just superhero comics.

Absolutely. Try something like "Air" or "Scalped", for instance. That said, you will also find some fantastic European comics outside of Lucky Luke/Spirou/Tintin, like the French classics "Les sept vies de l'Épervier" (3) (historical fiction with real character development) or "Les passagers du vent" (4) (more historical fiction, well-researched and beautifully drawn).

1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_(comics)

2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalped_(comics)

3: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Sept_Vies_de_l%27%C3%89perv...

4: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Passagers_du_vent

Agreed, and as a comic enthusiast I avoid all mainstream DC and Marvel. It's just one big marketing scam. Stick to Image, Dark Horse, IDW, some Vertigo stuff and you'll be much more rewarded.