posted
WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN– Episode #49 by Bruce MacIntosh
Despite having the same, almost limitless powers of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel is one of the purest, most incorruptible characters in the history of comics. Since her first appearance 65 years ago, she has had a sweet personality that surely could never be sullied. Right? So, what’s with DC’s ad campaign for Countdown, showing the temptation of innocent Mary and the caption, “Seduction of the Innocent”?
This week’s issue of DC’s new year-long series, Countdown, introduces some more characters that may be unfamiliar to readers. Fear not! THE PULSE is here to shed some light on the background on these characters, so you can hit the ground running with the series. This week, we’ll look at the history and background of Mary Marvel, along with Red Arrow, and two more of the Flash’s Rogues, Trickster and Pied Piper.
MARY MARVEL Mary’s origin story (in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 – Dec 1942) are actually a bit shocking by today’s standards. When they were still infants, Mary and Billy Batson’s parents died in a car accident. They were cared for by their nurse, Sarah Primm, who also cared for another baby who died of “crib death” (now known as SIDS).
Billy Batson was sent off to an Orphanage, and eventually was forced to sell newspapers on the street and follow strange men into abandoned subway tunnels. (That’s the origin of Captain Marvel, in a nutshell.) As if that story isn’t creepy enough, the really icky part is what happened with his sister: Before the parents ever realized what happened to their baby, Sarah Primm swapped baby Mary for the departed infant. Okay, I’ll let you mull over for a moment all the legal and moral aspects of this switcheroo. Done? Now, shower off and we’ll resume our story when you get back.
Apparently, back in the '40s, all babies looked the same and the Bromfields raised Mary as their own, never even suspecting the difference. So, while poor Billy was reduced to spelunking with ancient wizards, Mary was being raised in the lap of luxury by a couple of witless saps. Mary, however, always suspected some mystery surrounding her upbringing, which was certainly not assuaged when Nurse Sarah gave her half a broken locket and told the child that it would someday change her life.
Eventually, young teen Mary was a contestant on the appropriately-named Mental Marvel Quiz Show, hosted by the selfsame Billy Batson. (In the years following his rendezvous with the wizard who endowed him with powers as Captain Marvel, Billy had graduated from selling newspapers to hosting a radio show. Isn’t America grand?!) In the middle of the show, Billy received a note from Sarah Primm, now bedridden and dying. Apparently, she was going to come clean about Billy’s origins.
During a commercial break, Billy changed to Captain Marvel by uttering the magic word, “Shazam”, and quickly flew to meet Ms. Primm on her deathbed. She managed to give him the other half of the locket and reveal that he had a sister whom she had swapped for another infant. But before Billy had time to ask her what the heck she had been thinking or find out the actual name of his sibling, Ms. Primm passed on to the great beyond.
Amazingly, Billy made it back to the station as the commercials were ending and continued the quiz show. Coincidentally, one of the other contestants was Freddy Freeman (the teenaged secret identity of Captain Marvel, Jr.) Mary won the contest, and while Billy was telling Freddy about his brief but momentous meeting with Ms. Primm, they noticed that Mary had the other half of Billy’s locket.
The two boys decided to utter their magic words and change to Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr., and follow her limousine back home. Good thing they didn’t simply confront her with the information, because it turned out she had been kidnapped! They punched out the kidnappers and changed back to their regular identities to reveal Billy’s new secret to Mary. Now Billy and Mary were able to literally put the pieces - of the locket and the mystery - together.
Naturally, while the kids were wondering aloud whether Mary might have the same powers that had been bestowed on Billy at birth, the kidnappers woke up and surprised the kids. They gagged Billy and Freddy before they could shout the magic words that would transform them into superheroes. Mary lamented aloud, “Billy can’t say ‘Shazam’!” You guessed it, Mary had indeed been given the powers of the gods – all she needed to do was shout the unlikely password. A bolt of lightning came down and rather than frying the girl, turned her into Mary Marvel.
Clad in an adorable red-and-gold skirt and blouse analogous to the good Captain’s costume, Mary then finished off the hoods and rescued the boys. The trio decided it was time to literally get to the bottom of the mystery, so they descended into cave in the abandoned subway tunnel, and summoned the spirit of Shazam.
The wizard revealed that while Billy had been bestowed the powers of the male Greek gods (wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles and speed of Mercury) Mary had gotten her abilities from Greek goddesses: Grace of Selena, strength of Hippolyta, skill of Ariadne, fleetness of Zephyrus, beauty of Aurora and wisdom of Minerva. (We’ll ignore the detail that Zephyrus was really a male god.)
