Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia

Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis

by Matt Fraction, Marc Silvestri, Terry Dodson (Illustrator)

WHO ARE THE DARK X-MEN?

He has his own Avengers team and now Norman Osborn has his own X-Men team.

The other shoe has finally dropped and Emma Frost has betrayed Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men. And that's just one of the huge surprises in "UTOPIA." Is that Namor? Cloak and Dagger? Professor X?!

The thing that you aren't ready for is that Osborn is right.

Collecting: Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia & Exodus, Uncanny X-Men 513-514, Dark Avengers 7-8, Dark X-Men: The Beginning 1-3, X-Men Legacy 226-227, Dark X-Men: The Confession, & material from Dark Reign: The Cabal

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2009

About the author

"How he got started in comics: In 1983, when Fraction was 7 years old and growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he became fascinated by the U.S. invasion of Grenada and created his own newspaper to explain the event. "I've always been story-driven, telling stories with pictures and words," he said.

Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.

"My mother was not happy about that," he said.

But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."

Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.

Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.

Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."

Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.

- 2009. Alex Pham. Los Angeles Times.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things weren't given a fair go in San Francisco... because along came the Norman Osborn and his Dark Reign. The X-Men find themselves outmanoeuvred and out gunned by mutant bigotry, the Dark Avengers... and the Dark X-Men!!! But all is not loss, Cyclops has a plan,. After... over 35 years getting there the fruit of Cyclops leadership and experience is all that stands between the end of the mutants! Anything Dark Reign was golden for me... even this... a solid 8 out of 12.

One of the biggest shocks for me was allowing to take over two issues in Brian Michael Bendis Dark Avengers run, I'd love to know the story about how that was managed. And now's the harsh truth, if you're reading Avengers run, you can ignore this volume which essentially used the Dark Reign and Dark Avengers to further tell the story of the Uncanny X-Men

2023 and 2018 read

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hi. My name is Jeff and I’m a Marvel crossover completist.

Hi, Jeff, and welcome!

Woman in the back wearing Green Lantern t-shirt - “Completist” isn’t a real word!”

I have a problem. I feel compelled to read every volume - even the worst ones – the ones written and illustrated by Marvel’s C-teams. I have some OCD tendencies, this is true. Still, I see a Dark Reign tie-in issue and I have to read it – Dark Reign – Marvel Zombies vs. Marvel Apes; Dark Reign – Foggy Nelson, Attorney at Law; Dark Reign – Howard the Duck, I’m there. Okay, maybe not the last one…*sob* I need help. The only solace I can take is that I don’t feel a need to read complete DC crossovers. That would be messed up, like doing crack off the belly of a seventy year old stripper.

We’re here for you, Je…

Are those cream donuts on the back table?



It’s the X-Men’s turn at having Norman Osborn and HAMMER take a run at them. At this point, the X-Men are hanging out in San Francisco, lending a helping hand and everything is sort of honky-dory until trouble maker, William Stryker shows up.



As with all of these types of antagonistic engagements, peaceful coexistence and cooler heads don’t prevail. Jeepers, where’s the fun it that? *sigh*



(Take that, faux Captain Sugah Marvel…)

Osborn uses the conflict as a way of sending in his god-damned dirty Avengers in an attempt to put his fascist Iron Patriot boot heel on the X-Men.



In the crossover event as a whole, Osborn is always one PR brainstorm/boondoggle ahead/behind anyone else. He recruits a Dark X-Men team to go toe-to-toe with the real X-Men, led by Scott Summers, Cyclops.



Cyclops is still a reasonable guy with a plan at this point in continuity, but a few more bricks to the head and all bets are off.

Cyclops plan involves keeping it pretty close to the vest and consequently lying to the other X-Men.



Recruiting Dark X-Men isn’t easy, but Osborn uses a number of different techniques.





Yay, it’s the Dark Crazy Beast!



Oh, Emma, just say no…

And sometimes it just doesn’t work out, as evidenced by his encounter with Aurora, woman of a thousand personalities.



Wolverine Jr. is on both Dark teams, so he’s a bit more cranky than usual.





