The Ultimates: The Defenders
Issue: #19
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Bryan Hitch
Inker: Paul Neary
Colors: Laura Martin

Despite his less than honorable discharge from The Ultimates, Hank Pym still wants to be a superhero. He signs on with The Defenders, a group of people with no superpowers or hero experience. We’re introduced to the members during Hank’s first meeting: Nighthawk, Hellcat, Power Man, Son of Satan, Valkyrie, and the Black Knight (held up in traffic and unable to attend). Nighthawk announces that the team really does have or will have some major power players (Dr. Strange and a couple of the X-Men), but none of them are available at the moment. The Defenders are thrilled and impressed with the fact that Giant Man will be joining—except that Hank can’t use his Giant Man persona because SHIELD owns it. He does, however, have a new set of powers as Ant Man, able to shrink to insect-size and communicate with ants.

Hank hasn’t quite managed to cut all ties with SHIELD, however. He stops at the Triskelion to meet with Nicholas Fury and show him two of his new robots, Ultron and Vision II. Fury turns down his offer. Hank also sees Janet for a few minutes, and has an unpleasant run-in with Captain America. This leads to a disagreement between Jan and Cap.

The Defenders assemble to travel to their first mission, a building on fire. But they’re foiled by a lack of transportation—they can’t get a cab. Iron Man is seen zooming by overhead to assist at the scene. Nevertheless, Nighthawk has a plan; he knows of a group of kids who plan to steal cigarettes from a warehouse, and he calls a reporter to come and cover The Defenders as they capture the thieves.

That’s the plan, anyway. At the actual scene, the Black Knight is again late, and the Defenders split up to find the kids. Nighthawk discovers them in the warehouse he’s checking. He confronts them alone, but the planned heroics turn deadly as the three teens beat him up and throw him out a window. Valkyrie, outside the warehouse, sees the attack and calls Hank for back-up. Hank is trying to assemble all of the ants in the area, but can only find a few. At last, when Valkyrie is being pursued by the teens, Hank becomes Giant Man. Unfortunately, his clothing doesn’t survive the experience, and the Daily Bugle runs his picture (altered slightly for modesty’s sake) with a front-page article.

By the end of the issue, we see this has been a story that Hank is relating to someone visiting his apartment. The unknown visitor has offered him a chance to betray the Ultimates and turn traitor, and points to a news item on the television—the team has gone to the Middle East and crippled a nation

Submitted By: Seldes Katne