Penance/Hollow Appreciation

[ExtraEpidermis]

I didn't really follow much of Gen X after Bachalo left - Can someone explain how Hollow's power works? She is a "Mutant Cage" supposedly, and other people can be trapped inside her, correct?

I don't think it's been stated in continuity that she's a mutant cage. So far, all the people that have been stuck inside her are all from the St. Croix family so I guess fandom speculation would lead to maybe another connection to the St. Croixes.

Is this power voluntary?

Not really. Each time it was either an explosion or Emplate that caused people to be trapped in her.

Has she shown any control over this power?

See above....nope.

Emplate used her before, correct? It's such a cool concept, that I wish she weren't just used like a cute, mute, slasher most of the time.

Emplate originally used Penny as a cage for Monet after she basically laughed in his face after offering to "rule the world"/ask for help. So Hollow was created to serve as Monet's penance (see what they did there?) for rejecting her brother's offer.

And I agree. Hollow is a cool concept. I would love to see her in a mainstream X book under Carey or PAD's pen. There's so much that could be done with her. She's basically a blank slate because for most of her life in print she's been used as a cage for someone else. I could see Yvette becoming the mute girl from Serbia filled with rage at being used as a tool for someone else's schemes and basically holding a grudge against the entire St. Croix clan. As much as most people didn't like Loners, and I agree her talking and being able to kiss without showing her skin softening weren't all that, I think having her make a connection with Phil among others things were steps in the right direction.

[Starleafgirl]

Comic Vine has a good account of Hollow history as well.

Thanks! *blush* :o I wrote 95% of that and heavily editted the other 5% (for spelling and grammatical errors, mostly). Recently added a couple alternate versions, too, thanks to you, Mimic. :)

I tried writing something for Penance/Hollow on Marvel.com but it was basically a re-tagged (to fit Marvel.com standards) cut and paste of my ComicVine one. :p They also didn't like it for the fact that I didn't separate by incarnation of Penance. I give up on Marvel.com's Universe thingie so if someone else wants to write entries for the three Penances, please, go ahead!

thanks this gave a very good insight into the mess that penance/hollow has become.... what i remember from that article was that synch managed to copy her powers, which makes me even more sure that penance indeed was a separate entity and a mutant one at that (editors shouldnt have overlooked these small details).

Also, i loved that pic with penance cutting off the sentinel's arm. She was so ferocious.

Thanks. Me too! That's why I had to include it. Our little Penny is so awesome. Lol.

[Starleafgirl]

the name 'Hollow' has grown on me. now if only Starsmore would go back to calling himself Chamber.

Chamber is sooooo much better than Decibel!

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #116
COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Larry Hama’s origin for M and Penance was not what Scott Lobdell originally intended for the characters.

I remember reading that. How bittersweet. Thanks for sharing!

Does anyone have scans from when Penny's skin started to soften after she spent some time around Generation X?

I haven't gotten around to adding a bunch of Penance images to the ComicVine gallery from back issues yet, but since you're asking for this one specifically, I'll add the images from that page.

It's issue #20 if you want to read the whole thing.

Here you go:

Scan 1

Scan 2

you had a chance to ask the writer about penance in his mini and al you asked him.....was why it looked like she can FLY?!!!??!!!? are you kidding me? did you forget all the thousands of questions regarding her?!!??!

He wouldn't have answered any other questions. I've read his responses over the months and he likes to keep a lot of the mysteries of The Loners to himself until he reveals them in the comics, because he doesn't like to spoil people. And it's good to know she was leaping and not flying, given the reveals earlier in the series that she can track people (which was only mentioned vaguely once in an early Generation X issue that could've gone either way), that she can talk, and that her skin isn't as razor sharp to the touch as before.

Not to mention the fact that I had no guarentee he was even going to reply to my question ever, lol.

what do you guys think would happen if somebody with light-based powers or energy blasts used it against penny in her diamond-hard form? do u think she had the other properties of diamond as well?

It's not so much that she has diamond-hard skin, according to Moira MacTaggert, but that her body (skin and muscles) has essentially withdrawn far in on itself, almost to the point of muscle atrophy. Whatever that means; I'm not a doctor. ;) But that's where she gets her hardness from. Given that whatever she is can easily cut diamond (she hugged Paige when she was in diamond form VERY carefully), her skin may be harder than diamond? Either that, or the very fine points on her fingers, toes, and hair are very fine indeed. My point is, I don't expect her to have all the properties of diamond (unlike Emma Frost, lol).