Mary Marvel’s debut was apparently successful enough to start her on a regular run in Fawcett’s Wow Comics the following month, followed by her own title, Mary Marvel Comicsin December, 1945. The dynamic debutante battled crooks for over a decade, remaining a perky and innocent young teen and never becoming jaded. That is, until Fawcett Comics folded in 1953, taking the entire Marvel Family with them into publishing oblivion.
The Marvel Family’s catalog of characters was acquired by DC and revived in 1973 with the comic, Shazam! (The appellation “Captain Marvel” was tied up in copyright issues, because of Marvel’s character of the same name.) The reason given for the team’s two-decade absence was that their arch-nemesis Dr. Sivana had trapped them in Suspendium, until they were all freed to have their campy 50s-style adventures in the 1970s. (Yes, this is the same evil genius who headed the team of mad scientists on Oolong Island in the comic 52and really screwed up things with Black Adam.)
After Shazam! was canceled five years later, the Marvel Family’s stories appeared as backups in Worlds Finest Comics from 1979 through 1982. Unlike many DC characters, Mary Marvel was not “eliminated” in the Crisis on Infinite Earthslimited series (1985). However, she effectively disappeared from comics for many years.
Mary Batson returned in 1995, with the Power of Shazam! graphic novel and series, written by Jerry Ordway. Ordway managed to iron out some of the greasier aspects of Mary and Billy’s origins.
In Ordway’s story, Mary and Billy were still twins, but this time young Mary accompanied her archeologist parents to Egypt, while Billy stayed home. Mary was kidnapped by Theo Adam after he killed her parents and was put in the care of Adam’s sister, Sarah Primm back in the U.S. Primm arranged to have Mary illegally adopted by her childless employers, wealthy Nick and Nora Bromfield.
In this version, Billy still ended up on the streets and was given powers by the wizard Shazam, but continued to search for his sister. As luck would have it, Billy was emceeing a spelling bee in Fawcett City, where Mary – of course – was a contestant. As Captain Marvel, he saved her from kidnappers, all the while thinking how much this girl reminded him of his sister. He pulled some strings to see the adoption papers and learned that she was, indeed, his sister, and tried to think of a way to tell her.
Suddenly, the “Talky Tawny” tiger doll that Billy had saved to remind him of his sister, came to life as a full-grown (talking) tiger and instructed Billy to transform to Captain Marvel and fly them to Mary at the Bromfield estate to spring the adoption papers on her. Once there, he changed back into Billy and was immediately captured by the same goons who originally kidnapped Mary.
Mary found the Talky Tawny doll and the package containing the adoption papers, and learned the truth. The miraculous tiger doll again comes to life and instructs her to say the magic word, “Shazam!” She was transformed by a bolt of lightning into an adult female version of Captain Marvel. She saved Billy, who also did the transformation thing, and they both beat the goons.
In the Power of Shazam! series, Mary was also called Captain Marvel rather than Mary Marvel. Later, when Billy and Mary shared their powers with the disabled Freddy Freeman, he was called Captain Marvel, Jr. (He also labeled himself, “CM3”.) One interesting aspect was that when the three transformed to their superhero identities together, their Captain Marvel abilities were divided three ways, rather than each being fully-powered.
In Power of Shazam!#28 (Jul 1997) Mary changed her costume from the traditional red and gold, to a more attractive and versatile white and gold. (Never a slave to fashion, she even wears the costume after Labor Day.) After that series concluded in 1999, she returned to her former “Mary Marvel” appellation, and is known thusly to this day.
Mary made some guest appearances in both Superman and Supergirl, and then played a central role in the 2003 six-issue miniseries, Formerly Known as the Justice League. This new title returned to the humorous slant of the Justice League International(1987) series, written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire. In this recent series, Mary retained all her formidable Marvel powers, but returned to her wholesome and innocent image, to great comedic effect.
Mary was added to the team (called the “Super Buddies” – so you can tell it was intended as comedic relief from the standard serious superhero fare) which reunited former JLI members, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Elongated Man and his wife, Sue Dibney. A six-issue follow-up series, called I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League was soon completed by the same creative team, but its publication was delayed until 2005 after the events of Identity Crisis had played out. It was eventually published in JLA Classified#4 - #9 (Apr - Sep, 2005). Mary Marvel continued her wholesome and clueless image, while fending off Guy Gardner’s advances and fighting demons in Hell.
