Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…Here is my third review for the week. Since there are no titles that I need to do next week I will be breaking this up a bit. But for now here is ‘Dark Avengers’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Dark Avengers #8 (preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Luke Goss
Inker: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington & Luke Goss

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP (for previous chapter of ‘Utopia’, see ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #514): The issue opens with Dani in Las Vegas making a deal with Hela to become a Valkyrie. Back in San Francisco, Emma’s X-Men have taken down Trask and spend the next week endearing themselves to the city while Cyclops sits and waits.

The Dark X-Men get a look at the Omega Machine and Cloak and Dagger are really upset with the pain it causes its subjects. Meanwhile, Osborn is very happy with the new team and is ready to pull the Avengers out of the city as a show of good faith.

The X-Men Science team finally finishes their work underwater and fire up the engines starting the process of powering up the machines.

We flash to Alcatraz island where Dark Beast is putting Hank McCoy through the Omega Machine to power up Omega. He goes to get another subject only to find that they are all gone. X-force has arrived and used Illyana to teleport out all the prisoners. Dark Beast screams for backup and Omega comes running while the rest of Emma’s team mobilizes.

Scott gives the command and they raise up what looks to be Asteroid M in the middle of the bay and Pixie starts moving the mutants to their new home.

Omega and Dark Beast face X-Force and are carved up quickly. The rest of the team arrives and Daken starts making threats about killing them all. He is taken down from behind by Emma while Namor deals with Mimic. Illyana makes one more teleport trip to take everyone out. Emma convinces Cloak and Dagger to come along as well.

Scott holds a press conference on his new island home with Emma at his side. He says that they have left the mainland but will not be pushed or prosecuted any more. He throws down the gauntlet for Osborn who accepts, taking the remaining Dark X-Men and his Avengers on the attack.

MY TAKE: This issue was surprising but in a good way. I expected it to be more about fighting but there was actually quite a bit of plot development. The story was pretty simplistic, most of the issue was simply about getting their people free and to the new base, but it was still filled with important plot points. I do hope that the next issue is a bit more streamlined. There were so many locations and character jumps that it felt rushed.

I am not sure that I really understand the significance of living on an island versus the shore, nor do I think it is smart considering Genosha, but it is an interesting concept. Having a mutant homeland is something that has been explored any number of times but takes on an added dimension with small numbers of living mutants. I wonder if we will see the reactions from the rank and file X-kids about their new living arrangements.

My favorite part was Dani’s brief scene at the beginning. I have always liked her character and without powers it has not been easy to keep her involved. But with the Valkyrie abilities it will put her back in the mix. I am confused about the significance to Scott, however. Perhaps he wants a god to fight a god? I do not see how she would be a match for Ares. Maybe it will be explained next issue.

I am not the least bit surprised that Emma and Namor turned out to be good and betrayed their companions, but I was pleased to see that Cloak and Dagger came along as well. They are two very underused and hopefully this will led to them getting a bit more screen time and development.

The weakest part of the issue was the characterizations. So much was happening that we did not really have time for introspective moments and that always hurts an issue in my opinion. Several characters seemed to be reduced to caricatures, especially on the villain side. I am not sure if that can be helped with the sheer volume of people being used, but it does make it harder to relate to their stories.

In the end this was a solid if somewhat hurried issue. They had a lot of ground to cover and did it pretty well but I am still of the opinion they needed to either add more issues or reduce some of the story. As it was, Trask’s defeat did not even get to happen on page after the build up last issue. But it was still a fun read and I am eagerly looking forward to the big fighting finale.

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.