Origin
Penny Newson comes from a very rich background and grew up idolizing the X-Men. Always wanting powers of her own. She was one of the first 5 people to use the mutant genome inhalers, which give powers to whoever breathes them in.
Creation
Penny was created by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land. She first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #531.
Character Evolution
At first Penny was shown to be another nameless member of Lobe’s pretend X-Men. But after fighting the real X-Men, Penny was the only member to have extended contact with the team. However when the rest of the team members decide to give up on the drug. Penny is seen getting into a taxi, with the last remaining inhalers, and is shown to be named, Penny Newsom.
Major Story Arcs
Quarantine
Penny is one of the five humans that are granted powers through the mutant genome inhalers by Lobe. Her powers are that of Angels. Giving her wings on a dose by dose. Lobe’s ‘X-Men’ are then sent to battle The Collective Man in Chinatown In San Francisco. They see Storm’s lighting from the sky and go to the scene. Then they are quickly defeated by The Collective Manand Pixie Calls them noobs. Penny along with the other “New” X-men are brought to Cyclops for questioning. They are shown to be unresponsive until Wolverine threatens them with big knives. They also seem to be exited to be in the X-Brig. She tells him that Lobe wanted the 5 of them to be at the launch party of the drug that night, as proof to show off to the investors. During her time on the island, Penny shows to practically worship the X-Men, being extremely excited to meet Wolverine and Cyclops and at the prospect of meeting Angel. However, as Penny was using the mutant genome inhaler, giving her mutant DNA, it meant she was exposed to the mutant attacking virus that was present on the island and started to become ill.
The X-Men then take the fight to Lobe even though they’re powerless because of the virus. After Lobe’s defeated, the whole storage of the inhalers is destroyed by Storm. The other members of Lobe’s ‘X-Men’ say that they were unaware of Lobe’s real plans and don’t want to be X-Men anymore, however, Penny isn’t present which is noticed by Cyclops. Elsewhere, Penny gets into a taxi, telling the driver to ‘just drive’, saying she has enough money to pay and that she won’t mess up again. She is then shown to be possessing the last remaining inhalers and says ‘who shall I be today?’ It is here that she is named for the first time in the whole arc, Penny Newsom. She is the only one of the ‘New X-Men’ to be named and is the only person to have any of the inhalers left. It is unknown when Penny will appear next, and if she’ll be an ally or a new enemy,
Powers and Abilities
Penny is a baseline human with no real powers of her own. However, when using mutant genome inhalers, Penny has access to the powers that inhaler possesses. She most notably used an inhaler with Angel’s powers, enabling her to grow and fly with feathered wings. After Lobe was stopped, Storm destroyed all the boxes containing the different inhalers. However, Penny still possesses an unknown amount of inhalers, including ones possessing Emma Frosts and Phoenix’s powers and is the only person to still be in possession of the inhalers. Penny explains that the inhalers are addictive and that it’s difficult to come off them.