Ultimates #16: Caged Birds Sing

Since it’s inception, this volume of Ultimates has been a story of resistance. Resistance in the face of overwhelming fascism. Resistance against your own failings. A story of fighting for truth in a world of lies as men mad with power consume all who try to think for themselves. It’s a story that has never been more relevant in today’s political climate. I won’t go too much into the since I’m not the type of guy to explain politics, but it is something important to point out when it comes to this comic. 

While it’s sister books focus more on the Maker’s effect on the world in their own little corners (New York for Spider-Man, Wakanda for Black Panther, Ni Ho Kuni for X-men, and Russian for Wolverine), Ultimates has always thought BIGGER in terms of it’s scope on this universe. Though for this one issue, the creative team opted to hone in on something much smaller. We don’t focus on Iron Lad, Captain America, She-Hulk, Doom, or any of the other super powered beings on the team. The result being quite possibly the best issue of the entire run so far. 

Wren Montgomery and her accomplices in the Ultimates Network could be stand-ins for any number of us reading the issue. Their experiences under the Marker’s thrall making them achingly human. What radicalized you? A teacher taken away for daring to teach truth to children? A friend “dying” simply because they were different? Remaining silent as the world around you starts to turn more and more violent? In this way the Ultimates serve as a counter to these tragedies by giving the people something to believe in, but that fight does not come without sacrifices, and Wren’s come at a very high cost. 

As he has done so many times before, Denis Camp expertly centers this tale through the eyes of young Wren as she awakens to the horrible truths of the world around her. She asks questions and wonders just why things are the way they are at the risk of the lives of the people closest to her, but that’s what makes her story hit even harder. As stated earlier, outside of a couple of panels here and there, none of the Ultimates themselves appear in the story proper. This story is all about Wren and the regular people of the world that have chosen to join the fight. As such when the action heats up, the tension reaches a peak because we don’t know if she will make it out alive. 

Juan Frigeri, as always, is right in step with Camp. His pencils wonderfully highlighting Camp’s script. You can feel Wren’s emotions both good and bad as her quest for truth unfolds, as well as sit at the edge of your seat as the issue leaves both you and Wren in unfamiliar territory.