I would highly recommend Arania. She has done a wide variety of work and does not mind working on long sequences over a period of months which also helps break up the payments. She is also open to pretty much any subject matter.
I find her rates to be quite reasonable:
Penciled Illustrations:
Comic-Style Page - $35.00
1-Character - $12.00
2-Character - $20.00
Here's her site:
http://arania.kamiki.net/