A Pied Piper and Trickster Retrospective, Part 1: Origins
Ladies and gentlemen, have you been reading Countdown and wondering just who in the Multiverse the Pied Piper and the Trickster are (I mean, besides the obvious)? If so, have I got the post series for you!
Countdown is really the countdown to a hot hot Piper/Trickster hook-up. Their love-making will rock the 52 Earths and cause the event that will be known as Final Crisis.
In preparation, I'm putting together a retrospective to examine their history together, as well as apart. Today, we'll be looking at origins.
All scans are thumb-nailed, so click to make 'em bigger. Make sure to check out the alt tags for sekrit info or additional "witty" comments!
The origins of the Flash's Rogues Gallery were told in Secret Origins #41 and then later updated by Geoff Johns throughout his run on The Flash.
The frame story of the Secret Origins issue is that there's a dude with amnesia who only remembers that he was one of the Rogues. The Official Rogue Tailor is telling him origin stories to try and jog his memory:
Apparently, all circus acrobat teams in the DCU are called The Flying Whatevers.
Is it just me, or is young James quite the dish?
Doesn't Nike have a line of Air Walker shoes? Can the Trickster sue them?
Anyway, Trickster has a brief run-in with Booster Gold:
...before getting some sort of mysterious telepathic message. He goes to find Piper, which bring us to the Pied Piper's origin!
Check out Piper's groovy psychedelic logo!
Geoff Johns added a touch I like a lot:
Will Magnus fixed Piper's hearing! Eee! *fangirls Doc Magnus even more*
Obviously, this was written before Piper came out. Unless that's a very pretty man in drag he's hypnotizing with the harmonica there. Also note that Piper only wears green, even when he's out of costume. Perhaps he is colorblind as well as deaf?
Johns addressed Piper's sexuality in the revamped version:
Piper and Trickster angst in the background at a Rogue's meeting:
But getting back to the story, the Trickster finds Piper, who is having a bit of a problem.
Okay. I snickered at the "invitation" line. I can't help but see subtext between these two now.
Ah, for the days when sentient music notes were a perfectly acceptable plot device...
It's been cut-off, but Piper is calling Trickster "Tricks" there in the third panel.
"Pipey" and "Tricks" meet up with Captain Cold who flirts with Heat Wave and proposes a foursome:
Captain Boomerang and the Weather Wizard show up:
It turns out that they're going to fight the amnesiac dude, who is Gorilla Grod.
Heat Wave's line is kind of a cheap joke, but I laughed anyway.
Well, it is the real Grodd, but he's trapped in a human body, so he put on a gorilla suit. The Rogues make fun of him for a while, but then he transforms back in to a gorilla and starts kicking their asses.
WHO WILL COME TO THEIR RESCUE?!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can't legalize gay marriage. It will pave the way for all sorts of demented couplings, such as a man and his giant music note.
Next time, A Pied Piper and Trickster Retrospective, Part 2: Piper's coming out issue and Trickster and/or Piper adventures from the 90s!
Countdown is really the countdown to a hot hot Piper/Trickster hook-up. Their love-making will rock the 52 Earths and cause the event that will be known as Final Crisis.
In preparation, I'm putting together a retrospective to examine their history together, as well as apart. Today, we'll be looking at origins.
All scans are thumb-nailed, so click to make 'em bigger. Make sure to check out the alt tags for sekrit info or additional "witty" comments!
The origins of the Flash's Rogues Gallery were told in Secret Origins #41 and then later updated by Geoff Johns throughout his run on The Flash.
The frame story of the Secret Origins issue is that there's a dude with amnesia who only remembers that he was one of the Rogues. The Official Rogue Tailor is telling him origin stories to try and jog his memory:
Apparently, all circus acrobat teams in the DCU are called The Flying Whatevers.
Is it just me, or is young James quite the dish?
Doesn't Nike have a line of Air Walker shoes? Can the Trickster sue them?
Anyway, Trickster has a brief run-in with Booster Gold:
...before getting some sort of mysterious telepathic message. He goes to find Piper, which bring us to the Pied Piper's origin!
Check out Piper's groovy psychedelic logo!
Geoff Johns added a touch I like a lot:
Will Magnus fixed Piper's hearing! Eee! *fangirls Doc Magnus even more*
Obviously, this was written before Piper came out. Unless that's a very pretty man in drag he's hypnotizing with the harmonica there. Also note that Piper only wears green, even when he's out of costume. Perhaps he is colorblind as well as deaf?
Johns addressed Piper's sexuality in the revamped version:
Piper and Trickster angst in the background at a Rogue's meeting:
But getting back to the story, the Trickster finds Piper, who is having a bit of a problem.
Okay. I snickered at the "invitation" line. I can't help but see subtext between these two now.
Ah, for the days when sentient music notes were a perfectly acceptable plot device...
It's been cut-off, but Piper is calling Trickster "Tricks" there in the third panel.
"Pipey" and "Tricks" meet up with Captain Cold who flirts with Heat Wave and proposes a foursome:
Captain Boomerang and the Weather Wizard show up:
It turns out that they're going to fight the amnesiac dude, who is Gorilla Grod.
Heat Wave's line is kind of a cheap joke, but I laughed anyway.
Well, it is the real Grodd, but he's trapped in a human body, so he put on a gorilla suit. The Rogues make fun of him for a while, but then he transforms back in to a gorilla and starts kicking their asses.
WHO WILL COME TO THEIR RESCUE?!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we can't legalize gay marriage. It will pave the way for all sorts of demented couplings, such as a man and his giant music note.
Next time, A Pied Piper and Trickster Retrospective, Part 2: Piper's coming out issue and Trickster and/or Piper adventures from the 90s!