Justice League of America #18

I have been reading "Salvation Run" and besides "Catwoman" the impact of that miniseries hasn't been shown in the DCU...until last issue of "Justice League of America". I was not too happy to see Dwayne McDuffie stepping to the back and writer Alan Burnett filling in, but I have to say that I am enjoying his story. It was especially nice to see the Batman end of Martian Manhunter's communication in "Salvation Run". Burnett has the story moving along at a nice pace and has some nice touches. Batman figuring out the stall tactic was good. Ed Benes does a fine job on the art. He has some beefcake shots but otherwise he puts in a decent effort here.

McDuffie's backup story about Red Tornado just read like filler. I like that they are attempting to get Red back into a body, but this could have all been handled in a couple of pages. McDuffie is due to come back on issue 20 and flow into "Final Crisis" with issue 21. My big concern is the rotating list of artist coming onto this title. Consistency in creative teams is important. This book is still good but it has lost some of its luster since Brad Meltzer left.