Most of those characters met grim fates in series that have followed, (Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis and 52,) but we’re having fun here, so we won’t focus on those titles. Mary Marvel’s, on the other hand, has remained unsullied. She played a small role in fighting Superboy Prime in Infinite Crisis (2006) and along with the rest of DC’s superheroes, took on Black Adam in this year’s four-issue 52 spinoff, World War III.
In this year’s Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, penned by Jeff Smith, Mary Marvel again appears with her brother Billy as Captain Marvel, and Freddy Freeman as Captain Marvel, Jr. Mary is depicted as a pre-pubescent girl who remains that age when (accidentally) transformed into her super identity. As delightful and critically-acclaimed as this mini-series is, this portrayal of Mary Marvel is presumably not what will be reflected in Countdown.
(Spoiler follows!) A character similar in appearance to all the Marvel Family, including Mary, appears in a panel at the conclusion of 52, on one of the possible alternate Earths. This is not the same as the pre-Crisis Earth-S. It is also clear that “our” Mary Marvel does not come from that alternate universe. This and the other duplicate Earths are toy boxes for future creators to reach into. (End Spoiler!)
The 2006 one-shot, Brave New World, featured an 11-page preview of Trials of Shazam!, an ongoing series written by Judd Winick with art by Howard Porter. In that initial story, Mary lost her powers in mid-flight when the source of those powers – the wizard Shazam – was killed. She fell from a height of three miles, and although she survived, she was comatose. She emerged from that coma at the beginning of Countdown #51, and seeks to regain her lost powers.
Mary Marvel will clearly play an important role in Countdown, and it appears that her wholesome image will be tested. She is shown in DC’s striking orange-background ads as being beckoned by the outstretched arm of none other than longtime villain, Eclipso!
RED ARROW Red Arrow is a new name for a character who has been around for a long time. Born Roy Harper, for decades he was known as Green Arrow’s teenage sidekick, Speedy. Before getting his current appellation, he went by Arsenal. Okay, that was the quick summary, now let’s see how he went from baby bowslinger to full-fledged member of the Justice League. (And why did it take almost 50 years?!)
Speedy first appeared as Green Arrow’s young companion in crimebusting, way back in More Fun Comics #73 (Nov 1941). Roy’s father was a forest ranger who was killed in a fire while saving the members of a Navajo reservation. Their shaman, Brave Bow, raised Roy and trained him in archery. Roy entered an archery contest, and although he did not win, he caught the attention of Green Arrow. Roy later helped the Emerald Archer foil a robbery, so Oliver Queen (GA’s wealthy secret identity) agreed to take in Roy as his ward.
Green Arrow and Speedy appeared in the pages of Adventure Comics for the better part of two decades, beating bad guys with their non-superpowered wiles and trick arrows. With a bunch of teen sidekicks puttering around after school with nothing to do while their mentors were out busting crime, DC decided to put them together in one book. Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin were first brought together in The Brave and the Bold #54 (Jul 1965), but they weren’t called the Teen Titans until they got their own book of the same name in February, 1966. Like the rest of the members, Speedy was “aged” a few years from about 13 to about 16, and he first included with the team with Issue #4 (Aug 1966).
Roy developed a relationship with Donna Troy (the original Wonder Girl), but all good things pass and they – along with the original Teen Titans – eventually split up. About the same time, Oliver Queen lost his fortune and began neglecting his ward in favor of the beautiful Black Canary and trucking around the country with his pal Green Lantern, righting America’s social injustices.
One of the injustices Ollie failed to notice, however, was that Roy had become hooked on heroin. This story, which appeared in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (Oct 1971), was groundbreaking as it approached a normally taboo topic and led to comics becoming more of a voice of social relevance for the youth of America. (This, despite the over-the-top captions splashed across the cover, including “My ward is a Junkie!” and “DC Attacks Youth’s Greatest Problem… Drugs!” Ah, well. They deserve credit for the attempt, anyway.)
Upon learning of Roy’s addiction, Ollie knocked the kid on his butt and kicked him out of the house. Naturally, they stopped working together, and the strain on their relationship lingered for many years. Roy eventually kicked his habit and even became a drug counselor for teens.
With his background as a counselor for government-sponsored anti-drug programs, he was tapped to join the Central Bureau of Investigations (Checkmate) as a drug enforcement agent (mid-1980’s). One of his assignments for CBI was to go undercover and gain the trust of the villainous and beautiful Cheshire. It apparently worked, because she later had Roy’s child, Lian. After a series of events, the baby girl was left in Roy’s care, and he has raised her as a single father ever since.
