*SPOILERS* Comic Review: The Ultimates Vol. 2 #10 *SPOILERS*

This isn't so much a review of the single ish as it is my thoughts on the entirety of the series. I didn't jump into the Ultimates until late last year, and I had a really great 1.5 volumes of Ultimates goodness at my dispoal to read. Alas I imagine just like everyone else who is a fan of the series I've learned of the pitfalls of The Ultimates coming out whenever the hell they want aka NOT SOON ENOUGH. But this had seriously been one of the first comic series I would wait for patiently to come out.

It's quite weird because it's not that I'm entirely speculative on what'll happen, in fact my wait for The Ultimates usually is on the back burner of my mind. For some reason I accredit this lack of anticipation for the weird quality of the work. It's a compelling read at times and yet I think because of it's basis in reality, it suddenly becomes a sort of part of everyday life. I'm not saying that there are real superheroes jumping around in costumes and saving the world, but like how media or even pop culture events unfold weeks or months at a time, we keep in touch. And somehow The Ultimates manages to be so akin to our reality in terms of content, it makes us pay more attention by not focusing it as a form of media outside of what we see everyday on the internet or on TV.

So last we left our heros, the shittiest of shit storms had hit them. The machinations they created had crippled them and basically the Anti Ultimates (Called The Liberators) formed by Non-American super powers. One thing that I love about the series is that a lot of the content is based on reactions. In fact you could say that the entire series is motivated by the reactions of it's characters. The reaction of Ant Man beating up his wife. The reaction of Captain America beating up on Ant Man for beating up his wife. The reactions of finding out that Thor is a lunatic with stolen technology. And in this case, the reaction of Ultimates dealing with an incredibly shitty situation.

What I love especially about this issue this emphasizes that there can be really *really* bad times for heroes. Not just "Oh we're captured....let's just make the best of it and muscle our way out". I mean "Oh shit, there's a really big chance that we will *never* come out the same in this battle, but I'm going to take everyone down who fucked me over." It's the capacity for improvising on the fly, on the spot and winning that appeals to me greatly. Not some elaborate plan that's already been there for a while...not some unimaginative way a super power has been used (or reused) time and time again for the same purpose of hitting lever A to release containment field B.

What really sells the fact that their improvisation worked are the people in awe of it. God in Heaven sells fear to me far better than Oh my God. The surprise in villain's stupidity in underestimating the heroes, not in a "Curse you captain planet" type way but in a "Holy shit Ripley, the ALIEN escaped from the hatch" type fear. Hawkeye is that alien, and he has the jagged toothy fangs to play the nightmare to fall upon his captors. But nothing fares better than seeing people clawing thier way back to the top.....and only half the team is assembled. This was a great issue and I will wait for the next installment of the Ultimates.