Pied Piper (comics)

Pied Piper
Art by Scott Kolins.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	The Flash #106 (May 1959)
Created by	John Broome Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Alter ego	Hartley Rathaway
Species	Human
Place of origin	New Earth
Team affiliations	The Rogues
Notable aliases	Thomas Peterson, Henry Darrow
Abilities	Enhanced Hearing Sound Manipulation Genius Level Intellect Master Musician Wields a flute with hypnotic powers

Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character made his first appearance in The Flash #106 (May 1959).

Hartley Rathaway (alias Thomas Peterson) was born deaf, received assistive technology in the form of hearing implants thanks to research funded by his wealthy father (later it was revealed that the implants were made by Dr. Will Magnus). He became obsessed with sound, and pursued little else in life; experimenting with sonic technology, Rathaway eventually invented a technique of hypnotism through music, and a way to cause deadly vibrations. Growing bored of his lifestyle, he turned to crime as the Pied Piper and frequently clashed with Barry Allen, the second Flash.

After Allen's death during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hartley retired from crime to become a socialist champion of the poor and underprivileged. He also came out as one of DC’s first openly gay 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 to Rod Lauren when watching The Crawling Hand. Rathaway becomes a good friend of the Flash, Wally West, and his wife Linda, whom he helps with scientific problems.

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