Husk (comics)
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Husk (Paige Elisabeth Guthrie) is a fictional character from Marvel Comics. Guthrie is a superheroine associated with the X-Men.
A mutant, Husk has the ability to remove - or "husk" - one layer of skin revealing an epidermis of a different composition beneath. She often changes into metal or stone form, but can shift into a variety of substances.
Husk is from a Kentucky coal mining family and is the younger sister of the X-Men's Cannonball. Unlike her brother, Husk is self-conscious of being seen as a "hick" (Jubilee often called her 'hayseed'). As a member of the X-Men's 1990s-era junior team Generation X, she established herself as an overachiever. She later joined the X-Men.
Husk was created by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel but Generation X creators Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo defined much of her character and abilities.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
The sister of the X-Man Cannonball, Paige Guthrie was born to a large Kentucky coal miner's family. As a teenager, she discovered her inborn mutant ability to shed her skin, metamorphosing into a different composition beneath. She has used this power to turn her body into stone, glass and an acid-like substance, among other materials. She can also use her power to heal herself by shedding a damaged form in favor of an intact one. She normally cannot change the shape of her form, only its composition, although an issue of X-Force, written before her powers had been fully defined, depicted her transforming into a bird.
From the series' beginning in 1994 until its cancellation at issue #75 in 2001, Husk was a member of the junior X-Men team Generation X, where she earned a reputation as a workaholic, constantly trying to prove herself fit for the main team. She also developed a troubled relationship with her antisocial teammate Chamber. Towards the end of the team's existence, Paige became the group's computer expert and developed an interest in environmental issues.
After the break-up of Generation X, Husk joined Banshee's militant X-Corps to keep an eye on him. She later joined the X-Men in Chuck Austen's 2001 revamp of Uncanny X-Men and was placed in a controversial relationship with the long-time X-Man Archangel, Husk being 19 years old and roughly 10 years Archangel's junior.
The two took an extended leave of absence. Archangel launched a charity called "Mutantes Sans Frontières" in Zanzibar, a reference to Médecins Sans Frontières ("Doctors Without Borders"), where the two proceeded to help stop a coup with the aid of Professor X's newest charges from nearby Genosha.
Her younger brother Josh later joined the new New Mutants team under the codename Icarus. Her sister Melody also joined the school as Aero after discovering she could fly, but has since been depowered by House of M, although Paige herself retains her powers. Icarus later was killed following the events of M-Day, though how Paige has taken his death has not been shown.
It is unknown what the future will have next in store for Paige Guthrie, but for now she seems to have put the X-Men behind her. She is enjoying being in a happy relationship with Warren though she is not above some occasional jealousy. She is also not a full member of any X-Men team, and she has been reduced to just a few guest-appearances here and there. She is most often seen in the current New X-Men title while tending to the wounded. She was also shown attending the funeral of her little brother Jay Guthrie who was killed by William Stryker.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Paige was a member of Generation Next. Husk was found by Sinister along with her sister Elizabeth and her brother Sam while the rest of their family, save for their brother Joshua, were culled by Apocalypse's Infinites. However, unlike Sam and Elizabeth, Paige declined Sinister's offer to join his Elite Mutant Force. Instead she joined Magneto's cause. Like her main Marvel Universe counterpart, Paige had a relationship with Chamber, though in this case the relationship became physical as well. She also had greater control over her abilities, as she was able to transform only parts of her body, and even capable of adopting liquid and gaseous states.
Paige was believed dead alongside the rest of the Generation Next members. However, she was enslaved by Sugar Man at the Seattle Core for a long time, until Apocalypse's regime fully collapsed. Feeling betrayed by the X-Men, Husk gathered her siblings and assumed the identity of Xorn to infiltrate the X-Men. Husk kidnapped Magneto and Rogue's son Charles and battled the X-Men alongside the other Guthries, but was ultimately killed.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Transitional Omni-morph Husking: She has the mutant ability to shed her outer layer of skin and reveal a new layer or shape underneath. While she can sometimes acquire new forms, Husk has been able to shift into anything that does not exceed her body mass. Any extra mass left when she shifts into a smaller form such as an insect or a bird is shunted into an unknown extra-dimensional space, and will return to Husk when she resumes her human form, Paige most commonly takes on a Paige-like form in a new material, and much prefers to do that. She can become any solid that she has studied and can imitate adamantium, diamond, granite, wood, rubber, brick, even glass. She has the capability to blend in with surroundings, but in order to do so, she would have to study the texture she seeks to mimic first. In the alternate timeline of the Age of Apocalypse, Husk was able to shift into liquid substances, including complex acids capable of affecting organic steel. Husk also had the ability to change only part of her body (such as changing a hand into a bladed weapon). When Paige morphs into a different layer, she often takes on new physical abilities or qualities, such as increased weight, strength, or invulnerability. She can husk away minor injuries, but deeper ones will stay with her. She can hold a form for about an hour before she needs to revert back to her original form. She can morph repeatedly, is not required to stay in any one form, but too many transformations can become very painful. In great stress or trauma, Paige can shed without control, revealing patchwork forms. When Paige ‘husks’, she sheds her clothing as well. This has the unintended side effect of leaving her in the buff when she returns to her normal form.
