After persistent pestering from some teens (boys and girls alike!) who have told me this is the best series they've ever read, and the one that hooked them on both anime and manga, I've finally read Vol. 1. And I'll admit, it's the first manga volume that I've truly finished, and I highly enjoyed it. 
 The story itself is so bizarre that it makes you keep reading out of sheer curiosity. Alphonse and Edward, the Elric brothers, are trained in alchemy, and they know its laws very well. Unfortunately, they bent the rule of "equivalent exchange" (for something to be created, something of equal value must be lost) when they were young, attempting to resurrect their mother from the dead. As a result, Alphonse's body and Edward's leg were both lost. Edward sacrificed an arm to get back Alphonse's soul, which now lives in a hulking animated suit of armor. But it is Edward, with his "auto-mail" arm and leg, who is the "fullmetal alchemist" (and don't you forget it). They work for the state and seem to be sent to troubled areas -- a town in the grips of a religious fanatic, a hijacked train -- all the while with their own agenda to find what they believe will help them return to their old bodies and bring back their mother: the infamous philosopher's stone. 
 I found the story to be sharp-witted and thought-provoking (science vs. religion is a big theme) -- much deeper than I expected, though with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and great "BA-DOOM," "SHOOM," and "FLOOP" sound effects of matter being created from other matter! The only thing that confused me was the sudden scene changes: there was no "meanwhile" or "back at the ranch" or even a wordless page that shows a new setting between some of the scenes. 
 Reviews all say the anime is even better, but I thought the book form was quite good. I had no trouble reading from back-to-front and right-to-left (which has done me in before), and I think that speaks highly of Hiromu Arakawa's artwork. Not until I was on Wikipedia did I realize that she's a woman -- hooray for women in comics! 
 Her author's bio says, "I love B movies. I love the way they make me think 'What the he** is this?! That's crazy!' yet still draw me in so that I watch the whole thing. I really like that feeling, and I like to bring a little of that kind of over-the-top flavor into my own manga. That was the initial idea that gave birth to volume 1 of this alchemy manga. Thank you for picking it up. As you read it, please criticize it by saying to yourself 'What kind of alchemy is that?!'"