On the advice of Douglas Wolk's Reading Comics I picked up the Brian Michael Bendis / Alex Maleev run of Daredevil. I just finished it yesterday (the story was spread out over several years in the monthlies and comes out to like 8 trade paperbacks... it's not cheap but comics now has a good discount) and it's really outstanding stuff.
There's little original I can add to the conversation about it, so I will just remark on the sophistication of Bendis' plotting. Even the issues of the series that feel like totally digressive tangents eventually turn out to be relevant to the ongoing action (ex: one trade deals with the return of The Owl, hardly anyone's idea of a great supervillain, however within that issue Bendis introduces a new street drug that briefly gives people mutant powers, which turns out to be a major plot element throughout the rest of the series). By the time we get to the last trade, almost every plotline that Bendis has explored comes crashing together in a series of giant set pieces that are breathtaking, heart-pounding good reads. One moment at the end that just uses people's faces to show the impact of the story you're reading is truly impressive. Oh, and did I mention that Bendis even manages to work in an origin story for a new superhero about halfway through the book? Not bad.
Reading mainstream comics can be tricky fair because of the large amount of backstory you need to know. I found myself occasionally having to consult Wikipedia or The Marvel Universe for information, but not so often as to make the book an aggravation to read (it's not like, for example, the Joss Whedon Astonishing X-Men which will be incomprehensible to someone who doesn't know the series well).
So I highly recommend you check it out. Oh and the artwork! Oh the artwork! Remarkable!
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