That's what Kurt Amacker of Cinescape is talking about this morning, although he thinks he's talking about Comics for People That Don't Read Comics. The trouble with this list is that aside from Maus it focuses pretty exclusively on the superhero genre, which (it stands to reason) if a person were truly interested in they'd probably already be checking out comics and trades.

If you're really trying to convince somebody that comics are worth reading, your list begins and ends with Jimmy Corrigan (unforgivably absent from this list). After that, you might try Maus, or Persepolis, or (next in my reading queue) Epileptic.

Then you slip them Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns or V for Vendetta, once you've softened them up a bit. (via Gravity Lens)