• Containers of Unearthly material strength
• Unearthly force fields
• Carrying Unearthly loads
• Acting as a limb of Unearthly strength

Talents

Pilot, Astronaut, Flight Instructor

Contacts

Squadron Supreme, Quasar, Project Pegasus, Blue Shield

History

Joe Ledger was a pilot and NASA astronaut who encountered and rescued an alien Skrull explorer during a space flight. The grateful Skrull gave Ledger a power prism, an alien crystal with which Ledger could generate and manipulate multicolored energy in near-limitless ways through the application of will power. Adopting the costumed identity of Doctor Spectrum, Ledger became a crimefighter, as did the stranded Skrull in the guise of the Skrullian Skymaster. The two heroes became founding members of the Squadron Supreme, and Ledger remained with the group long after the Skrull repaired his ship and returned to outer space. During the Squadron’s implementation of the "Utopia Program", Spectrum accidentally killed his insane teammate, Nuke, in combat and became a pacifist, vowing to use his powers in nonviolent ways. Soon afterward, Spectrum became romantically involved with new teammate Foxfire, the first great love of his life. Their romance was cut tragically short, though, when dissident Squadron member Nighthawk led his Redeemers in an assault on the Squadron intended to convince the Squadron to abandon their "Utopia Program". The Squadron did agree to abandon the program in the end, but not before a bloody battle in which Spectrum reluctantly abandoned pacifism and various Redeemers and Squadron members were killed, including Foxfire. Minutes before Foxfire’s death, Spectrum’s power prism was shattered in battle, showering him with its fragments. When Redeemers member Mink murdered Foxfire, a grief-stricken Spectrum instinctively lashed out at Mink with an energy blast and discovered that he still had his powers thanks to the many fragments of the prism that had imbedded themselves in his skin. He remains an active member of the Squadron to this day, and was among the Squadron members recently stranded on "mainstream" Earth.