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Gamma Flight #5 reveals the never ending secret war a gamma mutate and iconic Marvel character must constantly endure just to survive.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Gamma Flight #5, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
The irradiated heroes of Gamma Flight are no strangers to dealing with unusual situations, but their latest plight is easily the most unsettling so far. The Abomination has returned and along the way managed to cultivate his own army of Gamma Zombies. The team was able to infiltrate the villain’s compound with the help of their spookiest member, the fused Rick Jones and Del Frye. Although the terrifying creature has proven to be an invaluable member of the team, Gamma Flight #5 (by Al Ewing, Crystal Frasier, Lan Medina, Antonio Fabela, and VC’s Joe Sabino) reveals the battle that wages constantly inside of the monster.
Del Frye’s ability to sense other Gamma Mutates was a great way to get past Abomination’s Gamma Zombies, even though it didn’t keep the villain from spotting the heroes on his surveillance system. With Skaar and the rest of Abomination’s forces bearing down upon them, Del Frye and Rick Jones are once again thrust into a battle that neither of them is prepared to wage. The two might not have expected a fight, but Del is at least willing to take part in it, while Rick has a more passive approach in mind. In fact, Rick Jones doesn’t seem to want to do anything but run, which soon becomes a serious problem for the fused heroes.
As the battle rages on around them, Del and Rick both think about the monsters they have become. For Rick, that involved looking back to his earliest adventures as a brash teenager. Rick’s first appearance in 1962’s Incredible Hulk #1 saw him drive out into the desert for a fist fight only to end up being saved by Bruce Banner, inadvertently kicking off the entirety of all things Gamma related in the Marvel Universe. It’s a memory that haunts Rick on an unsettling level, but not one that Del Frye is unfamiliar with. He too knows what it’s like to have his life irrevocably changed without having any control over the situation, though Del’s experience is still vastly different from Rick’s.
As a promising young athlete, Del seemed to have everything going right for him until his father convinced him to take an experimental Gamma serum that seemingly killed him. Instead it transformed Del into a glowing green corpse, something that was discovered long after Del had been buried to cover up what had been done to him. Since then Del has been made a pawn of the Leader and experimented on mercilessly, ultimately being fused with someone with whom he has little in common. Del is tired of hearing about and feeling the remorse that consumes Rick thanks to the events of his high flying life, all while Del Frye never really got much of a chance to live his own life. It’s a depressing revelation, but it still gives the monster what he needs to fight the Abomination’s army while simultaneously taking control of his life for the first time.
While Del’s frustration does prove to be at least somewhat useful in the fray, it’s still a stark reminder of just how different he and Rick are. Neither of them chose to end up where they are, but Del has found a way to embrace the hand he has been dealt, whereas Rick Jones still turns his head when the two unleash their horrifying powers upon their enemies.
It stands to reason that these two desperately need to find some common ground before long, not only for the sake of the body they share but also for the sake of their own sanity.
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