For the first 24 issues of the series, the character possesses shapeshifting abilities and uses the codename Myriad, though for a brief time he masquerades as a female masked vigilante called Vigil, who exhibits superhuman strength, speed, and endurance, and expertise in martial arts and acrobatics.

Despite her devastation at this discovery, Warner realizes that without a full-time protector, Tower City will be vulnerable to Captain Dynamo’s legion of supervillain enemies.

Spencer, who manifests his father's shapeshifting ability, takes on the codename Myriad, and works to protect Tower City with his newly discovered brothers and sisters.

[4] After fighting crime alongside his siblings for less than a year, Spencer, in losing consciousness after swimming from the team's flooded underwater headquarters to the surface, is rendered unconscious, and is revealed to have a bizarre, alien-like appearance.

(Foundation for Law and Government) research facility, telling them not that Spencer was his son, but that he found the infant at an alien crash site.

Spencer's home for the next few years was the research compound, where scientists subjected him to extensive study and experimentation, including exposing him to the same radiation that gave Captain Dynamo his superhuman abilities, not knowing what effect it would have on the child.

This argument does not convince Spencer's siblings, and as a result of both this revelation, Warner's condition, the flooding of the Aquarium, and the need to return to their civilian lives, the team seems to fall apart.

[7][8] In issues 22 and 23, it was revealed that in order compensate for the lack of offensive superhuman powers that lent themselves to combat situations that his siblings had, Spencer had been taking Flex, a street drug derived from the serum that turns humans into Whiptail, a monstrous, bipedal lizard.

[9] He subsequently discovered, however, that his elevated strength, speed and endurance remained, which Doc Noble speculated occurred because it bonded to his extraterrestrial DNA.

In Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father #3 (August 2010), Spencer learns, while battling another extraterrestrial who recognizes his race, that his people are called the Khandrians.

During this encounter, the telepathic Spencer sees in his opponent's mind an image of a humanoid being held captive by Khandrians who were apparently experimenting on him.

Dynamo 5 creator Jay Faerber indicated upon the series' debut that his shapeshifting ability would tie into his lack of direction in life, saying, "He inherited Cap's shape-shifting powers, and he can now become anyone he chooses.

[20] Although he initially accepts Warner's offer to join the team because she pays him,[4] he eventually decides to move to Tower City full-time and help protect it for more altruistic reasons.

As such, he has been depicted with gray skin, no hair, and a long face that includes a pronounced brow and a small, snout-like nose just under his eyes.

[5][6] From the premiere of the Dynamo 5 series, Spencer exhibits shapeshifting powers with which he can alter the form of his body, his facial features, and even the clothes he wears, in order to disguise himself as anyone he chose.

[1] As a result of taking a street drug called Flex, Spencer develops other powers unrelated to his father's, and which his siblings do not have: superhuman strength, speed and endurance.

[2] The extent of these powers have not been explicitly given, but they enable him to break several lines of chain tied around him as a restraint,[1] and leap dozens of feet into the air,[7] and across rooftops.

[23] Combined with his knowledge of martial arts and acrobatics,[5][6][17][22][24] Spencer is seen successfully battling opponents such as Anchor, Chain Reaction, and Blue Blaster single-handedly,[25] and holds his own against Widowmaker,[6][13] Optima,[13] and a human wearing the strength-amplifying Strong-Suit.