Gamma Flight #1 Advance Review: An Easy Recommendation for Any Immortal Hulk Reader

The Immortal Hulk is one of Marvel Comics' most popular series of the past few years (or more), which means it was only a matter of time until Marvel decided to create some sort of offshoot. In steps Gamma Flight, which takes many of the familiar faces seen in Immortal Hulk and portmanteaus them with Marvel's premiere Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight. The result makes for a bizarre dynamic, but also one that seems like it will make for a whole lot of fun across a five-issue miniseries.

Gamma Flight #1 is primarily used to set the stage and get readers familiarized with the cast of characters composing this oddball crew. Alpha Flight mainstay Puck is once again found in this incarnation of the team, but joining him are some faces you might not expect. Doc Samson, taking the form of Doc Sasquatch, is also on the team, as are Titania and Absorbing Man. Since this is such a strange crew on paper, it makes some of the interactions between these lesser-known characters quite enjoyable.

These character interactions and writing largely carry the debut of Gamma Flight. Since this is the first step of a spin-off, there isn't a well-developed narrative thrust up front to pull you in on the opening pages—that's still happening in Immortal Hulk. While a moment that really grabs you does arrive (expectedly on the book's final page), much of this issue is about establishing where these characters are and acquainting readers with how they feel about one another. Still, this isn't a bad thing whatsoever as writers Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier's work in presenting that background is excellent.

Gamma Flight also does a great job of filling in some gaps from Immortal Hulk, which is something that I really appreciated. Even though I have been reading Immortal Hulk, I'm not fully caught up with the series, which made me a bit hesitant jumping into Gamma Flight. Luckily, I didn't feel like I missed much in the grand scheme of things. Any relevant details that are going to play an important part in either series are fleshed out or at least briefly touched upon before coming back into play later. That having been said, if you haven't read any of The Immortal Hulk, Gamma Flight likely should be skipped since it does tie in with that series in some direct and significant ways.

The primary artist on Gamma Flight is that of Lan Medina, who is no stranger at Marvel Comics. Medina has also worked on properties like X-Men, Venom, and Cable & Deadpool over the years and continues to bring his unique style to the forefront of superhero comics in Gamma Flight. While his art isn't flashy, Medina finds a really great balance here in making characters appear both realistic and emotive while still possessing some semblance of cartoonish charm from bygone eras of comics. It's really a great art style that matches the world defined in The Immortal Hulk incredibly well.

Gamma Flight #1 is definitely worth your attention if you are engrossed in Al Ewing's run on The Immortal Hulk. This first issue might not have much action or excitement, but the writing and characters are more than enough to pull readers in. If you have been reading The Immortal Hulk in any form over the past few years, this is an easy add for your pull list.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Published by Marvel Comics

On June 23, 2021

Written by Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier

Art by Lan Medina

Colors by Antonio Fabela

Letters by Joe Sabino

Cover by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho