As Utopia continues, none of my questions get answered. The first chapter did a good job creating a reason for the Dark Avengers' presence, but this one does nothing for Emma's defection. This whole issue consists of one silly concept after another.My main concern is Emma Frost. She's been an important part of the X-Men for a long time and in the span of one issue she leaves them. Matt Fraction doesn't write any transitional period to show her changing in any way. Emma just jumps on board with Osborn all of a sudden. I realize she's part of the Cabal, but only to protect mutants, not hunt them down. She basically comes off as Osborn's lap dog in this issue. Worst still, Namor is her lap dog with even less of an explanation.
Not only is Emma's transition not handled well, but Scott's reaction is nonexistent. He literally just watches the TV blankly while she makes her press conference. No anger. No confusion. No smirk. No nothing. They've been together for years now but he reacts like he's never even seen the girl before.
Adding to the nonsense is Terry Dodson's art. Matching the overall silliness of the story, his characters look like cartoon caricatures. Venom looks like a blob attacking Colossus the Tin-Man and Emma has a mean Junior Seau jawline. The action is a joke too, climaxing when Cyclops magically becomes Spider-Man and leaps a tall building. Finally, the expressionless faces on all the characters do nothing to help me make sense of anything going on.
If this issue is any indication, Utopia will be another failed crossover event. There may be a valid reason for a Dark X-Men team, but no such reason can be found as to Emma Frost and Namor's involvement. Right when the Dark Avengers series was getting good, this silly story will infect that one too, just as it has done Uncanny X-Men.
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