As Dick Grayson wrote, Brubaker's run directly continues from Bendis's run i.e. Bendis's last issue leads straight into Brubaker's first issue. You may be a little confused as to how Matt found himself in the situation he's in and who certain characters are (one individual in particular). Alex Maleev's art compliments Bendis writing very well. Many deem Bendis's run on Daredevil to be the best. I liked it and it's definitely up there amongst my favourites (Frank Millers - No. 1 for me, Charles Soule, Denny O'Neill...)
I do think you would do well reading it and even possibly Kevin Smith's run before that.
I read Brubaker's Daredevil without reading Bendis' run first, and I had no issues with it. Like Raffi mentioned, Matt's in a situation right at the start, but it just made me want to read Bendis' run even more. I keep holding out for reprints of the omnis but I'll cave and buy the Ultimate Collection TPBs soon I think.
Pull List: Daredevil, Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, No One, Time Before Time
“We never lose our demons. We only learn to live above them"
I'm reading the He-man and the Masters of the Universe omnibus. Never read anything from He-man before. Realy diggin' it.
Let me throw my 2 cents in too since Bendis' DD is my favourite DD run and one of my all time favourite runs ever (Brubaker's is a close second).
I think the art will grow on you, don't rob yourself from the experience of reading it just because of that. I read a lot of stuff with art I consider sub par but the writing saves it (some Vertigo books come to mind).
Also if you only looked into the first few issues I think you just sampled David Mack's art which I do love but I can imagine being a turn off for some. He only drew the first 4 or 5 issues which are a warm up arc before the real run kicks in (still, good story).
I've started reading EC Archives: VALOR - The Complete Series OHC and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Reading ASM omni #3 so I'm ready for #4 when it comes out. Also some silver age Dr. Strange and some Superman TPBs mixed in for variety.
Just finished Akira vol.1...been a big fan of the film since 1991, but I'm finally reading the manga series. I've always wanted to, so it's a treat, but wow is it different from the film, wasn't expecting that. Beautiful art!
A collection with some early John Byrne FF art:
I remember reading these issues off of the newsstands:
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I finished reading The EC Archives: Valor - The Complete Series OHC. A lot of care and thought has been put into these EC Archives. It was a very pleasant read. I thought it would be a bit of a chore as these stories were from the 1950s but rather the opposite with some good morales/messages. Some of the art was extremely good, in particular Al Williamson and Wally Wood and the colouring by Marie Severin. Also, worthy of note were illustrations by Joe Orlando and Reed Crandall. I didn't really take to Bernie Krigstein's and Graham Ingels' work. A very good book. I'll be looking forward to other EC Archives.
I recently finished the Marvel Epic Collection: Daredevil - Brother, Take My Hand (1968-1970.)
The stories aren’t all that great, but I really like the art by Gene Colan. Especially appealing are the odd panel layouts used in the late 60s and early 70s compared to the all-rectangle panels we primarily had when I was a kid in the 80s, which was when I did most of my comic book collecting.