| Hartley Rathaway Pied Piper | |
|---|---|
.png) Pied Piper as depicted inThe Flash #138 (August 1962). Art byCarmine Infantino (penciller) andMurphy Anderson (inker). | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Flash #106 (May 1959) |
| Created by | John Broome (writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Hartley Rathaway |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | New Earth |
| Team affiliations | Rogues |
| Notable aliases | Thomas Peterson, Henry Darrow |
| Abilities |
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Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway) is asupervillain turnedsuperhero appearing incomic books published byDC Comics, and is commonly associated with the superherothe Flash. The character was created by writerJohn Broome and artistCarmine Infantino, and made his first appearance inThe Flash #106 (May 1959).[1]
Piper was originally introduced as a foe of the Flash /Barry Allen and eventually became a member ofthe Rogues, a criminal association led byCaptain Cold which often battled the Flash.[2] During thecrossover eventCrisis on Infinite Earths, most of theMultiverse was destroyed, which resulted in theDC Universe being rebooted; moreover Barry died, andWally West took up the mantle of the Flash. Following the events ofCrisis, Piper was re-introduced inThe Flash (vol. 2) #20 (December 1988) as having reformed and become a champion for the poor. Soon afterward, he became an ally and personal friend of Wally, and an integral member ofthe Flash family.
Following the events ofFlashpoint, DC Comics rebooted its universe once again and relaunched its titles in 2011, duringThe New 52 event. Here, Piper is portrayed as a former member of the Rogues, who has given up being a vigilante and is datingDavid Singh, Barry's Director at the Central City Police Department. Although an ally of Barry, Piper was unaware of his double life as the Flash and has a smaller role. FollowingInfinite Frontier, Wally again became the main Flash—Barry's role being diminished—and Piper was once-more depicted as aware of his friend's secret identity and member of the Flash family.
The Pied Piper appeared in thefirst,second,sixth andninth seasons ofThe Flash, portrayed byAndy Mientus.
Created byJohn Broome andCarmine Infantino, the character made his first appearance inThe Flash #106 (May 1959).[3]
Following the events ofCrisis, Piper was revealed to be gay inThe Flash (vol. 2) #53 (August 1991).[4]
Hartley Rathaway was borndeaf and received assistive technology in the form ofhearing implants thanks to research funded by his wealthy father (later it was revealed that the implants were made byDr. Will Magnus).[5] He became obsessed withsound, and pursued little else in life; experimenting withsonic technology, Rathaway eventually invented a technique ofhypnotism through music, and a way to cause deadly vibrations. Growing bored with his lifestyle, he turned to crime as the Pied Piper and frequently clashed withBarry Allen, the secondFlash.
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After Allen's death duringCrisis on Infinite Earths, Hartley retired from crime to become asocialist champion of the poor and underprivileged. He also came out as one of DC's first openlygay characters, and joked that this was ironic, as he was one of the few villains to have ever "gone straight". He first realized he was gay when he became attracted toRod Lauren when watchingThe Crawling Hand.[6] Rathaway becomes a good friend of the Flash,Wally West, and his wifeLinda, whom he helps with scientific problems.
Sometime later, Piper was arrested for the murder of his parents. Wally was sure Piper could not have committed such an act, but Piper himself seemed to believe himself guilty. Wally eventually discovered that the true murderer wasMirror Master. Unaware of Wally's discovery, Piper broke out ofIron Heights and struck a deal of some sort with former Rogue andFBI agentthe Trickster. During this time, Flash asked theSpectre to erase everyone's memories of his secret identity, due to his wife suffering amiscarriage from an attack byZoom.
It was later revealed that Barry Allen hadZatanna tamper with the mind of supervillainthe Top, turning him into a hero (the Top had gone on a murderous rampage and Allen believed this was the only way to stop him from causing more harm). As a hero, the Top went insane over the guilt of his earlier deeds. After Allen had died, Wally received a letter from Barry asking him to restore Top's mind if he ever returned. After Wally had Zatanna restore the Top's mind, the Top revealed that when he had been a hero he had attempted to reprogram many of the other Rogues into heroes as well, including the Pied Piper.
When the 'good' Rogues went after the remaining 'bad', Top returned to undo his brainwashing on the redeemed Rogues. When the Piper battled the Flash, West unmasked himself, triggering a flood of memories of their friendship and causing the Piper to pass out as his mind repaired itself. When he awoke, Piper appeared to be his old self again and came to Linda's aid. Piper remains the only Rogue to no longer be a villain, save forMagenta. He later had all charges for murder cleared.
One Year Later, Pied Piper was seen in the pages of bothThe Flash (vol. 3), andCountdown teaming with a new group of Rogues led byInertia.[7] The team of Rogues has him working with his parents' murderer, Mirror Master. Piper reveals that he has rejoined the Rogues with a plan of infiltrating them, but whenCaptain Cold,Heat Wave, andWeather Wizard killBart Allen,[8] he and Trickster are forced on the run together. They are pursued by theSuicide Squad,the Question andBatwoman,Poison Ivy andDeathstroke, and Wally West. Wally confines the two of them at the wedding ofGreen Arrow andBlack Canary, despite the warnings that Deathstroke is planning an all-out assault at the occasion. They manage to escape the wedding assault, while inadvertently picking upDouble Down as a passenger. The trio stop at a diner, only to be attacked by the Suicide Squad. Double Down is captured, but Piper and Trickster, using an invisibility field, decide to follow the Squad and free the other captured villains. After encountering and freeingTwo-Face, Piper and Trickster are again attacked byDeadshot, who pursues them relentlessly until he succeeds in murdering Trickster. With Trickster's death, the cuffs activate a 24-hour self-destruct, which Piper is able to delay with his flute. When the train they are on is submitted to a border check, Piper flees into the desert. Delirious from the heat, he begins to imagine Trickster's corpse is talking to him. After severing the hand from the rest of the corpse, Piper is brought toApokolips byDeSaad. DeSaad unlocks the shackles, and claims that Piper can channel the Anti-Life Equation and control the planet. Before the Piper can do so,Brother Eye finishes assimilating Apokolips.
DeSaad finally gets into Brother Eye's control and convinces Piper to play his flute to activate the Anti-Life Equation. Piper agrees to play, but upon hearing that DeSaad was the mastermind behind his recent misfortune, in an almost successful attempt to break his spirit and take control of him, he kills DeSaad with a tune. He plays one final time for Brother Eye, aswan song, "The Show Must Go On" byQueen, that destroys Apokolips, with him still trapped inside, apparently left to die.[9] However, he is later seen alive in the streets of Gotham City, saying that if he was allowed to live for some reason, this time he will play on the side of the angels.[10]
Pied Piper returns in theFinal Crisis: Rogues' Revenge mini-series. He invades the police precinct, and picks up Trickster's will, which is actually a fake that contains information on the other Rogues, written in invisible ink. Piper later steps into the middle of the fight between Inertia,Zoom and the Rogues, using his flute to paralyze the combatants, and taking the opportunity to revenge himself upon Mirror Master through a kick in the face. Before he can do anything else,Libra appears, and stabs Piper in the shoulder with his spear. Although wounded, Piper is able to contribute in the killing of Inertia by holding him in place for the Rogues using his flute. Piper is later mentioned to have turned himself into the Central City Police Department.[11]
In September 2011,The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Hartley is now the conductor of Central City's orchestra, and it is said that he is a 'reformed vigilante'. He later assists Flash and former Rogue teammateCaptain Cold against the newly united Rogues.[12]
He is in a romantic relationship withDavid Singh, the director of the crime lab at the Central City Police Department.[13]
A genius of sonic technology, by the age of sixteen Rathaway had crafted a sophisticated flute capable of hypnotizing anyone within range of its sound. He can make anyone do what he wants, and can even make himself 'invisible' to the perception of others. Although he focused obsessively on sound-based technology in his early years, he later expanded his scope to more general mechanical tinkering. Initially, he employed his mind control techniques almost exclusively on humans (and occasional animals), but during his incarceration in Iron Heights he became infatuated by the prison's ubiquitous rats and incorporated them into his gimmick, adding another similarity to his namesake. He is able to use nearly anything that can create tones for his sonic manipulations, including touch-tone telephones and grass blade whistles. According to DeSaad, Rathaway's power is based on the manipulation of theAnti-Life Equation. Rathaway also employs a number of devices that can generate or amplify sound for destructive or protective purposes.
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The Pied Piper appears inDC Universe Online, voiced by Jim Canning.
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