Well she could process the light energy like Prism, but her diamond-hard form could reflect the light normally. Possible turning the energy power against its user. However it was stated that her body absorbs the light around her that let's Hollow blend into the shadows.

Hmm, I'm not sure what effect energy-based attacks would have on her. Good question, lol, eh?

It says in either the Collectors' Preview or Ashcan Edition (I forget which, I'll be updating her Powers (both Penance and Hollow) in the ComicVine profile sometime this week with this info) that she internalizes the negative energy that's around her in order to do that, not so much actual light. I guess it's because of her ultradense hide that even the LIGHT around her can't escape, like a black hole, lol. It says something like that in the All-New A-Z #8 Nekra to Quoi entry.

I love this thread. So much Penny love.

Me too. :) Totally.

WHO?!?!?

LOL I don't remember this!

He had to have meant Red Ronin, lol. And thanks for posting C.B.'s response, Skrully-Faded. :)

[ExtraEpidermis]

I haven't gotten around to adding a bunch of Penance images to the ComicVine gallery from back issues yet, but since you're asking for this one specifically, I'll add the images from that page.

It's issue #20 if you want to read the whole thing.

Here you go:

Scan 1

Scan 2

Thanks so much. Was Monet still stuck as Penny when this happened?

[Starleafgirl]

"Mutant Cage" has never been stated as her power, but it is how she's been used by Emplate using his dark magics, oddly enough.

And I agree. Hollow is a cool concept. I would love to see her in a mainstream X book under Carey or PAD's pen. There's so much that could be done with her. She's basically a blank slate because for most of her life in print she's been used as a cage for someone else. I could see Yvette becoming the mute girl from Serbia filled with rage at being used as a tool for someone else's schemes and basically holding a grudge against the entire St. Croix clan. As much as most people didn't like Loners, and I agree her talking and being able to kiss without showing her skin softening weren't all that, I think having her make a connection with Phil among others things were steps in the right direction.

I agree, although in my fanfic she's from Kosova (Kosovo) as an ethnic Albanian, not Serbian, because that's the ethnic group that was being persecuted at the time Scott Lobdell created her.

I'd like to see PAD do something with her and Monet, definitely. I hope she can join X-Factor or at least some team, come on! Lol.

Thanks so much. Was Monet still stuck as Penny when this happened?

This was before the horrendeous Hama story that decided Monet was actually in there, but yeah, it occurs during that period in Penance's history. ;)

[Gaveedra 6]

Thanks for the response. I guess the bottom line is that Hollow is probably the coolest looking plot device in the X-books, and can do basically whatever a writer wants her to do - encase opponents, leap, track, blend in shadow, be invulnerable, stab people accidentally, stab people on purpose, cut DIAMOND... :p
...so its a shame we don't see more of her.

[Starleafgirl]

Thanks for the response. I guess the bottom line is that Hollow is probably the coolest looking plot device in the X-books, and can do basically whatever a writer wants her to do - encase opponents, leap, track, blend in shadow, be invulnerable, stab people accidentally, stab people on purpose, cut DIAMOND... :p
...so its a shame we don't see more of her.

HAHAHA, your description is hilarious and spot-on. :D :D :D

[Monty_Cristo]

i wonder why they decided to make Emplate's powers magical. was a mutant parasite too unimaginative? i like how his powers differ from Selene in that his condition is contagious (he can make other emplates). otherwise, he and Penance have very complicated backstories.

[Starleafgirl]

i wonder why they decided to make Emplate's powers magical. was a mutant parasite too unimaginative? i like how his powers differ from Selene in that his condition is contagious (he can make other emplates). otherwise, he and Penance have very complicated backstories.

Actually, Marius St. Croix had his mutagenic vampirism abilities as his mutant power and, after years of study, he acquired dark magical abilities because, well, he wanted more power, of course.

