Gamma Flight is a 2021 Marvel Comics miniseries co-written by Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier, and illustrated by Lan Medina. It is a spin-off of Immortal Hulk.
Formed to track and stop the Hulk, Gamma Flight instead ended up siding with him against the Avengers and the U.S. Government. Now fugitives and wanted by every known authority, Gamma Flight is in hiding on the down-low. But when a new Gamma Mutate starts rampaging, Gamma Flight is spurred into action, landing themselves into the middle of a conspiracy in the process.
Starring Puck, Absorbing Man, Titania, Doc Sasquatch, Dr. Charlene McGowan and a horribly changed Rick Jones and Del Frye.
The miniseries lasted five issues, ending in October, 2021.
Tropes included in Gamma Flight:
- And I Must Scream: The fate of General Fortean, since Joe Fixit snapped his neck in the Below Place in Immortal Hulk. Now he's been used by Abomination.
- American Gothic Couple: The cover for #3 shows Titania and Absorbing Man in the pose.
- Arc Words: "I was transformed."
- At Least I Admit It: Crusher hates Len, thinking he's an arrogant jerk. Titania points out he's a jerk as well, which he cops too. He just feels he's honest about it.
- Betrayal Insurance: Charlene grabs Dr. Alba's gun and turns it on Abomination, reasoning that there's no way Dr. Alba wouldn't have a weapon that could hurt them, "just in case". And she's right.
- Body Horror: Stockpile's powers do not make for a pleasant sight to look at. And there's still Rick and Del's situation.
- The Bus Came Back: After his de-powering during Gerry Duggan's Indestructible Hulk, Skaar, son of the Hulk, comes back once more as a Hulk to capture Stockpile. Issue two reveals that Dr. Alba and the Abomination have also returned as his backers.
- Call-Back: The means Abomination and Dr. Alba use to create Gamma Mutates is a modified version of Len's own Cathexis Ray.
- Came Back Wrong: Fortean tried to resurrect via the Green Door, only to find Emil Blonsky was already waiting for him, leaving him stuck.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Reginald Fortean quietly admits he never managed to tell his daughter he loves her. He doesn't get the chance here either, as she's teleported away before he can finish saying it.
- Captain Obvious: When the team is attacked by Gamma Mutates, Doc Samson declares this, something Creel points out is redundant.
- Commonality Connection: Titania and Absorbing Man both understand part of Stockpile's origins due to all three owing to making a Deal with the Devil.Stockpile: I was pissed off, and I let him turn me into a monster because I thought it would make me more important than the people who hurt me.
Titania: Damn, do I relate.
Absorbing Man: HA! - Composite Character:
- As seen in Immortal Hulk, Doc Samson is still inside Sasquatch's body, turning it green and growing out his hair to make it more like Samson's. Hence why he's now called "Doc Sasquatch."
- Meanwhile, Rick Jones and Del Frye are still trapped in one body, although it has two heads and they are having trouble adjusting.
- Continuity Overlap: The spinoff runs parallel with the closing issues of Immortal Hulk, tackling loose ends Ewing didn't have the time or room to tackle in the main narrative.
- Creepy Good: The Del-Rick fusion. As Del puts it, they do "spooky".
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After all they've gone through, Del and Rick manage to get separated in the final issue, allowing Del some peace of mind.
- Foreshadowing: Partway through the first issue, the gang discuss Skaar, and how since his depowering no one's been able to learn where he's gotten to, and no way of knowing if it even stuck (a not-unreasonable thing to worry about, given Rick Jones and Betty Ross's didn't).
- Fugitive Arc: After deciding to help the Hulk in Immortal Hulk #46, the authorities are after the team.
- Innocently Insensitive: When Doc Sasquatch talks about trying to get his real body back, he makes an unfortunate comment to Charlene:Doc Sasquatch: I don't think the others get it, but I knew you could relate to feeling trapped in a body that feels so... unnatural.Charlene: Just because my body is transgender... doesn't mean it's unnatural! It's not the same! [runs away]Doc Sasquatch: Oh.
- It's All My Fault: Creel blames himself for the team's situation through issue 3. While Mary might love him, she's not terribly sympathetic.Creel: And it's still my fault.
Mary: Nobody likes a whiner, honey. - Jerkass Realization: Issue two has Len discuss the fact that he's a bit of an ass. His internal monologue muses on how he basically stole Bruce's powers and his girlfriend, then he's apologizing to Titania for being patronizing while also mentioning being condescending to Charlene.
- Karma Houdini: Abomination escapes, still in control of Fortean's body.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Charlene's mention that none of the Gamma mutates has been permanently cured sort of lampshades Marvel's tendency of bringing them back with their mutations, one way or another.
- My God, What Have I Done?: His time being dead and used as a host for Abomination seems to have given Reginald some time to think, mainly about how he was a terrible father to his daughter.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: For all Titania insists she and Carl aren't sticking around, and that they quit being part of Gamma Flight, they've still got the outfits, and she's the one who convinces Carl into helping with Stockpile.
- Not Now, Kiddo: In issue 3, as Charlene is worrying about where the team might've gotten to, Del and Rick try getting her attention, but she keeps brushing them off until Del yells at her.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Samson's invention of the Cathexis ray, and his dating Betty Ross.
- Painful Transformation: Skaar's re-empowering by Dr. Alba is, judging by the sounds, not pleasant. And she didn't give him anasthetic.
- Police Brutality: A bunch of police intervenes in the fight between Stockpile and Flight. The first one of the scene fires a "warning shot" at Creel's head. If he hadn't been adamantium at the time... Titania responds with her usual calm.Titania: The hell was that! What, was that the warning shot? WE'RE TRYIN' TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE!
- The Reveal: Stockpile is General Fortean's daughter.
- Sensor Character: Rick-Del turns out to have the ability to sense where Gamma Mutates are, even when they're not on Earth.
- Sequel Hook: Abomination escapes, but the Gamma Flight team stick around to clean up his mess, with Dionne figuring there might be something in the labs she can use to rescue her father.
- Sickening Sweethearts: Carl and Mary are very affectionate to each other on the first issue. She even gifts him a ring of adamantium so he can transform whenever he needs to.
- Spinoff: Of Immortal Hulk.
- Spotting the Thread: Dr. McGowan takes note of things the team hears in their fight with Stockpile. Namely, that she'd escaped from a lab, someone had given her a codename, and she was expecting someone with gamma powers to come after her. Which means somebody out there is collecting mutates.
- Superhuman Transfusion: A variant; issue two reveals that Dr. Alba and Abomination are experimenting on grafting his skin to others to create gamma mutates.
- Two Girls to a Team: Of the six members, two are women (Titania and Dr. Charlene McGowan).
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Dionne, as might be expected of the daughter of an insane perfectionist like General Fortean. Abomination manipulated it for all it was worth, turning her into Stockpile.
- Wham Shot:
- The end of issue one reveals who's hunting Gamma Mutates. It's Skaar,
- And in the end of issue two we see the original Abomination is back.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: With all the things each of them has been through, the team aren't certain where they've ended up when the teleporter malfunctions, thinking it's either an alien planet, a Hell, or a Bad Future. It's actually none of those things.
