gonna throw in my two cents here. I know this thread has been inactive for a while, adn I'll probably go into rant mode, but here it is:
Twyla Tharp, "The Creative Habit"-it's got nothing to do with comics, but is valuable for any kind of creative practice. Also has a very helpful chapter on Ruts and blocks (and how to deal with them)
"What People Wore"- Great refrence for Period costumes. I love this book (also because I have a secret love for period costumes) Only problem is that there isn't a whole lot of refrences for the dress of the common folk in each period, but that's a pretty hard thing to find in general.
"Historic Costumes in Pictures"- just like "What People Wore" except it includes fashion from around the world. this is my current favorite.
"The Poster in History"- yeah, posters are pretty awesome at conveying a whole history in a single image. My copy is about to fall apart, I use it so much.
Also, I'm pretty addicted to those little Taschen books. there's one on like every subject, and they're all beautiful full color images. A great refrence. Also quite affordable at $9 a pop last time I checked.
Poor Sailor"-The only comic I included. Why? Well, because it is simply beautiful, and beautifully simple.
All of these books are pretty affordable. I am a poor student and have all of these books (The poster one was the most expensive, adn I found a copy for $15) Also, ART BOOKS ARE WORTH IT. You're all artists, and as such should have your own refrence/visual vocabulary library. and if you can't afford to buy them, the Library is usually quite free, given that you don't get late fees. And you'll find stuff there that you'd never find anywhere else. or be able to afford (there was this one book on Russian movie posters from the early part of the 20th century that was GORGEOUS, and also $200. So I just renewed it over and over again, and got to hold on to it for long enough to get a lot of use out of it. also, scanners are very very useful in this situation)
I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but build a Visual Vocabulary. The kind that's not just about how to draw better, or how to make comics, but about other things. Give your brain a rest from comics from time to time, especially if you're in a rut, and look at something else for a while. Let your brain think about comics passivley/subconciously, and occupy it visually in other ways. BEing able to draw well is important, I'm not trying to knock it. Also, looking at other comics is very important. What I'm saying is that it is equally important to look at other types of art, history, philosphy, politics, science, etc. the only reason I'm saying all this is because my best ideas haven't always come from looking at comics. and while I've learned a lot from comics on how to make better comics, or how to draw better, I've also learned just as much from looking at posters and Typography and random bits and boxes and bones and collections of things and, in other words, building a visual vocabulary over the course of a few years. I guess what I'm trying to say is look beyond comics, adn bring what you find back to comics. or don't. store it in teh back of your mind for something else. The more you expose yourself to different tings, the more tools you will have to work with.
And I'll leave you with BibioOdyssey!!!
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/seriously a lot of fun, nad very interesting. new stuff is posted all the time. (so sue me,k it's not a book, but it's about books and is visually interesting, so I thought maybe it would fit here...)
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an Flintlock 