But yeah, it's pretty cool that he can make other Emplates, lol. Wait, can he? Do all his victims have his ability (and those disgusting little hand-mouths!), or was it just Everett, because Synch synced up with Emplate's mutagenic aura? I know Penance never suffered from the hand-mouth disease! (:p)

you had a chance to ask the writer about penance in his mini and al you asked him.....was why it looked like she can FLY?!!!??!!!? are you kidding me? did you forget all the thousands of questions regarding her?!!??!

Like I said earlier, I wasn't sure if he was going to even reply to my post in his blog. But now that C.B. has offered the folks at Newsarama a chance to ask questions, I've asked the following:

Most of these questions you probably won't be able to answer (because you don't want to give too much away), but there's no harm in asking, right, so here goes:

Will we see Hollow again?

Will we see Cassie St. Commons again?

Will we see Mattie Franklin again?

How did Hollow get to L.A.?

Does Hollow, indeed, suffer from amnesia like Namie?

Will Phil ever recover from his madness?

How come Hollow can now talk?

How come Hollow's skin isn't razor-sharp to the touch anymore? If it were the same as it was in Generation X, to my understanding, she should've cut Phil on the lips when she kissed him.

Did Fujikawa Industries use Hollow to refine M.G.H. from her genetic material? I imagine her abilites would be very useful, when mass-produced...

Was Hollow experimented upon by Fujikawa Industries when she was being held captive? If so, why would she willingly go back with Phil to them?

If Hollow was experimented upon, did this give her new abilities? What are they? (:D)

Is Hollow her own person with her own mysterious past as she was at the end of Generation X (and a lot of artistic ability, if you want to fit that into a future story, lol) or is she merely an incubator for another character now?

Will any of these questions be answered if there's a second mini? (No promises, I understand, but just your best estimate).

Oh! Also, you said a while back that issue #5 was going to have an explanation for the color change in Hollow between issues #3 and #4. I can understand you ultimately not being able to fit that in, but, assuming it's not terribly plot-related, can you let me (and all the other Penny/Holly fans out there) know now?

Thanks for reading. :)

Any more burning questions you can think of?

[CmX]

The only question I'd ask if if he was going to try and rectify the Penance origin and see if he can somehow make her, her own character and not some cage for the M twins.

[Starleafgirl]

The only question I'd ask if if he was going to try and rectify the Penance origin and see if he can somehow make her, her own character and not some cage for the M twins.

The M twins were freed from Penance in issue #57 (somewhere around there). Since then, Jay Faerber, in the later issues of Generation X, wrote Penance as if she were her own person.

[CmX]

The M twins were freed from Penance in issue #57 (somewhere around there). Since then, Jay Faerber, in the later issues of Generation X, wrote Penance as if she were her own person.

Well I mean yeah. I understand that the "shell" of Penance lived on as it's own being.

But I meant, is there any chance of CB possibly retconning it to where she is her OWN identity. Has her own origin, real name where she's from etc.,

I'm not comfortable with the fact that she's just some walking husk. It devalued her IMO.

[Monty_Cristo]

But yeah, it's pretty cool that he can make other Emplates, lol. Wait, can he? Do all his victims have his ability (and those disgusting little hand-mouths!), or was it just Everett, because Synch synced up with Emplate's mutagenic aura? I know Penance never suffered from the hand-mouth disease! (:p)

Vincente, Bulwark, and Murmur had them too, iirc. plus, he's responsible for the emplates from Bishop's future ex. Mountjoy.

[Callisto]

Well I mean yeah. I understand that the "shell" of Penance lived on as it's own being.

But I meant, is there any chance of CB possibly retconning it to where she is her OWN identity. Has her own origin, real name where she's from etc.,

I'm not comfortable with the fact that she's just some walking husk. It devalued her IMO.

definitely agree with that, if only scot lobelled just layed out her origin flat out that way no dreadful writers would have written the whole penance being a walking shell thing.UGH such an awful idea! i mean why was it soo hard for them to leave monet being to little girls merged into one being?

[MIMIC616]

I'd like to see PAD do something with her and Monet, definitely. I hope she can join X-Factor or at least some team, come on! Lol.

I got to speak to Peter David briefly during the final hours of San Diego Con.
I asked him if Hollow would show up. He said he was going to have her show up in X-Factor around Issue # 16 instead of the character Nicole.

However CB was using her in Loners.