The X-Men use the resulting conflict…



…to pull away from humanity even more.



Bottom Line: This one isn’t as bad as the separate Dark X-Men tie-in – that one was awful – it’s just bloated and at times confusing as hell. The storylines aren’t integrated very well and, even though it’s entertaining at times, it still falls short of being “pretty good.”

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well drawn crossover between two of Marvel’s biggest properties, the Avengers and the X-Men. As is wont between two super teams, the groups engaged in some unadulterated mayhem. Overall, the story was rather forgettable but the ramifications of the final chapter of this story extended beyond this six-part storyline.

The X-Men now have their own island distinct from the United States. No longer were they beholden to the United States whose top law enforcer was a schizophrenic super-villain. The mutants, whose numbers have dwindled since the Scarlet Witch uttered a sentence fragment that decimated a thriving species became unto themselves like a North Korea. Namor, a mutant because of his hybrid human/Atlantean physiology joined the X-Men officially. His status as a sovereign lends legitimacy to this fledging state.

This new mutant status quo sets up for future stories. As the world’s remaining mutants coalesced in Utopia, it gave them strength and yet made them a convenient target for their enemies. A similar incident already happened, when millions of mutant souls died when Genosha, the former mutant homeland, was attacked by a colossal Tri-Sentinel.

As I said, this story was rather forgettable. Both sides were able to spin a victory from their internecine warfare. The X-Men get their island, and Osborn was able to solve America’s mutant problem. A potential hostile state only a few kilometers off its west coast notwithstanding, Osborn claimed it as a moral and personal victory for his ego to feed on. Nevertheless, never underestimate the power of broadcast media that can turn a psychopath into a respected national figure.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this like half of it where the main story with the Avengers and the establishment of Utopia ends.

Its a pretty good volume and focuses on the X-Men as they are trying to fight the Human supremacists led by Trask here and well Osborne declares martial law, the establishment of the Dark X-Men led by Emma and facing off against different mutant threats and all but then the main thing comes when they have to go against the Uncanny X-Men and its a big war between X-Men and the forces of Norman and I love how the writers write it and like show the conflict and explore it.

Then the usual double crossing and the establishment of UTOPIA and well Scott taking a big stand and I love how he does it. Its one of the best features of the book and the end with Scott and Emma revealing all their secrets was the best part and just shows their love is genuine and they are made for each other.

One problem in this volume can be too many writers with different voices which can be off putting I agree but still makes for a good read and has big ramifications for X-Men going ahead. Also okayish art.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda all over the place...but enough good.
Fraction pulled it off, barely.
The dark X-men are stupid, and using Daken as wolverine in both is a fun joke, but not over the whole number of books.

What I like the most is that it explained how Emma and Namor were able to extract themselves from the Cabal. It also shows Emma and Scott having a better relationship than I thought, and Normie getting fucked.

Also some X force action, and showing how Utopia became the home of the xmen and how Namor joined the ranks.

There's lots of dumb shit, but I'm focusing on the cool forest, not the weird trees....does that even make sense? I hope so.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Amazon reviews will helpfully tell you, the issues in this book were printed out of order. Not like someone made a mistake -- it's just that the main Utopia storyline, playing out as it does across many different X-titles, doesn't really make a lot of sense without a lot of the peripheral world-building, character-backstorying stuff originally published across a bunch of other X-titles around the same time. Sure, you can read Utopia 1-6 and you'll see the heroes win and the bad guys get punched in the face. But if you want to know why/how certain characters got mixed into the fray, you need the ephemera. Such is the nature of nerdy superhero crossovers.

Luckily, all the material is collected here -- main storyline and peripheral stuff -- but it's split into these two parts (main/peripheral) even though the events of both weave in and out of each other concurrently. So it's a disorienting read if taken cover-to-cover -- and while I could just use the internets as a guide to lock down a better reading order, call me lazy but I just don't know how bad I want to think about the order in which I read the issues contained in my X-Men paperbacks.

