Synopsis: Note: This issue takes place before the events in Ultimate X-Men #25. Hawkeye and Black Widow walk along a street, planning on storming two different office buildings. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are in position and Hawkeye moves into his building. Clint tries BS his way saying he has an appointment, but the man at the lobby desk calls his bluff. Hawkeye pulls out his bow and buries an arrow in the man's forehead. Security guards immediately shoot at Clint, but in a matter of seconds they, and everyone else in the lobby, look like pincushions. Hawkeye gives orders for the agents to continue cleaning out the building floor by floor, seemingly killing innocent people.
Meanwhile, in her building, Black Widow is gunning down the employees with ease, which makes her uneasy because she expected more resistance. As Hawkeye orders his men not to damage the computers, one of his men finds a timer in one of the "creature's" hands. Its a bomb, and Clint's building explodes. Natasha tries to determine if Hawkeye survived. He did, but the blast threw him and one of his men almost out of the building. He grabbed the soldier with one hand and hangs from a steel girder with the other. Four survivors from the blast are making their way to Hawkeye to finish him off, and Natasha isn't able to get to ground level and over to him in order to save him in time. She orders the S.H.I.E.L.D. choppers to drop a gun on her mark. She jumps out of her building, catches the gun in midair, and lands across the street on Hawkeye's floor. Good thing she has those million dollar enhancements. She takes out the four aiming for Hawkeye and the mission is a success.
At the Triskelion, Fury introduces Black Widow and Hawkeye to the rest of the team. Natasha and Clint are being put on the public team while Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are now on the Shadow Team for obvious reasons. Pietro and Wanda are still in the Brotherhood and have agreed only to help S.H.I.E.L.D. for the release of some political prisoners. Remember, Magneto was still thought to be dead when this issue takes place. Widow asks where they were during the mission earlier that day, and Quicksilver says he saved her life 3 different times without her even realizing it. Clint asks where Cap is, but Fury isn't sure. After Stark's urging, Fury begins the briefing.
There are eleven species of aliens on Earth, all being monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. One of these, the shapeshifting Chitauri, arrived in 1777 and wishes to take over the planet. The closest they ever came was World War II, in which they were responsible for the Third Reich. Of course, the Nazis did not win WWII, and S.H.I.E.L.D. believed that the Chitauri were wiped out in the years after the war. But lately, bodies and sightings have been popping up, and the buildings that Widow and Hawkeye cleaned out were full of them. Though all 528 aliens were killed, Fury expects that it is the tip of the iceberg. All they know is that they're based in Micronesia. Everyone seems to take this news calmly, except for Stark who is stunned at everyone's coolness about the whole alien thing. Fury shows the team one of the Chitauri, and I simply cannot describe it. The team wonders how Cap is going to feel when he finds out the things that almost killed him back in WWII are their new mission.
Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. has found Cap's location. He lied to the troops and said Fury gave him jurisdiction to bring in Pym. Fury tells the troops to make sure that Cap does not, under any circumstances, injure Pym. The troops respond that its too late to tell him, as they parachuted him minutes ago. In the Red Lion bar in Chicago, Steve comes up behind Pym, wanting a word....
Review: First of all, I have to comment of this book's shipping schedule. It is ridiculous. We are getting 4 or 5 issues of Ultimate X-Men for every issue of Ultimates lately. And now that the two titles are intertwined, continuity is a big factor. There wasn't even a footnote explaining when this issue took place (does anyone else miss footnotes), and seeing Quicksilver and Wanda's initial reasons for being there confused me. They weren't hiding for Magneto yet, they were still in the Brotherhood. An explanation would've been nice.
And as much as it would make sense to bring in a fill-in artist, I'm glad in a way that they do not because Bryan Hitch's art is superb. My main complaint with the Ultimate War is Bachalo's inability to clearly show what is going on in the action scenes. Not the case here. Natasha's dive out of the window, catching the gun, wasting the bad guys... excellent. The final page of Cap and Giant Man was also great artwork.
The alien angle is cool, but I wonder if its going to be put on the back burner when this title catches up to the Magneto problem. And anyone wanna bet to see how long it is until we see some version of the Shi'ar? Also, for those who have been reading this title from the beginning, Fury mentioned the fact that Captain America was the man who founded the alien technology that jumpstarted NASA. The comment (made in #2) just seemed like a little Ultimate tidbit, but the fact that it was brought back into the light with the Chitauri's involvement made it even cooler. Still a great title, but something has to be done about the delays. I want it as often as I can get it.