A lot of this stuff can be covered in some of the "How to Draw Manga" books, but if you're just starting out from Ground Zero, and you only want to buy "Occult and Horror" right away, then this might be for you.
This is where I go "Ummm... yeah..." and try to explain what I use to draw, and how you might want to start out too. Keep in mind, however, that this is all personal preference and experience.
What do I use? Well, here goes:
I prefer mechanical pencils, all the way. Whenever I sharpen a wooden pencil, it likes to break on me. With a mechanical pencil, I know that the point will be consistent, and I won't have to worry about pencil shavings getting all over the place. The only thing I'd use wooden pencils for are large areas of shading. I like to have four mechanical pencils at any given time - two .5 mm (slightly thin) and two .3 mm (super-thin). Why? Well, there are different types of lead with varying degrees of hardness. On the European scale, they range from 9B (the softest) to 9H (the hardest), like this:
9B, 8B, ... , 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, ... , 8H, 9H
Not exactly rocket science, right? Well, the normal No. 2 pencils you can get in the store are the equivalent of HB pencils. The harder leads are generally used for drafting, and the softer leads are usually preferred by artists. Usually.
I prefer using both 3H/4H leads and HB leads. That way I can draw the super-fine details and lightly sketch out the layouts with the harder leads, and then go over it all with the softer leads when I'm done. That also cuts down a bit on lead smearing and smudging when I'm all done. Therefore, I'll have two .3 mm pencils (one with 4H and one with HB leads), as well as two .5 mm pencils with the same setup. There are also .7 and .9 mm mechanical pencils out there, but the leads for those are really too thick for me.
Erasers. They're important. If you think the eraser on the end of your pencil (whether they're mechanical or wooden) are going to cut it, think again. If you're just starting out, then chances are you'll be erasing a LOT. Not only that, but the pink erasers on the end of wooden pencils can leave little pink marks on your paper if they're old or cheap or whatever. Therefore, I usually buy a huge, soft white eraser (the "plastic" ones). That way I can erase as much as I'd like (until I end up ripping the paper, but that's my own fault most of the time), and I don't have to worry about leaving huge pink or green streaks all over my work. I also buy kneaded erasers - the grey ones that kind of look like gum. They don't leaving any eraser shavings or bits when you use them, you can knead them to get rid of the graphite from erasing, and you can shape them to get those "hard-to-reach" areas, where the lines are really tight and there's the high probability of erasing a lot more than you want. Those eraser-sticks (the ones that come in a plastic case and work like a mechanical pencil) are also very useful for erasing around a lot of detail. You might also want to invest in an eraser shield, which helps you section off what you want to get rid of.
Of course, you can't really use your equipment if you don't have any paper to draw on. For normal sketching, I splurge and buy the huge (usually 11x14) sketchbooks with the hard covers. Mine are the glued/cloth-bound ones - I'd LIKE to get a spiral-bound, since you can draw on the pages in the middle more easily (and it's easier to scan your work), but some stores don't carry them. Luckily, I found a place to get the spiral-bound hardcover sketch books - yay! Most of the work on the website is done in my sketchbook. Paper weight doesn't really fit in anywhere, except that if you're going to spend $10 plus on a sketchbook (my hard cover ones are about $15 - 20), make sure the paper is heavier and thicker than copier or computer paper. Acid-free paper is your best bet - it won't "go bad" as the years pass. I've done a little bit on 2-ply bristol board, but that can get expensive. I'd stick with a sketchbook unless you're drawing somehting that has specific requirements, you're submitting your work to a company or contest or something, working on commision, or you plan to ink and color the picture the non-digital way.
I rarely use anything else, except for a few things here and there. I'll use one of those engineering rulers if I need a straight edge, in conjunction with a small triangle if I need to work on corners or perspectives or something. I almost never use a compass, mostly because I'm lazy. If I end up inking something instead of scanning it, I'll use the Copic Multiliner pens (usually a .05 for fine details, or a .1 for the rest of it, with a .3 thrown in for some line thickness variation). They're relatively cheap, and they're disposable when they dry out. The Copic ones also have the distinct advantage of working much better than the Sakura Micron pens, in my opinion, for about the same price. If you're going to consistently ink all of your work, however, invest in a set of technical pens. The initial cost is pretty steep, but as time goes by, you'll end up SAVING money, because you won't have to toss them away when your ink dries. XD
And that's about it. I usually color all my stuff on computer now, but if you want to use markers or colored pencils, I'd suggest using Prismacolor. It's a pretty good brand, and if you live in Milwaukee, you can go to Artist and Display for Prismacolor since most of that stuff is about 40% off right now (well, as of 4/20/02, anyway). If you want to go the route of a manga-ka (manga artist), you might want to consider Copic Markers instead. They're almost twice as much as the Prismacolor markers, but they're refillable (each refill container is good for about six times, I think), and you can mix the refills to come up with your own colors.
If you're seriously going to go this route, then you'll have to find an honest-to-goodness art store to patronize. It doesn't matter if you go to one down the street, or if you go online, but just make sure that you find one. Otherwise, you won't be able to experiment with the different tools available to you. I used to swear by wooden pencils, until I found the different types of mechanical pencils available. Then I was lost! If you live in Milwaukee, I'd suggest the Utrecht store downtown, or Artist and Display on the north side. If you're online, well... Again, try Utrecht's website for a good art supply store.
Make sure not to end up like me, however - I'll go to an art store and blow 15 bucks on lead. LEAD! It's a lot like my dice addiction. Sad, really.
If you want to see why I feel like I can write something like this, check out the LWOW Art Page. If you have any questions, or feel like calling me a hack (whichever is fine to me), feel free to contact me.