But the main story is pretty cool -- good art, dramatic set pieces, interesting character bits, a nice plot twist. All those lovely reading-y things. And then you hit the second half of the book, and you have to actually start thinking about how everything fits together, and good christ if I wanted to think and read X-Men comics at the same time I'd go reread Grant Morrison or whatever.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading this next to Carey's X-Men Legacy, and I gotta say hands-down, Fraction is the better X-Men writer. I don't care how much emotional weight Carey's childhood full of X-Men carries, he just flat-out writes some if the flattest, most tinny X-men dialogue I've read this last couple of years. (I shouldn't be too hard on him tho - he's not half as tone-deaf to decent dialogue as Dan Slott's been in his Avengers run - yeesh.)

Deodato's art at the end is fan-f'ing-tastic, and it really stands out upon a re-read. After seeing Bendis and Deodato tear up the scenery for a few months it got so I just expected all art to be this good. But give it a while, see what everyone else is doing in the meantime, and then WHAM does Mike's quality hit home.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okayish.

I like the idea. The mutants are getting the shit end of the deal by Norman's new Dark Reign deal. Cyclops decides to push a new plan that'll change everything. However, he needs to have all the players in place. This won't be so easy but Emma forms the Dark X-Men, while Wolverine takes his X-Force to new places, to all come to a big reveal and conclusion.

The thing is the main Utopia story is pretty solid. It's interesting with good twist and solid art. It would rank around a 3 out of 5. However, this overstuffed collection has a few side stories after Utopia but they feel so out of place AFTER reading the main event you can't help but question why they are in here.

So it's around a 2.5 out of 5 for the collection.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the X-Men, but I'm most familiar with the All-New, All-Different X-Men Chris Claremont debuted in 1975. I pretty much have everything about that X-team from its inception to its disintegration and re-forming as two separate teams. Then the 1990s happened, and, having sampled a few issues from that time period, I decided I can safely skip that whole chapter in X-history. I caught back up with the X-Men in college, when Chris Claremont came back for "X-Men: The New Age," which I followed until the House of M realitysplosion.

Add in Joss Whedon's run on "Astonishing X-Men" and Grant Morrison's run on "New X-Men", and you have the entirety of my Marvel Universe background.

I picked up "Utopia" because I'd heard about an upcoming event called "Schism," where Cyclops and Wolverine part ways, each taking half of the current crop of X-Men with him, and I wanted to get some idea of what's been happening in the Marvel Universe leading up to that.

Overall, I say "meh" to it.

This is unfortunate, because "Utopia" didn't have to be a "meh" book at all! It starts out on fairly solid and fertile ground for an X-Men story: the human-mutant conflict, this time erupting over a discriminatory law called "Proposition X" which would restrict mutants' rights to have children. Henry McCoy and a bunch of younger mutants are in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, protesting, and they clash violently with mostly human, anti-mutant counterprotestors, led by (of course) a member of the indefatigable Trask family.

So, that's all very interesting, but we only get maybe five pages of that and then the story changes focus completely, turning to Norman Osborn (a.k.a., the industrialist/mad scientist/supercriminal the Green Goblin, from "Spider-Man") who is apparently passing for a good guy now? And leading a team of Avengers and, now, X-Men too? Anyway, he ends up sending both of these teams into San Francisco to restore order, which is difficult since both teams include such intrinsically disorderly types as Venom, Bullseye, Mimic, Daken and Ares. (Yes, apparently they *really* mean Ares, the Greek god of war, not just some superpowered guy with a toothbrush helmet and anger issues ... I knew the Norse gods sometimes showed up in Marvel comics, but hadn't seen any Greek ones before!)

Anyway, with these new "peacekeepers" on the scene, things explode into three- or four-way mayhem, with agitated mutant protestors and the X-Men on one side, human anti-mutant activists egged on to violence by Whatsisname Trask III or IV, and Norman Osborn's two teams fighting both of those factions, and sometimes each other. There's also a fair amount of subterfuge, as Norman Osborn has made Emma Frost the leader of his "Dark X-Men," and wherever Emma Frost goes, she brings along enough ulterior motives to fill a walk-in closet.