In the early 1990s, he updated his weaponry and costume, and changed his code name to Arsenal. He joined a new incarnation of the Teen Titans, brought together by their benefactor Loren Jupiter to battle his super-villain son, Haze. A newcomer to the Titans, Joto, was killed in action, and Arsenal felt responsible. Roy eventually left the group before it officially disbanded (and the title was cancelled.)
He next learned that he and his daughter were descendants of the perennially evil Vandal Savage. Savage wanted to harvest the father and daughter’s compatible organs to prolong his own life, but Arsenal was able to save his daughter and defeat Savage.
In an even later version of the Titans, Troia (Donna Troy’s next code name) was killed in a battle of the combined Titans and Young Justice teams against Indigo, a cybernetic girl from the future. The team was disbanded yet again, and Arsenal went on to form the Outsiders, which included former Titan Nightwing. Roy was shot in the chest when battling Brother Blood and was sidelined for months, scarred not only by the gunshot wounds, but also the self-doubts about his own inadequacy. Arsenal eventually got over his own insecurities and came and went from the Outsiders for years.
This year, he was finally called up to the big leagues with the newest incarnation of the Justice League. He was on the cover of Justice League of America #1 (2006) and was one of the first heroes to be discussed for inclusion by the membership committee of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However, it was not until Issue #7 that he was actually offered - and accepted - membership in the team. In a gesture of reconciliation of their past troubled relationship, Green Arrow presented Roy with his new costume. He was accidentally dubbed “Red Arrow” by Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) who almost let Roy’s real name slip, and the appellation has stuck.
TRICKSTER Philosophy majors will probably recall that the role of the “trickster” is one of the fundamental archetypes of storytelling, dating all the way back to the Norse god of deception, Loki. That being the case, it is surprising that this DC villain has been fairly underused since his earliest appearance way back in Flash#113 (Jun-Jul, 1960).
The Trickster is another of the Flash’s original Rogues Gallery of villains. Although he has gone through a few changes since then, the delinquent deceiver still uses a variety of amped-up novelty gags to commit crimes and elude his super foes. His given name was Giovanni Giuseppe, but for his circus act he used the stage name James Jesse, and we know him by that name to this day.
Being a circus acrobat was not enough for James Jesse, so he decided to turn to a life of crime just for the thrill. He created a set of air-walking shoes and an arsenal of trick devices to rob banks and befuddle his super-foe, the Flash.
James was brainwashed by the Top into giving up the life of crime and heading the F.B.I. team of other “reformed” villains (including Heat Wave) in capturing the other Rogues. While in his “good” stage, the Trickster was among the heroes who literally went to hell and back to defeat the demon Neron. In fact, he was able to con the Great Deceiver himself, which was instrumental in a victory for the “good guys”.
When the Top’s brainwashing was later reversed, the Trickster has resumed his life of crime with a lot more attitude than before. Although he still has his arsenal of gadgets, he looks like he is out for some revenge.
It should be noted that several years ago – while James Jesse had gone straight and was doing his F.B.I. thing – a new Trickster appeared on the scene. This kid – Axel Walker – is a teenager with an attitude, who joined a reconstituted Rogues team, mostly just to raise hell. He adopted the Trickster identity after breaking into James Jesse’s storage and stealing all his equipment.
Although the other Rogues thought this second Trickster was a jerk, they saw that he had criminal potential and eventually trusted him enough to become a card-carrying member of the crime collective. When James Jesse came to his criminal senses, he confronted Axel and recovered his costume and gadgets, and threatened bodily harm if the imitator ever adopted the Trickster mantle again.
Currently, a the new villain Inertia is getting the band back together and trying to re-form the Rogues with all the original members. Now that James Jesse has re-adopted his Trickster identity, he is seeking to re-join the Rogues, but as with Heat Wave there are trust issues because of his former association with the good guys. (See WCIC?, Episode #50.)
PIED PIPER The Pied Piper is another of Flash’s Rogues Gallery villains who goes way back. In fact, the Sonic Scoundrel’s first appearance was in Flash #106 (May 1959), only the second issue of the Silver Age Speedster’s own comic. (Remember, Mirror Master was featured in the first.)
