The Immortal Hulk’s allies take center stage in the new 5-issue Gamma Flight miniseries from Al Ewing, Crystal Frasier, Lan Medina, Antonio Fabela and Joe Sabino. Starring Puck, the Absorbing Man, Titania, Doc Sasquatch, Dr. Charlene McGowan and Rick Jones, the series notably marks the first-ever multi-issue story written by an openly trans writer in Marvel history.
Zoe Tunnell: WOO! GAMMA FLIGHT! THE ONE ACTUALLY GOOD QUEER THING MARVEL HAS DONE THIS PRIDE MONTH!
Cori McCreery: Well⌠mostly good. But the good does far outweigh the bad, and it continues Marvelâs hot streak when it comes to Immortal Hulk tie-ins.
Zoe: Oh yeah, look, I’ve got some thoughts about this book. But it’s just nice to read something and not feel a crushing sense of disappointment, y’know? Anyways, let’s dig in.
Unnatural Bodies
Cori: Letâs start with the elephant in the room though, because thereâs one thing that stood out to us both and brought the book down from where it could have been, and that was some extremely awkward and forced dialogue from Dr. McGowan after a conversation with Samson. Itâs telling how poorly the âJust because my body is transgender⌠doesnât mean itâs unnatural!â line hit, coming in the same week where we saw an amazing play on a similar theme at the rival company in The Dreaming: Waking Hours #11, isnât it?
Zoe: As much as I loved Waking Hours, and it’s A LOT, the far more interesting comparison, to me, comes from an Oni release I reviewed just last week, Cheer Up. It’s also written by Frasier and, frankly, handles its “talking about trans things” dialogue as gracefully and naturally as anything I’ve ever read. I called it my favorite comic of the year so far, and I stand by that. Comparing the clunky, stilted moment with McGowan here to the smooth, effective exchanges in Cheer Up does…not paint a flattering portrait of editorial direction of trans themes and writers at Marvel, for me.
Cori: Iâve not yet had a chance to dive into Cheer Up, but Iâve been following Crystal Frasierâs work for a long time. I mean a long time. I was a regular reader of her webcomic, Venus Envy when she was still using the pseudonym Erin Lindsey. And that webcomic, while rough around the edges, also was a lot smoother than this was, which considering that comic is 21 years old and hasnât updated in 7, is saying a lot. That said, itâs really nice to see Frasier start to get some bigger gigs in comics, including the first time a trans woman has been given more than a single issue at a time on a Marvel gig. Sheâs also been the voice behind the scenes thatâs helped Ewing to get the character work for Dr. McGowan down so well over the course of the series.
Zoe: Oh, absolutely. Clumsy execution or not, we’ve got a transwoman writing a Marvel miniseries that even features a trans character she helped create. That’s something truly special and I’ll happily put up with a moment of awkward dialogue if it means Frasier gets this platform and puts out work as good as the rest of the issue. Before we jump into the meat of it, though, I do want to say that while Ewing is credited as co-writer, I have a sneaking suspicion he did not actively script this series or share an equal workload with Frasier. It’s impossible to prove, but there are several documented cases of high-profile writers putting their names on a book with a lesser-known co-writer to give the book a leg up in sales while not actively writing it. Brubaker and Fraction on Immortal Iron Fist, Bendis and Hickman on Secret Warriors, etc. It’s not a complaint, if my theory is what happened then I’m happy Ewing is using his success to boost marginalized writers, if not, well, it is just my hunch. Anyways. Gamma Flight!
Unruly Houseguests
Cori: I know that weâre both here because of the trans stuff, but I guess we should talk about the actual book huh? This is a great little off-shoot of the main Immortal Hulk storyline, moving the plot of the side characters forward while the main book rockets toward its conclusion. I have to say I love the idea that since the team is on the run now, theyâre utilizing the supervillains on the team to provide a hiding spot. Thatâs just a nice little touch, donât you think?
