Husk (comics)

Husk (Paige Guthrie) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Guthrie is a superhero associated with the X-Men.

A mutant, Husk has the ability to remove one layer of skin—or "husk"—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 first made appearances as a background character as one of Cannonball's many siblings in Rom Annual #3 (1984) by Bill Mantlo and William Johnson and The New Mutants #42 (1986) by Chris Claremont and Jackson Guice. She was revealed as a mutant and her personality was developed by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel in X-Force #32 (1994) as part of that title's Child's Play crossover with New Warriors, which segued into her participation in the Generation Next arc of the Phalanx Covenant, running through X-Men #36-37 (1994) and The Uncanny X-Men #317 (1994).

Husk would then become a permanent member of Generation X (1994–2001), originally created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. This run defined and expanded her personality and mutant abilities. After Generation X disbanded, Husk served as a member of the X-Men in The Uncanny X-Men #414-443 (2002–2004), thereafter appearing sporadically as a reserve member and background character in various X-titles, highlighted by a mission during the Necrosha event in X-Men: Legacy #231-233 (2010).

During the X-Men's Schism, Husk joined Cannonball and threw in with Wolverine's side in X-Men: Regenesis #1, becoming a faculty member at the Jean Grey School in Westchester. Husk appears regularly as a supporting character in Wolverine and the X-Men (2012) from issue #2 onward.

The sister of the X-Man Cannonball, Paige Guthrie was born to a large Kentucky coal miner's family. Her father died when she was very young, due to a lung affliction from working in the mines. As a teenager, she discovers 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 develops a troubled relationship with her antisocial teammate Chamber. Towards the end of the team's existence she became the group's computer expert and developed an interest in environmental issues.^{[volume & issue needed]}