According to his modern-day origin tale, told in The Flash#190 (Nov 2002), Hartley Rathaway (get it? “rat-away”) was born deaf, but due to his wealthy parents’ neglect this fact went undetected until he was about two. Despite their considerable resources, they were unable to find a doctor who can fix his hearing, until one Doctor Magnus was able to replace young Hartley’s cochlea and tympanic membranes with artificial micro-robotics. His hearing now enhanced well beyond any human’s, he devoured all forms of music and as an adult developed a flute that could control people’s actions.
Seeing other costumed and code-named outcasts, he developed the Pied Piper persona basically to get attention.
Adorned as the character from the Robert Browning poem who cleaned up the town of Hamelin’s rat problem, as a crook Hartley attracted the attention of the Flash, (Barry Allen). He eventually hooked up with the rest of the Rogues, raising havoc in Central City, until Barry Allen died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985).
The Flash’s demise was the wake up call that the Pied Piper needed to go straight, which – as Hartley himself put it – was ironic, since he was one of DC’s first openly gay characters. The Pied Piper moved to Keystone City to actually help the Flash in fighting crime. But even Wally West could not help Hartley when his parents were found brutally murdered and surveillance films pointed directly to the Pied Piper.
Wally eventually learned that it was Mirror Master who committed the murders and hypnotized Hartley into believing he was the culprit. Unaware he was being cleared of the crime, he broke out of Iron Heights prison and struck a deal to work with the “reformed” James Jesse (the former Trickster), who was now heading the anti-Rogues unit of the CBI.
In a long-running (and pretty convoluted) storyline in The Flash, Wally West learned that his predecessor (Barry Allen) had Zatanna mind-wipe another Rogue, the Top, into going straight. The Top, in turn, had caused a similar form of mind control on several other Rogues, including the Pied Piper. Barry’ had left a letter asking Wally to restore the Top’s (criminal) mind in the event of Barry’s death. Wally did so, and the Top set out to reverse the reformed Rogues. Piper’s criminal personality briefly returned until Wally pulled off his mask, causing Hartley’s memories of their friendship to return.
Piper was one of the only Rogues to stay “straight” – which was a good thing, because he was cleared of the murder charges. However, in the new Flash: Fastest Man Alive series (with Bart Allen as the new Flash, after Wally West’s disappearance in Infinite Crisis) someone costumed as the Pied Piper has returned, and has associated himself with Inertia in the reformation of the Rogues. Because he was a “good guy” when last seen it is unclear at this time whether this version is the same, reformed Hartley Rathaway Pied Piper appearing in Flash: Fastest Man Alive and Countdown. We’ll just have to keep reading to find out!
One final side-note: DC’s teaser ad campaign for this series featured some of the Countdown characters against striking orange backgrounds with cryptic catch phrases. One of these ads showed only the gloved hands of the Trickster and Pied Piper handcuffed together, with the catch phrase, “Villains Defiant”. What will be interesting to find out is how these two come to be stuck together, since Pied Piper is openly gay and the Trickster is an avowed homophobic. Hmmm…
posted
We're thrilled to have Bruce doing this every week! If anyone wants to read more of The Countdown on PULSE, check out this link for his columns and other extras:
Printer-friendly view of this topic
MARY MARVEL
The Marvel Family’s catalog of characters was acquired by DC and revived in 1973 with the comic, Shazam! (The appellation “Captain Marvel” was tied up in copyright issues, because of Marvel’s character of the same name.) The reason given for the team’s two-decade absence was that their arch-nemesis Dr. Sivana had trapped them in Suspendium, until they were all freed to have their campy 50s-style adventures in the 1970s. (Yes, this is the same evil genius who headed the team of mad scientists on Oolong Island in the comic 52and really screwed up things with Black Adam.)
Suddenly, the “Talky Tawny” tiger doll that Billy had saved to remind him of his sister, came to life as a full-grown (talking) tiger and instructed Billy to transform to Captain Marvel and fly them to Mary at the Bromfield estate to spring the adoption papers on her. Once there, he changed back into Billy and was immediately captured by the same goons who originally kidnapped Mary.
In Power of Shazam!#28 (Jul 1997) Mary changed her costume from the traditional red and gold, to a more attractive and versatile white and gold. (Never a slave to fashion, she even wears the costume after Labor Day.) After that series concluded in 1999, she returned to her former “Mary Marvel” appellation, and is known thusly to this day.
