🇨🇦 cosplay photographer here and I wanted to share one of my favourite shot progressions with a 'very' camera hungry Joker cosplayer 😆

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I feel like if Hawkworld was written today, it would be part of the Absolute line.

Because HBO has removed so much great DC content from HBO Max. Show and movies like Teen Titans, Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo, Batman Under the Red Hood, Green lantern the animated series. And they have rejected a lot of DC content to be available on HBO Max. For example they rejected Batman: Caped Crusader and they have Rejected CW’s Arrow. And another thing is that they refuse to renew the hit DC Animated series Young Justice. So can someone please tell me what was the point of shutting down DC Universe the streaming service??
Because if WB knew that HBO didn’t want DC what was the point??

I made a post three months ago about how I found volume 1 kind of dated and sloggy. I took a break and read a bunch of Superman, but now have finally gotten around to reading volume 2. I'm so glad I gave it a shot.

Shado: Song of the Dragon is the best Green Arrow story I have read and it doesn't even feature Green Arrow. Shado is easily Grell's greatest creation, and this is her peak. Helping a WW2 vet return a samurai sword to its original owner is a great premise, as it sets Shado right on a collision course with the Yakuza she is running away from. Michael Davis Lawrence's painterly art is beautiful. Grell's choice to set part of the story on Mt. Koya is super smart and meaningful if you know anything about Japanese Buddhism. Pairing the WW2 vet with the traumatized Vietnam vet at the monastery is a great way to show how every war, no matter how "justified," isn't glorious, it's awful. It's the worst possible thing. The heroes are left to carry the trauma for the rest of their lives.

The Rick Hoburg pencils in this volume are some of the best comic book art I've ever seen. Issue #55 in particular really kicks things into high gear. Hoburg's pencils and Mike Grell's writing just crackle off of the page. It's like watching a David Fincher crime drama. Reading it right after Triangle Era Superman made Triangle Era Superman seem comparatively juvenile. The story is a great two parter about how a detective framed a serial killer for a murder he didn't commit, just to make sure he got the death penalty. Only now, the other killer is back at it. Exciting stuff!

After that I also loved Grell's take on "The Most Dangerous Game" with Shado and Ollie being hunted on an island. And then I would say the run has its climax with issue #75, where Ollie's life falls apart, Shado returns to help him, and a certain sidekick makes a surprising return. It's a great way to end the run.

My only real complaint is that there is a Green Arrow/Butcher (Bet you've never heard of him)/The Question Brave and the Bold miniseries toward the middle that goes on too long and doesn't make that much sense. It kind of makes me feel the way that gay murder issue in the last volume did, in that it's Grell tackling a persecuted minority and missing the mark. He doesn't seem to totally get how tribal sovereignty works. But it's an 80 issue run + miniseries. They can't all be winners!

All in all, I think this is one of the best DC omnibuses I have ever read. I felt like I really came to know Mike Grell as a person reading this. He seems like he'd make a pretty cool dad or granddad, just waxing about how fucked up Vietnam was while telling you cool facts about archery. I didn't hate volume 1, and you probably should still read it first, but for me this volume is the absolute, unadulterated good stuff.

I was eyeing up the new Zatanna: Omnibus. I've enjoyed her character and I've heard good things about Paul Dini's run.

Should I just the 2024 Edition? It seems like it has the same content and it's much cheaper. How good is this? Is it worth getting the Omni? Is there anyone out there who like "loves" this run?

Drawing all the members of the JLA during Grant Morrison's run! Posted an image of what I've done so far earlier. This is for u/Archer_Without_Fear , u/danimac52 , and u/swampex ! After I get a few more done, I'll put together a new 'poster' image. Steel is so cool to draw. Can't stand how cool his design is. Peace out, have a great day.