Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia

Title: Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia

ISBN: 9780785142331
Price: $39.99
Publisher/Year: Marvel, 2009
Artist: Marc Silvestri, Terry Dodson, Luke Ross & Mike Deodato
Writers: Matt Fraction, James Asmus, Mike Carey & Paul Cornell
Collects: Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus, Uncanny X-Men #513-514, Dark Avengers #7-8, Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1-3, X-Men Legacy #226-227 and Dark X-Men: The Confession

Rating: 3.5/5

Having already read the Dark Avengers: Disassembled trade earlier this year, I was really looking forward to reading the interaction between Osborn's Avengers and the X-Men. I've been a huge fan of the X-Men for years, but stopped collecting and reading the various x-titles shortly after the Age of Apocalypse crossover. My biggest problem was that I really liked the writers and artists that they had in the early to mid 90's. After the AoA crossover, Marvel started bringing in new artist and writers. I didn't originally care for the new artists, and that drew me away from the various titles. As we all know now, the artists would come and go, and the good ones would stay and work with various writers to create new and interesting storylines. Thank goodness for trade paperbacks!
 
Having lost a great deal of time between AoA and Utopia, it wasn't too hard to get back into the thick of things. I did have some nagging questions about who, what, when, where and why... but I was able to piece together much of the answers myself while reading this trade. Those questions that weren't answered, I was of course able to look to our good friend wikipedia. I still have a few questions I haven't started to research the answers for, but I can wait.
 
The only real drawback to this entire trade is the reprinting of "The Judgement of Namor" story. I was forced to read it once during the Dark Reign: Prelude trade, and here I am being assaulted by it again. So I just passed over it and went to the next chapter.
 
The stories are all well written and the art is wonderful. I enjoyed this trade from cover to cover... aside by the aforementioned Namor section. There's a part of me that likes Osborn's Dark X-Men. Is that wrong? I like the Dark Avengers too, and I've never really care for anything Avengers before. This is apprently how Marvel is making-up for the lost time. That's okay by me.
 
I do recommend picking this trade up and add it to your collection. I read Civil War, The Death of Captain America and Secret Invasion before I read Dark Reign: Prelude and Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, and I think that worked well. I hope you enjoy this trade as much as I did.