What most contributed to my not finding this story all that compelling were 1) too many characters and 2) too much chaos. What's more, the "too many characters" were drawn from all over the Marvel Universe, so for me at least half of the dramatis personae here were total strangers. And since, with the exception of major players like Cyclops, Emma Frost or Norman Osborn, each one might get a few lines of significant dialogue and a few combat appearances, you're not going to know those characters any better after you've read this book than before. You are also probably not going to get attached to anyone you didn't already know, and you might well be disappointed in the author's handling of those characters you do know.

Two examples stick out for me: Mystique and Daken. Mystique is on Norman Osborn's X-Men (why? She's a mutant separatist, and not above violent, pre-emptive action against human she deems a threat; her sympathies ought to lie with the mutant protestors), but all she does is sit around pretending to be Professor X and issuing public statements of support for Osborn's activities. Mystique is a fascinating, subtle character; intelligent, devious, fiercely protective of those few people she cares about and a consummate spy, a decent tactician and a badass hand-to-hand combatant. Here she's reduced to a play-acting henchwoman.

And Daken ... he, too, seemed underused and reduced in this story. I've only seen him before in Daniel Way's "Wolverine: Origins Vol. 5", but there he seemed to have ten times the personality he has here. What I liked about Daken as written by Daniel Way was his urbanity, and his contemptuous sense of humor. He still has the berserker rage going on underneath that, though, so he has this weird periodicity between opera-going sophisticate whose weapon of choice is his wit, and the howling savage who uses his teeth and claws. Also, he's bisexual and has the power to manipulate the emotions of people around him. Given all that, it's a shame his only role in "Utopia" is ultraviolent thug. He only even gets one halfway decent one-liner: when Bullseye confronts him about belonging to the Dark X-Men and the Dark Avengers, he tosses something off about "I always did like playing for both teams." Zing!

That's all the fun I got out of having him in this book, though; all the rest of the book, he scowls, growls, threatens and menaces like some insecure newbie's interpretation of Wolverine. "I don't know what to do with this guy; better have him go fight something!"

It's probably impossible to discuss this in depth without spoiling everything, so I'll just leave it at saying that Scott's and Emma's actions baffled me. Maybe I'd have benefited from keeping up with them after Joss Whedon left "Astonishing X-Men," and maybe not. It's not that the decision Scott ends up making is so confounding --- it's not, really; it struck me as a perfectly reasonable solution to the X-Men's problems --- it's just that he did a lot of weird, out-of-character stuff leading up to the big decision that didn't seem necessary to me. The whole plot seemed like that; stuff thrown in there for no good reason, adding awkward elements that made characters act against their interests and values too often.

So there you go: potentially promising storyline derailed by overly chaotic plotting, too many characters and disappointingly weak characterization and dialogue.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all thing Dark Avengers and this one did not disappoint, as Osborn born brings some mutants into his fold.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good, but it did have some problems.

First of all, it goes on a bit long. After the main story, we get a host of other stories that either go back over events that have already been resolved (but from a different POV) or talk about characters that not many people likely care very much about (like Mimic).

Next, since when did everyone get a healing factor? A few people get the crap stabbed out of them during this story and then they are back to being perfectly fine a few panels later. I even looked some of these characters up to see if they had some kind of healing factor that I didn't know about and they don't. If everybody instantly heals now, it makes people with that power a little less cool and a little more common. It also makes battles a little less dramatic.

Also, there are a lot of ball in the air and if you haven't been following X-Men comics you might get a bit confused about who is who and what is going on (I know I did).

Finally, the art was all over the place. Some of it was really good, and some of it was a "take your kid to work day" project.

My suggestion is to read the main story and skip over a lot of the extra content unless there is something there that you would really like (such as the Rogue story for Rogue fans, or the "confessions" story for Scott/Frost fans).

[J'aime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read the X-Men series. All that I have read of the X-Men are through the lens of a Marvel crossover event, like House of M and Civil War. Therefore, I didn't have any issue with how this book holds up vis-á-vis the X-Men's own line. As a collection connected with Dark Reign, I thought it was excellent.

During Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn stole the information needed to kill the Skrull queen in order to set himself up as a hero. It worked perfectly. The resulting period is called the Dark Reign, when he becomes head of SHIELD né HAMMER and US national security. He creates his own team of "Dark Avengers," each a villain masquerading as a familiar hero. After riots break out in San Francisco between mutants and the anti-mutant "Humanity Now", Norman decides he needs a team of Dark X-Men to control the situation. Emma Frost seemingly betrays Scott Summers to join and lead Osborn's new team which includes: Daken, Cloak and Dagger, Namor, Omega Man and Mimic. Osborn is also working with a Dark Beast (from another dimension!) to nullify mutant powers. Emma's team is sent in to enforce martial law and curfew on the city. What follows, and covers the first half of the book, are some exceptionally well done battle sequences and the fulfillment of a master plan carefully orchestrated by Scott Summers. I've never been a big fan of Cyclops, but here he truly shines as a leader and strategist. Emma Frost also steps away from the one dimensional "White Queen" role and finally becomes interesting as a power player. Despite bringing his Avengers in, Norman can't get the mutants under control. There are several mutants I don't recognize among the students, but there were enough familiar faces, and just enough character development that it didn't impede my enjoyment of the story at all.

The second half of the book backtracks, which at first was confusing to me. It starts with the first part of a confession between Emma and Scott, which stops midway through and is picked up later, and then it jumps to Rogue and Gambit being summoned to San Francisco to aid Scott. Readers then get the previous event from their POV. Though this could have been better laid out, I still was able to follow what was happening, and it was strong material. The second half also includes the "origin" for each Dark X-Man, or how Osborn lured/coerced them onto the team. The book concludes with one recruit who got the better of Osborn and got away!

Overall, I thought this was an excellent collection, with some of the best action sequences I've read and a well done plot arc. Osborn and Summers play a deadly game of chess that has some nice twists and was very entertaining. And, the book adds to the overall big picture of the Dark Reign. Highly recommended.

[William Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Matt Fraction is not my favorite writer in the Marvel Universe. In fact, I think he is one of the laziest writers on the roster. And that's saying a lot coming from the Marvel universe these days where lazy is par for the course. With that said, Matt Fraction doesn't disappoint- because I had no hope whatsoever in him to begin with.

The purpose of this book is clear from the title- a sales gimmick. A way to mash-up the new Dark Avengers into the world of mutants and sell more books between the two. It adds nothing to the characters, tells us nothing new about the world they inhabit, and has no value in the continuity of the universe.

Instead of showing us a linear, moving portrait of racism and hatred as the X-Men so often does, it gives us a choppy, fractured comic book with every superhero in the Marvel lineup splashed on the pages like a comic book orgy. The characterization is weak and the layouts are so confusing, it's hard to follow from page to page.

The main focus should have been between Trask and the mutants. Focusing on the race-hatred between human and mutant. The Avengers should have been a secondary backdrop against that struggle in order to mock the totalitarian style of government being formed in the Marvel Universe since Civil War. But here we just get a bunch of heroes fighting heroes and villains and then that's the end.

I thought the artwork would have been a saving grace. When I saw that Marc Silvestri had the art credit for this book, I thought I would see a return to form in the X books I remembered when I was 11. Unfortunately, the artwork was a sloppy mess as if Rob Liefeld had gone over the pencils in crayon.

So Matt Fraction has served us up a worthless piece of dog crap that should stay in the back issue bins along with all the 1987 Teen Titans issues.

The X-Men have a special place in my heart, but series like this weaken my nostalgia in small doses.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection was put together in an incompetent manner. I never understand why editors at Marvel, when putting together these collections, put the story together by title, rather than chronological order.

The three issues of Dark X-Men The Beginning at the end of the volume, should have been the first three issues of the trade. The X-Men Legacy issues sandwiched between the main Utopia story and the Dark X-Men The Beginning, should actually have gone between the second and third issues of the main Utopia storyline.

