Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…I am only doing a couple of reviews this week and neither of them have Wolverine. Pretty quiet all the way around. Anyway I am starting with the third part of Utopia.  Hope you enjoy it.

Dark Avengers #7 (preview)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Luke Ross
Inkers: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington & Luke Ross

NOTE: Wolverine does not appear in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP:The issue opens with Beast in his cell after his stint on the Omega Machine. He is talking to Xavier about how he is losing his fur and fingernails. Norman and Dark Beast are listening at the door. Osborn is very upset at the effect the machine had on Hank and wants it fixed. Dark Beast says it is a work in progress but Osborn does not except that.

Norman goes to talk to the Sentry and explains this is a good thing from a public relations stand point and that they are going to be better off for it. Sentry does not seem convinced.

In Union Square, Emma’s X-Men are taking the fight to the young mutant malcontents. The young mutants are all taken down and Frost has to step in and keep Daken from killing Avalanche. Hellion is the last one standing and yells at the Dark X-Men while the cameras capture the whole fight.

Scott Summers flies in a jet pack to a group of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and asks to speak with Osborn. Norman appears and Scott tells him to surrender and leave town tomorrow. Osborn refuses and says that Cyclops is a dead man as the mutant leader flies away.

The Dark Avengers are watching the fight on TV and Bullseye is mad that they were not included. He tries to rally the others to go out and do something but only Ares is interested. The are interrupted by the return of the Dark X-Men

Daken is abusing Hellion and Emma makes him stop. She demands that the captive mutants be well treated and and tells Norman she expects to see the whole operation.

Bullseye confronts Daken about being on both teams and he reacts violently starting a brawl between the two groups.

Osborn and Dark Beast are showing Emma the mutant storage area. They have holograms to cover the less pleasant parts but Xavier is able to talk to Emma’s mind and explain what is really going on. She says that she believes him.

It ends with Trask making a speech against the new X-Men and he commands the rest of his Sentinel infected people to rise up and destroy all mutants.

MY TAKE: While the plot is still interesting, this issue is definitely starting to show the strain of the story. There are simply too many characters and too much going on for it to flow well. Although there are a huge number of short scenes, so much is set up and explanation that the real plot does not advance much. Seeing that we are already at the halfway point for the story I do not see how it will be able to wrap up cleanly.

The issue did advance the mutant side with the capture and Emma seemingly being made aware of what was really going on. Scott and Norman’s meeting did not accomplish anything but it does set up a larger conflict. Hopefully next issue will feature more of Trask and his minions. They are really the wild card here.

The characters are done decently in that I did not see any major personality breaks, but so much is thrown at us that I would be hard pressed to tell. Emma is still the focus but she seemed a little bit flat here, only concerned about protecting the mutants that she is going out of her way to capture and give to Osborn. That is somewhat of a contradiction to me.

The whole story reads as a temporary plot line. I am not sure what long term effects this is going to have for either the X-Men or the Avengers. I expect the changes with Beast may be permanent but I seriously doubt any of the prisoners are going to be held indefinitely, especially considering some of them are very high profile.

I also do not see the Dark X-Men team continuing, although it would be great if a few of the members could be rolled into the main X-Men team.

In the end this was not a bad issue but the cracks are starting to show. There is obviously a definite ending point they are trying to get to and everything is being shoehorned in, rather being allowed to evolve naturally.

With this many characters and events it makes the whole thing feel rushed and and slightly off kilter. Hopefully the rest of the series has a chance to slow down a bit on focus on the characters and their thought rather then just the events that are happening.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.