Most of those characters met grim fates in series that have followed, (Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis and 52,) but we’re having fun here, so we won’t focus on those titles. Mary Marvel’s, on the other hand, has remained unsullied. She played a small role in fighting Superboy Prime in Infinite Crisis (2006) and along with the rest of DC’s superheroes, took on Black Adam in this year’s four-issue 52 spinoff, World War III. 
The 2006 one-shot, Brave New World, featured an 11-page preview of Trials of Shazam!, an ongoing series written by Judd Winick with art by Howard Porter. In that initial story, Mary lost her powers in mid-flight when the source of those powers – the wizard Shazam – was killed. She fell from a height of three miles, and although she survived, she was comatose. She emerged from that coma at the beginning of Countdown #51, and seeks to regain her lost powers.
Speedy first appeared as Green Arrow’s young companion in crimebusting, way back in More Fun Comics #73 (Nov 1941). Roy’s father was a forest ranger who was killed in a fire while saving the members of a Navajo reservation. Their shaman, Brave Bow, raised Roy and trained him in archery. Roy entered an archery contest, and although he did not win, he caught the attention of Green Arrow. Roy later helped the Emerald Archer foil a robbery, so Oliver Queen (GA’s wealthy secret identity) agreed to take in Roy as his ward.
Upon learning of Roy’s addiction, Ollie knocked the kid on his butt and kicked him out of the house. Naturally, they stopped working together, and the strain on their relationship lingered for many years. Roy eventually kicked his habit and even became a drug counselor for teens. 
He next learned that he and his daughter were descendants of the perennially evil Vandal Savage. Savage wanted to harvest the father and daughter’s compatible organs to prolong his own life, but Arsenal was able to save his daughter and defeat Savage.
This year, he was finally called up to the big leagues with the newest incarnation of the Justice League. He was on the cover of Justice League of America #1 (2006) and was one of the first heroes to be discussed for inclusion by the membership committee of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However, it was not until Issue #7 that he was actually offered - and accepted - membership in the team. In a gesture of reconciliation of their past troubled relationship, Green Arrow presented Roy with his new costume. He was accidentally dubbed “Red Arrow” by Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) who almost let Roy’s real name slip, and the appellation has stuck.
The Trickster is another of the Flash’s original Rogues Gallery of villains. Although he has gone through a few changes since then, the delinquent deceiver still uses a variety of amped-up novelty gags to commit crimes and elude his super foes. His given name was Giovanni Giuseppe, but for his circus act he used the stage name James Jesse, and we know him by that name to this day.
Although the other Rogues thought this second Trickster was a jerk, they saw that he had criminal potential and eventually trusted him enough to become a card-carrying member of the crime collective. When James Jesse came to his criminal senses, he confronted Axel and recovered his costume and gadgets, and threatened bodily harm if the imitator ever adopted the Trickster mantle again. 
According to his modern-day origin tale, told in The Flash#190 (Nov 2002), Hartley Rathaway (get it? “rat-away”) was born deaf, but due to his wealthy parents’ neglect this fact went undetected until he was about two. Despite their considerable resources, they were unable to find a doctor who can fix his hearing, until one Doctor Magnus was able to replace young Hartley’s cochlea and tympanic membranes with artificial micro-robotics. His hearing now enhanced well beyond any human’s, he devoured all forms of music and as an adult developed a flute that could control people’s actions.
Adorned as the character from the Robert Browning poem who cleaned up the town of Hamelin’s rat problem, as a crook Hartley attracted the attention of the Flash, (Barry Allen). He eventually hooked up with the rest of the Rogues, raising havoc in Central City, until Barry Allen died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985).
In a long-running (and pretty convoluted) storyline in The Flash, Wally West learned that his predecessor (Barry Allen) had Zatanna mind-wipe another Rogue, the Top, into going straight. The Top, in turn, had caused a similar form of mind control on several other Rogues, including the Pied Piper. Barry’ had left a letter asking Wally to restore the Top’s (criminal) mind in the event of Barry’s death. Wally did so, and the Top set out to reverse the reformed Rogues. Piper’s criminal personality briefly returned until Wally pulled off his mask, causing Hartley’s memories of their friendship to return.
One final side-note: DC’s teaser ad campaign for this series featured some of the Countdown characters against striking orange backgrounds with cryptic catch phrases. One of these ads showed only the gloved hands of the Trickster and Pied Piper handcuffed together, with the catch phrase, “Villains Defiant”. What will be interesting to find out is how these two come to be stuck together, since Pied Piper is openly gay and the Trickster is an avowed homophobic. Hmmm…