Editorial issues aside, the story is a bit of a mess. It starts strong, with an alarming allegory to modern day protesting against Nazis (anti-mutant groups) and Trump (Norman Osborn during Dark Reign) but then doesn't know quite where to go. It frequently jumps between characters, giving the appearance of a story but never showing the interesting bits.

It's still better than a bunch of the other Dark Reign era books, and Fraction's dialogue is, at least, enjoyable.

The art even manages to be fairly colorful, which is a rarity during the Mud Reign era.

I recommend it for its importance in X-Men continuity (it establishes Utopia) and for fans of the silly intro narration pages that were en vogue in the early 2010s.

[Elin the Lightship · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this is a crossover.
The story is a bit confusing at times and the art varies from ok to exceptional. Was actually two different pages I wanted to tear out and hang on my wall, that's how good some parts are.
And the confusing bit is actually refreshing. I'm tired of everything adapting to the casual reader with explaining everything and lots of throwsbacks. Sure, some more details could've been nice every once in a while but it didn't bother me. It made it interesting. Seeing both sides, or three sides. The Dark Avengers, Osborn's Dark X-Men & Cyclops little gang of muties.
Trying to figure out how Norman Osborn works is not the easiest. Is he still the villain? What does he want?

[Sonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this were thrilling, especially for those of us familiar with the histories of most of the characters involved. This world of the "Marvel Universes" which for me is something of a cross between mythology and soap opera, this world of powers and personalities can be magical if it is handled consistently both in terms of content and quality. Quality is one thing that is lacking at times in these story compilations with many different writers and artists, so while I really dug this on the whole, there were parts that could have been stronger.

[Travis Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta say this was a good book. Norman Osborn is in full stride taking on the world. I especially liked the whole dark x men and avengers. Great character development, tons of action, overall good writing. Colossus vs venom, I needed more!!!! Side note: only half of this book is the utopia story, lots of side stories. Some good some bad

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utopia is a fairly engaging mini-event within the larger Dark Reign event that establishes a new status quo for mutants (though it's really no different from the previous status quo). The event kicks off with an anti-mutant march that predictably leads to violence, followed by a harsh crackdown from Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers team.

One criticism for this storyline (and this post-M-Day era of X-History): there are simply too many mutants. We follow at least five different threads, each thread containing a band of mutants who are fighting against humans, Dark Avengers, or both. I thought Scarlet Witch pared back the mutant menace! Marvel editorial really should have leaned into that plan, it would have made for much more engaging stories.

Anyway, the Dark Avengers are soon joined by Emma Frost's Dark X-Men team. Beast is tortured, Cyclops prevaricates, and there are additional blow-ups until, suddenly, it's revealed Emma was on team mutant the whole time and Cyclops was working on raising an asteroid from the ocean to use as a new mutant home. The event naturally ends in a big battle over Utopia which, surprisingly, was pretty cool. Some really neat clashes between foes and power sets.

Then there's all the clean-up, which is fine, and the Dark Reign tie-in issues wherein Osborn forms his Dark Avengers team. All acceptable, not terribly thrilling. Utopia certainly feels like Krakoa, which is kind of disappointing. These mutants love their island nations, don't they?

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best X-Crossover events!

The X-Men face off against the Dark Avengers and new Dark X-Men in this Dark Reign era mega-crossover event, and I loved it!

As a massive fan of the Dark Reign Marvel Era, and a big fan of the various X-Men volumes preceding this, Utopia was a joy to read. Lots of stakes and uncertainty in this story, as well as actually threatening villains.

Between humans rioting against mutants being allowed to breed and the government taking over San Francisco and treating the X-Men as a violent gang, there are plenty of great and down to Earth character moments. No end of the world nonsense or aliens. Just mutants fighting against a world that hates them.

The X-Men's fall and subsequent rise is done excellently, showing why Scott is such a great leader and character. The main fight in this book is not a physical one (though there is a lot of action), the fight is a mental battle between Scott and Norman Osborn, as they both try and get the public to support their respective causes.

Also some great moments with the New Mutants (who haven't been new for about 30 years) which is always appreciated, and some other underrated characters get some moments to shine.

An excellent event! Highly recommended.

[salomé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je me suis un peu foiree dans mon ordre de lecture car j’aurais du lire ça AVANT second coming, schism etc mais pas grave. Mieux vaut tard que jamais. Maintenant je connais l’origine d’Utopia.
Honnêtement j’en avais un peu rien à foutre de norman Osborn et ses équipes de personnages détestables, j’ai juste la pour les x-men. Je n’ai pas été déçue car Emma et Scott ont servi ‘leaders charismatiques et calculateurs’ par excellence.
Dani Moonstar a aussi slay ses 3 pages dédiées. Bref, c’était fun mais oubliable.

[Nii · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This was an interesting event, and as far as x-men events go, quite simple. However that did make is a little lacking. Emma's character, as intriguing as it normally is, was a little one dimensional in the main issues. We also had to wait a while to actually see some action from the X-men. I did however really like the side stories 'X-men Utopia: Confession' and the two X-men Legacy issues.

[Matt Shaqfan · Rating 2 out of 5]

(softcover)

The single review quote on the back of this book says "...(Fraction and Silvestri) set up Marvel's big summer crossover in and interesting, complex way."

'Intersting'?!!! 'Complex'?! Those are some killer adjectives... Uhhh, yeah. I think that reviewer was just trying not to be mean, cause honestly the main story was pretty weak, and although I really like Fraction's work on IRON MAN, this didn't do much for me. Kept my interest I guess, but after the main six-chapter arc, I actually enjoyed all the extra side stories and mini series also included in this trade, much more. I think there was supposed to be this amazing 'twist' (Cyclop's secret plan or whatever) in the main story, but it just lacked that "OOMF!" Fraction might have been going for. At $35 it's still a better deal than if you got the single issues, but there might be better stuff out there.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this volume. As an X-Men fan (and Marvel fan generally), I really liked seeing how everything connects together and the story plays out. The art is generally well done, if a little large in each page (there could be more panels per page). Yet, there is something ultimately something lacking in this volume-I cannot figure out whether it is there sheer volume of the Marvel universe (one really needs an understanding of the world to properly understand and appreciate this volume), the number of characters that need to be portrayed or some puzzling characterisations (especially Namor).

While an X-Men (and Marvel) fan will still get something out of this work, this is not one for the casual reader.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
All the plots of the past few years (X-Men moving to San Francisco; rise of Anti-Mutant legislation; Illuminati; Dark X-Men; re-creation of X-Force; Dark Avengers; H.A.M.M.E.R. replacing S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of Secret Invasion; the whole Mutant Messiah plotline; etc) come to a head here in Utopia. Most of the story is fighting and the execution of a cleverly placed plot. Everyone faces off and battles, then suddenly, the island of Alcatraz rises up more fully from the water, and is declared the new mutant Utopia. Mutants begin to flock like crazy to it and they declare themselves a separate nation, and as such, the "Avengers" need to clear out.
Pretty straight forward book, good action, but again, I need to fully read a crossover to be fully satisfied I guess.
Recommend.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about planting a flag and making a home. This the go to story I point too when I need someone to understand why Scott Summers isn't to be trifled with, the man is always prepared, and you rarely get to see someone like Norman Osborn against mutants. While the whole event and this collection is strong the whole way through, it's highs are quite high if you know where to look. Seeing Dark avengers vs the mutants panel by panel is amazing, even with the long con buildup. Sadly, some of the supplemental material in the back half of the book isn't particularly memorable, so that drags it down a bit, probably to three stars, but the Scott material and the fact he embarrassed Osborn does put a smile on my face.

[Nati · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ellos están en las calles porque un millón de personas se aparecieron en su hogar demandando que aprueben leyes que les prohíban tener bebés.
Algunos de ellos están aquí para hacer más que cantar. Algunos de ellos están aquí para gritar.
Algunos están aqui para pelear".

