Pied Piper (DC Comics)

Hartley Rathaway Pied Piper
Pied Piper as depicted in The Flash #138 (August 1962). Art by Carmine Infantino (penciller) and Murphy 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	Genius-level intellect Enhanced hearing Sound manipulation Master musician Utilizes hypnotic flute

Pied Piper (Hartley Rathaway) is a supervillain turned superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, and is commonly associated with the superhero the Flash. The character was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, and made his first appearance in The Flash #106 (May 1959).^[1]

Piper was originally introduced as a foe of the Flash / Barry Allen and eventually became a member of the Rogues, a criminal association led by Captain Cold which often battled the Flash.^[2] During the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, most of the Multiverse was destroyed, which resulted in the DC Universe being rebooted; moreover Barry died, and Wally West took up the mantle of the Flash. Following the events of Crisis, Piper was re-introduced in The 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 of the Flash family.

Following the events of Flashpoint, DC Comics rebooted its universe once again and relaunched its titles in 2011, during The New 52 event. Here, Piper is portrayed as a former member of the Rogues, who has given up being a vigilante and is dating David 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. Following Infinite 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 the first, second, sixth and ninth seasons of The Flash, portrayed by Andy Mientus.