as for a recommendation, i'll go in for Alan Moore's Supreme: The Story of the Year. supreme revives the puzzle-box superman stories of the silver-age; how will supreme think his way out of some impossible problem? in his secret identity, supreme is ethan crane, mild-mannered and bespectacled artist for dazzle comics. crane draws the adventures of omniman, whose adventures mirror supreme's real life. each issue also includes a flashback story set in supreme's past, mimicking the style of the era. it's a bit of a metacommentary then, like so much of Moore's work, but more of a loving parody/homage than stuff like Watchmen or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. metafiction isn't as novel now as it was then, but i think it all works because moore couches it in fun and inventive superhero stories. you see stuff like Supreme and wonder why every comic can't be that way...

anyways, as if this reply wasn't long enough, i just remembered i already did a write-up on supreme and why it's awesome at the start of this year: