Hulk on Utopia: HULK HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BAY AREA!!

For once, lots of stuff gets smashed and bashed, and there is no way we can blame Hulk (or the Shi'ar, or the Sentinels, or Transformers, or robots, etc.) for it. In fact, in the first chapter of Utopia (Dark Avengers/X-Men- #1) it all comes down to that pesky bit of human nature known as "We're better than you, we're the ones who are right, so you can either side with us or pay" (which incidentally, is also the cause of about a couple hundred non-fictional conflicts at the moment), which is what turns SanFran into a chaotic semi-war zone a la No Man's Land where emotions run high and seem to eclipse any and all intelligence. See the live riot footage below.

A lot of the issue continiues along the same vein, riot, riot, riot, and corresponding media reports. However, this hit-after-hit pace adds the realism of immediate, jostling, chaos, and it feels just like you're there, and this is your town going to the dogs. Points for Fraction.

This town though, belongs to Sadie Sinclair, aka the Mayor. And it'sreally, really, not the type of thing you want on a tourism brochure. I've been iffy about her since she was introduced in Uncanny. I mean, is this lady completely clueless, or is she just someone who meant well and bit off more than they could chew? Because inviting the X-men to your city and basically standing by while they tear away your roads and your reputation hardly seems like a safe or justified move. Perhaps she's going for neither....

After more rioting, Norman Osborn declares martial law and send in (ooooooo!) The Dark Avengers, but I won't get too into that, as nothing too unpredictable nor world-shattering happens. The fans of Emma Frost (I and this blog included) will be happy to know she's got an absolutely crackling sub-plot in this issue, which i just can't wait to see expand. I enjoy her moral ambuguity and really want to know just what she's eyeballs deep in. Oh, Emma.

If that wasn't enough for you, by the very last page, you're treated to four huge reveals, one per panel, that right then completely change the X-Men. Yeah, right in those four panels, quite a lot of canon and expectations are just shattered like the windows on most of the city's shops. Bye-Bye predictability.

I'll say the same thing as I said in the top five. If you've got the cash, you gottta get this issue. If you haven't, it really is too bad. Fraction is at the top of his game here, and it reads better than some of his Uncanny work. The entire story is breathless, frantic, and dizzy, racing against itself to the finish, and delivering blow by blow on the way. Yeah, I've made it sound horrible, but that kind of pace works for this story, and I can't imagine it any slower. What needs to be said and done is, with little to add and nothing to take away.