Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia No. 1
Published by Marvel Comics. Written by Matt Fraction. Penciled by Marc Silvestri.
The Deal: This comic serves as the first chapter in the highly promoted multi-part crossover. In this issue, all hell breaks loose in San Francisco and the X-Men can't seem to handle it -- so in comes Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers.
The Bad: Here's my biggest problem with this comic: In order for the story to work, certain characters have to behave against their established personality traits. For example, (SPOILERS AHEAD) the comic begins as a riot breaks out because a group of anti-mutant marchers walked into the X-Men's hometown. Now, Beast and some X-Men students were there to meet the marchers on the street, and after exchanging insults, everybody starts fighting. So, you're telling me that the world's leading group of mutants weren't smart enough to keep the last few mutants on the planet away from the march? Even an idiot would know that this would turn violent ... and Beast is a genius. To top it off, when Cyclops was confronted by the mayor about the incident, he said, "I'm not the president of mutantkind." This is the same Cyclops who telepathically called every mutant on Earth to live in San Francisco just a few months ago. I have a hard time believing he wouldn't feel responsible enough to step up -- and that he wouldn't have taken steps to avoid the whole mess.
The Good: Look past the book's central problem, and the comic is fairly engrossing. I am curious enough about where this is going to pick up a few issues of the crossover. Oh, and the art by Marc Silvestri is rather good: kinetic and stylized, with the right amount of detail.
The Verdict: I'll keep reading, but I guess I'll just have to believe that the X-Men are idiots.
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