Me encantó esta trama, así como unos cuantos eventos más que han marcado a los Mutantes. Son estos arcos los que me atrapan y emocionan. Me encantó y cada día amo más a Emma. Así como cada día tolero más a Scott.

[Alex Sarll]

No classic, but still a far better Avengers/X-Men crossover than that recent clusterfuck, not least because the Avengers team here are acknowledged villains and lunatics.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a story on how Norman Osborn's Dark X-Men attack the real X-Men, its really a story on how the island of Utopia came to be. And more importantly, why it came to be.

After assembling his Dark X-Men in the other tie in book "Dark X-Men: the beginning", he sends his new team to San Francisco to provoke the X-Men. And due to Simon Trask once again stirring up anti-mutant rhetoric, they get the perfect opportunity to show why they are the superior team, and why the X-Men are in need of regulations at the very least.

I think Matt Fraction did a great job to integrate this event into the X-Men universe. He takes his time to slowly build up the threat, to the point where it seems very much like he has won before the battle has even started. Osborn even gets the public on board with Mystique filling in for the professor X role as... professor X. I liked this story because what ultimately wins the day is the planning of Cyclops. This really shows how good of a strategist and leader he is. Nowadays, and especially during this part of the X-Men's history, he was shown as villainous. But here we see why he is a badass and why he is the leader the X-Men need in order to survive.

At the end of the day, the X-Men have a new home and Norman can claim victory by saying that the X Men fled from the United States. It's an interesting new status quo that is setup, and I'm eager to see where Fraction takes it from here.

[jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, if this isn't one of the most overly convoluted comic books I've ever read.
The story continues from Dark Avengers Vol 1. and the X-Men's recent relocation to San Francisco. Norman Osborn is hell-bent on maintaining law and order, although with him on top and heroes and villains subservient to him. There are so many things that happen which felt like too much at times, and I didn't really enjoy reading it. It felt more like a chore if anything. It gets tiring having the villains win all the time.

It begins with the anti-mutant hate group Humanity Now! "protesting" mutant's existence, led by Simon Trask. It quickly became a riot once they noticed the presence of mutants in the crowd, which took a violent turn. Osborn, unsurprisingly, sent his team of Dark Avengers.. to quell the mutants and not those rabid racists... Anyways, the Dark Avengers and the X-Men battle it out but it sadly ends in a stalemate. Rogue and Trance beat the crap out of Ms. Marvel/Moonstone which was great to see!
The hate for mutants becomes so great that Scott makes the decision to relocate the mutants to the island of Utopia, free from the hate and oppressive legislation of the world. Osborn, naturally, seeks revenge and takes the Dark Avengers to Utopia. But, now that the mutants are all together, they soundly defeat those villains. Norman's tantrum was so funny and long awaited!

[Vladimír · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veľkou nevýhodou tohto príbehu je rozloženie zošitov v tomto vydaní. Prvá polovica sa totiž venuje hlavnému dianiu a to funguje fantasticky. Na jednej strane je nespokojná komunita mutantov protestujúca v uliciach San Francisca. Potlačiť sa túto rebéliu pokúša aktuálne hlavná postava národnej bezpečnosti Norman Osborn. Príbeh nie je len o pouličných bitkách, ale silným motívom je aj politika a zákulisné hry. Duel Osborn vs Cyclops je skvelý a vyvrcholí zhruba v polovici booku. Čo je záver hlavného príbehu. Nasleduje niekoľko zošitov, ktoré už sú len tie-iny a pre hlavné dianie robia iba pozadie. Je otázne, či by nebolo lepšie dodržať chronológiu. Existuje tu síce riziko, že by bol hlavný príbeh príliš nariedený, ale booku ako celku by to určite pomohlo. V prípade Utopie ma totiž druhá polovica príliš nebavila, keďže som vedel kam presne každý rozhovor a rozhodnutie smeruje. Ako celok je ale tento príbeh z temného obdobia Marvel vesmíru dobrý a aj napriek horeuvedenému som si ho užil. Nestáva sa často, že to má človek chuť napísať, ale Cyclops je frajer!