Zoe: It’s DELIGHTFUL! Titania and Creel have become just this wonderful meathead married couple over the course of Immortal Hulk and having them suddenly be pulling a lot more weight with the team and becoming very aware of that is a blast. Really, everything with them hanging out at the hideout was just exactly the sort of low-stakes character focused stuff I wish we got more of in superhero books. The scene with Puck trying to play games with Rick and Del! My HEART!
Cori: Yeah, I absolutely loved everything in the hideout. Samson giving Charlene a neck rub, the video games, the very sweet proposal. All of it was just nice downtime gold. Makes sense since the other part of Frasierâs background is RPG writing, so sheâs well equipped to exploring downtime situations. This book at times very much felt like that cool-down session between arcs of a longform tabletop campaign. Just allowing the characters a bit of time to rest and breathe before diving into the next big thing. Which is of course, another gamma mutate running wild.
ZT: I love how this book approaches gamma, as a concept. Immortal Hulk has really built it up to be a singular sort of power source in the Marvel Universe. It’s impossible to live with gamma and not have your life changed in some fundamental way. For Creel it is how he thinks about himself and his relationship to everything around him. He doesn’t just absorb elements, he absorbs the essence of things and that colors his personality. For Rick and Del, they are left sharing a twisted body and trying to make what life they can. It’s created this little subculture of outcasts and misfits that have bonded together because no one else can possibly understand them, so of course they go running after the newest arrival and get into a big brawl.
Someone Bigger
Zoe: That brawl, with a shape-shifting, acid spewing new character named Dionne, aka Stockpile, could have been a pretty rote smash ’em up but really left me surprised and impressed. The fight is short and well-rendered, Medina isn’t the flashiest artist around but he has rock solid fundamentals and renders the squicky body horror elements well, but the real meat comes when the fighting stops and the talking begins.
Cori: Along with his body horror, I thought Medina excelled at the slow scenes that permeated throughout this issue. Like yeah, his action isnât the most dynamic weâve ever seen, but his work with face acting and emoting? Was pretty great, and that really helped to sell that climactic conversation that calmed the whole situation down while Charlene tried to get people out. Itâs a nice thing to see in superhero comics from time to time, when the heroes solve things in a manner other than punching it. Obviously it canât be that way all the time or books would get pretty boring, but thatâs what makes it a nice change of pace.
Zoe: Personally I’d prefer it if books were like that most of the time but I’m fully aware that I’m a weirdo. After the brawl and the conversation, we get the big end reveal. Someone is making new gamma mutates. And that someone appears to be Skaar, Son of Hulk. I’m actually a fan of the character, the Greg Pak run of the 00s was my introduction to all things Hulk, so I’m happy to see him come back but hoo BOY does my green sword boy seem like things ain’t going so great. Your thoughts on Gamma Conan?
Cori: I am completely and utterly out of my element here. Prior to Immortal Hulk I could probably count the number of Hulk comics Iâd read on one hand, and none of them involved Skaar, so I have no idea at all what to expect. I do love his look though, a bit like Hulk meets Doomsday, but with a few fewer bone shards. But it does make clear that Puck was wrong when he made the statement that the big green lug had been cured. It certainly does put our heroes in a bit of a rough spot going into the next issue.
Zoe: Well, the thing about Skaar you’ve GOTTA know is that he’s actually just a teenage boy under all the muscle. He’s a sad, mopey teenager who grew up alone and never understood his strength, his lineage and his body and when he finally met his father he was left disappointed and unsupported, left to his…ownâŚ
Oh, hell. This smacks of gender.
I THINK I SEE WHY CRYSTAL IS USING SKAAR NOW, CORI.
Cori: Well⌠%&*$. Guess this is all starting to make sense now. Gamma, the new estradiol.
Zoe: I’m calling my hormone clinic now.
Marvel Minutiae
- You can find Crystalâs webcomic here.
- And you can find some of her RPG work here.
- I choose to believe Del and Rick were playing Burnout Paradise as they are gamma irradiated men of taste.
- I like that Mary has a rubber duckie.
Yes, it's Cori McCreeryâstrange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.
Zoe Tunnell is a 29-year old trans woman who has read comics for most of her adult life and can't stop now. Follow her on Twitter @Blankzilla.
