Justice League of America No. 27

Published by DC Comics. Written by Dwayne McDuffie. Pencils by Ed Benes.

The Deal: It's the latest issue of Justice League of America, written by Dwayne McDuffie. Avid comic book readers may recognize McDuffie as one of the founders of Milestone, a now-defunct comic company that published comics starring racially diverse characters back in the 1990s. Well, it just so happens that McDuffie brings back some of his most popular Milestone heroes in this edition of the JLA.

The Good: I must admit, it's great to see some of the Milestone heroes again. In the company's heyday, it was doing what no other comic company had done before: consistently publish entertaining comics that featured black, Hispanic and Asian characters. On the art side of things, Ed Benes has turned in some good material this issue. Benes is not a master at storytelling, but he is good at figure drawing. As a result the book is filled with a lot of pretty panels.

The Bad: Look, writing the Justice Legue isn't hard. Here's the formula for success: You gather together DC's biggest heroes (sometimes known as the "Big Seven" -- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman) and you pit them against world-breaking bad guys. McDuffie, however, has decided to gather some of DC's B-list heroes and pit them against Z-list villains. Now, I don't totally blame McDuffie for this current state of the JLA. Writer Brad Meltzer assembled the team's roster in his mediocre run that ended, like, a year ago. McDuffie inherited the problem, but he hasn't done much to clean up the mess. He seems content to carry on some of this comic's wacker elements. And from the looks of things, the JLA will get worse before it gets better.

The Verdict: If you like the Milestone heroes, buy this comic. If you don't, you should probably pass.

Reviewed materials supplied by Heroes Aren't Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.