...give some of Shirow's other stuff a try...

Orion
This is a strange mix of techno-mancy and karmic politics. It's all influenced by chinese god legends and magic. He changes up his art stlye for a more brused and flowing look here.

Dominion
Cop comedy centered around a tank based police force in the future. Lots of jokes about evolution, politics and technology.

Black Magic M66
One of his early works that's kind of an anthology based around the concept of artificial intelligence created for weapons. More magic and tech but done in a way that a lot more down to earth than in Orion.

Currently reading...

Blade of the Immortal
Samurai story about how it's not so hot being a stone cold killer or being an immortal for that matter. The story has been going strong for several years and it's just now beginning to hit it's stride. Great drama, characters and plot twist from story arc to story arc. This is my favorite book out of anything I read these days.

Gundam: The Origin
This is another retelling of the original Gundam story but the excellent art and the more personal attention to the characters, especially the main boy-who-finds-robot-and-MUST-fight character. In the show he just came off as a whiny snob. This manga gives you a better perspective on why he's behiving like that as well as some better takes on the supporting cast.

Alien Nine
I'm borrowing this from a friend thinking I'm not going to like it much but damnit if the story and premise hasn't sucked me in. It's about how the government is using kids to partol for invading alien liforms at schools. It sounds simple but as the stories progress, something much more sinister seems to be at hand. Already by the second volume, one girl has been killed and reasurected as something close to human but not quite.

Read in the past...

Vagabond
This is an adaptation of the legend of Mushashi, one of the more notoriously sucessful and revered swordsmen in Japanese history. It's has great art and an odd mix of slapstick and deadly serious drama. A lot of "spirit of fighting" type stuff but the characters and their progression keeps it interesting. Need to start picking up this again actually...

Black and White
Almost surreal story of two street kids who duke it out with gangs in an outrageously evolved city. Interesting take on the tough fighting kid story.

Domu
By Katsuhiro Ottomo, is a ghost story set in a Japanese low rent appartment complex. A vengeful spirit is killing people and an investigator is trying to get to the bottom of it.

Battle Angel Alita
Strange mix of horror, dark comedy, sci-fi, and martial arts. This story follows a cyborg's journey of self discovery and physical evolution as she struggles with the truth behind her true identity and origins.

Don't even think about missing...

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
It is quite possibly the best manga ever made.

But that's just me.

Going to start reading...

Beserk
This is SUPPOSED to be the lick. I've got the anime prequel to the book and love it so I've got high hopes for the manga. From what I've seen, it's a dark and gritty tale of a lone, cursed swordsman during the dark ages.

Blame
This is an odd duck. Very little dialogue, dark, moody landscapes and structures with a post apocalyptic feel that mirrors gothic art and horror. It's an odd trip through a possible future where machines run amok constantly remaking the landscape and humanity is almost totaly wiped out. All the while you follow the main character through endless dungeons looking for a gene that may stop all of this.

If you want samples, go here...
www.omanga.net

It's true, there's A LOT of crap out there. And even then, that's totally subjective.

Then there are the endless volumes of Korean manwah titles people seem to be snapping up and publishing side by side with the managa. It's a matter of finding what clicks with you and rolling with that.

Later...
Kwesi K.