Pied Piper

(pop culture)

The Fastest Man Alive first faced the music of the Pied Piper in The Flash vol. 1 #106 (1959), by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. This “Master of Sound”—wearing a green jerkin with white polka dots and a minstrel's cap— parades into Central City, tooting a Super-Sonic Flute that emits mind-controlling tones. Acoustically manipulating vibratory fields with his melodies, the Pied Piper stops the Scarlet Speedster dead in his tracks and buries him in an earthly fissure before the Flash whirlwinds to victory. Although enigmatic in his first outing, more was revealed about the Pied Piper in his reappearances. The felonious flutist is actually Hartley Rathaway, a spoiled rich kid who was born deaf but surgically cured of his affliction, sparking his fascination with sound. Developing his knack for hypnotism through music, the Piper's crime career was fostered out of boredom, not economic necessity, and he occasionally waltzed with the speedster alone and while partnered with other rogues. The Flash's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (1986) took the wind out of Rathaway, who became a costumed social advocate and an ally of the Flash's speedy successor Wally West. The Piper surprised his fast friend in Flash vol. 2 #53 (1991) by revealing his homosexuality, becoming one of the few comic-book characters of the era to be openly gay. In the 2000s his life has been anything but melodious. Rathaway was framed for his parents' murder and escaped from the supervillain penitentiary Iron Heights before being able to prove his innocence. His sanity has since wavered, and his mental manipulation by the villainous Top in the “Rogue War” Flash storyline (2005) has left the Flash wondering if the Pied Piper will soon resume his sinister songs. A one-hit wonder Batman villain called the Pied Piper—“the man of 1,000 pipes”—pulled pipe-related crimes (involving everything from smoking pipes to sewer pipes) in Detective Comics #143 (1949).

Pied Piper

charms children of Hamelin with music. [Children’s Lit.: “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” in Dramatic Lyrics, Fisher, 279–281]

See: Enchantment

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References in periodicals archive

Pied Piper submitted customer inquiries through the individual websites of 9,264 dealerships, asking a question about a vehicle in inventory, and offering a customer name, email address and local telephone number.

BMW's auto dealership ranked highest in 2019 Pied Piper PSI(R) Internet Lead Effectiveness(R) Benchmarking Study

And maybe, just maybe, if they don't honour their pledge, Just like pied piper's wrath, there may be a consequence.

POEM OF THE DAY; The Pied Piper

She decided "there and then" that she had to do something, and began Googling local children's charities, where she came across the Pied Piper Appeal.

Little Santa is a gift for others; Big-hearted Jazmin, 9, wants hundreds of presents for needy youngsters

Written and directed by Pied Piper's artistic director Tina Williams, The Big ENORMOUS Present is a fun and engaging play exploring the pressures of fitting in and making friends.

A gift of a show; GOING OUT

"I, a Squealer: The Insider's Account of the Pied Piper of Tucson Murders" by Richard Burns is firsthand account written in 1967, that shares the evolution of Burns' friendship with Schmid, the details of getting involved way in over his head, and how he finally summoned the courage to blow the whistle to end the deadly rampage that shocked the nation and changed the city of Tucson forever.

I, a Squealer

107, and Stolper and local flute students in John Coriglianos "Pied Piper Fantasy for Flute and Orchestra."

Elmhurst Symphony to perform 'Pied Piper Fantasy'

There is nothing else in the world quite like Pied Piper's data compression algorithm and it will almost certainly have as many, if not more, military uses down the road as it does commercial uses.

Start-ups face export control traps

The Pied Piper crew members are cynical about their chances, but the opportunity to build something that could one day be worth millions keeps them motivated--zoning restrictions be damned.

Rulebreaking made Silicon Valley

Youngsters leaving Holmfirth Junior Infant and Nursery School led a performance of the Pied Piper of Hamelin with some of it inside the school and some outside.

Children dance to the Pied Piper's tune; PICTURE SPECIAL

The judge: "You became something of a pied piper, taking children into the immediate area and encouraging them to enter your home."

Man who lured girls into his home jailed

A World War Two based retake on the Pied Piper of Hamlyn tale, this teenage thriller is set in the Romney Marshes, and tells the tale of two young evacuees who find themselves transported from urban Dagenham to a typically Gothic farmhouse with plenty of creaking floorboards, unexplained night-time rattles and surly inhabitants.

Weston, Danny: The Piper

Former health undersecretary Susan Mercado, who served as Flavier's executive secretary and treated as his own daughter, compared the man she called "Manong Johnny" with the "Pied Piper of Hamelin," who can make anyone follow his footsteps by "playing music through his pipe."

Flavier makes homecoming at DOH Office