The origin of a comic character is an ever evolving thing. The older the character becomes the more their story line intertwines with those of other characters, often forming a complex web of continuity. With this said it's not unusual to expect a character's background to be rehashed somewhere down the line to try and fix errors within continuity or tie up loose ends. More often than not it's done to insert some bogus new character into another character's past to give them some menace that has haunted them for years and is the real reason why they have so many problems in their life and then suddenly, when the proverbial game of cat and mouse is over and the villain is no longer satisfied with slashing the hero's tires and pissing in their gas tank, they strike!

These contrived little plot devices have given origin stories a bad rap in recent years. Now we're not here to point fingers (mainly because we don't have enough), but really when you break it down there are typically three types of origin re-tellings; those where the sanctity of an origin is completely disregarded, those all too common "insert menace from the past here" stories, and the most rare and favorable, the character origin which adds a little bit of detail to the character's background to give a greater dynamic to whom the character currently is.

In our humble opinion certain guidelines should be followed to ensure that any retelling of an origin story doesn't spit on the hard work that has been done to establish the character at hand. One of the most important rules to follow is brevity. Since the origin has already been told there is not much point in telling it again except to add an overlooked detail about the character's past. Case in point, The Flash #190. Though the primary story isn't about Pied Piper's origin, it quickly breaks into recount mode with about three pages that highlight moments from the life of Hartley Robert Rathaway, better known as the Pied Piper.

Starting with his childhood the reader is taken to the wealthy but cold household of the Rathaways, a family whose son was born without the ability to hear. Eventually having the matter corrected, Hartley's hearing was completely restored by a doctor by the name of Magnus, a character most DC fans are quite familiar with. As the recount moves into his adolescence, Piper's love for music becomes very clear and with his surgery a success that gives him amplified aural abilities it doesn't take him long to find his calling in life. Unfortunately, not everyone in his life sees it that way. No one in his family understands him and the feeling is mutual. He ends up leaving home after coming out to his parents.

Then in adulthood Piper is seen trying to live his dream. Though not very talented in making music his knowledge of sound leads him to create a special flute that would play much better than any ordinary flute. After seeing that his creation can make people do whatever he wants when plays, he decides to use it to his advantage; thus the Pied Piper was born. Hartley takes on a garish alias, throws on a crazy little costume and becomes a rogue. After the death of Barry Allen however he reforms and becomes good friends with Wally West. He also reconciles with his parents and though it doesn't specifically state what he does, the recount mentions his efforts to help others.

All in all we really liked the approach the issue took with Piper's background. It had a point, which is another very important rule in retelling an origin. Now instead of Piper being a character who was simply turned gay the retelling established that the character has always been gay. To many readers this may only seem like fine print but to those who read issue 53 of The Flash where Pied Piper came out, the recount makes it feel a little less like something that DC did just to get GLAAD off their backs.

Something else that is especially important is that this recount adhered to the golden rule of origin stories by not overturning the past forty-something years of continuity just to make the plot of one issue. Though we can't say we were with the character from the beginning when he debuted in 1959's 106th issue of The Flash, we can say that the issue defined the post silver-age Pied Piper to better suit who he is now.

Issue 190 of The Flash stands as a testament that not every origin story or retelling is bad or deconstructive to the character. Like previously mentioned, with any character who continues on, especially as long as Piper has, it's no surprise that every now and again characters are seen singing a new tune.

Editor's note - Check out your local comic stores for this classic Flash story. Tell 'em Prism sent ya!