According to news reports, writer Dwayne McDuffie has been fired as the writer of this comic.I've criticized his work here in the past, but it's been obvious that the problem hasn't been his writing, but rather it's been his struggles to overcome editorial interference.
His run on the Justice League of America has been a steady string of crossovers, tie-ins and company-mandated continuity fixes.
Ironically, with this issue he seems to finally be shaking those problems and paying off stories he's been setting up for a while now.
Here he breathes life into the formerly bland Dr. Light, he gives Hardware a cool guest spot and a lot of fun dialogue, and he sets up a world-shaking confrontation between the cosmic vampire Starbreaker and the mysterious Dharma.
The story also benefits from the excellent art of the underrated Rags Morales. The cover by Ed Benes is a bit misleading, though - Superman is nowhere to be seen in this issue, although one of his friends makes a surprising appearance.
It's a shame to see McDuffie off the comic just when he was finally getting off the ground - though it's comforting to know that veteran writer Len Wein is stepping into the on-deck circle. Speaking of someone being underrated...
Grade: B+
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