The Flash #138

The Pied Piper uses his musical control to force both The Flash and The Elongated Man to commit robberies.

The Pied Piper's Double Doom!

Royal jewels are stolen from the seemingly impregnable stone tower of Tower Town. The culprit is the Pied Piper. On the day prior to the robbery, the Pied Piper had spied Ralph Dibny, the famed Elongated Man, in a crowd of onlookers. The Pied Piper played a special tonal wavelength on his pipe, just for Dibny's ears. On the night of the robbery, Dibny, as the Elongated Man, used his amazing stretching abilities to steal the jewels. After turning the jewels over to the Pied Piper, the Elongated Man returned home, with no memory of his criminal activities.

The phenomenal nature of the crime attracts Dibny's interest, as a mystery solving sleuth. Though indulgent of his crime solving passions, Dibny's wife, Sue, reminds him that they have a dinner engagement. Arriving late is not an option. At the same time, reporter Iris West is telling her boyfriend, police forensics scientist, Barry Allen, that he, too, had best be on time for their dinner with the Dibnys. Allen consents, though still decides to investigate the tower robbery, as the Flash. Investigating the scene of the crime, the Flash discovers a boot print, on each side of the moat, nearly 30 yards apart.

Immediately, suspicion falls on the Elongated Man. Before the Flash can act on his fears, he, too, falls under the sway of the Pied Piper. Racing into town, the Flash robs the Bank of Tower City, moving so fast as to be invisible to the naked eye. After turning the loot over to the Pied Piper, the Flash returns to the stone tower, with no memory of his criminal act. Learning of the bank robbery, the Flash arrives on the scene, to find the Elongated Man already investigating the crime. The Flash accuses the Elongated Man of the tower robbery. In turn, the Elongated Man accuses the Flash of bank robbery.

As evidence, the Elongated Man points out that all the clocks in the bank have stopped, mere milliseconds apart. An effect that could only be achieved by the Flash running past them, at such extreme velocity, that the clock's inner mechanisms would have shattered. Realizing that they're both the dupes of an unknown criminal mastermind, the Flash and the Elongated Man team up to solve the case. The Elongated Man coats the bottom of their boots with a chemical that can only be seen with infra-red light. As a precaution, the Flash imbibes the Elongated Man's stretching elixir, Gingold.

Suddenly, both men become aware that they've lost time. Using the infra-red light, the Elongated Man follows the trail of their footsteps to the Pied Piper's lair. They find the Pied Piper, ready and waiting for them. Playing on twin pipes, the Pied Piper cause the Elongated Man to twist and stretch out of control. At the same time, the Flash finds himself running in place so fast that he, literally, begins running on air. The Gingold in Flash's system allows him to stretch as the Elongated Man does. Thus, with an elongated arm, the Flash breaks the Pied Piper's twin pipes.

The Pied Piper races back into his hideout to rearm himself. This gives the Flash time to save the Elongated Man. Racing in tight circles around the Elongated Man, the Flash unwinds the Stretchable Sleuth, while also drawing him back down to earth. The tornado created by the Flash's movements destroys the Pied Piper's lair. The Elongated Man pulls the Pied Piper from the rubble, while the Flash dissipates the tornado, before it reaches the city. The Flash takes the Pied Piper to jail, then returns all the stolen loot. The Elongated Man, as Dibny, just makes it back in time for his dinner date. The Flash, as Allen, arrives 10 minutes late, receiving a scolding from West.

Mystery of the Matinee Idol!

Kid Flash is the star attraction at Blue Valley's Summer Festival. Suddenly, an elderly man collapses in front of Kid Flash's float. The Fastest Boy Alive drags the man out from in front of the float, then carries him to a hospital. The man is identified as Dexter Myles, a once famous actor. His collapse was apparently brought about by extreme hunger. Learning that his parents are ardent admirers of Myles, Kid Flash decides to get to know the actor. Upon departing the hospital, Myles reveals the sad affair his life has become. His acting style is considered old hat, and many modern theater companies have never even heard of him.

Recently, though, he had been hired to declaim Shakespeare, in the town square. An act Kid Flash knows to be illegal. Moving faster than the eye can see, KId Flash follows Myles. The old actor meets with his benefactors. Kid Flash doesn't recognize either man as a Blue Valley resident. Suspicious, Kid Flash decides to follow the two men. Myles begins reciting a monologue from Hamlet, at the town square. Soon enough, he draws a large crowd, as well as two officers, there to arrest him. With only the sheriff left in the police house, the two men enter, and demand the sheriff release his prisoner. The sheriff goes for his gun, as the two men fire upon him.

Kid Flash intervenes, moving the sheriff out of harm's way, while generating a shield of compressed air to block the gunfire. Kid Flash continues waving his arm at super-human velocity, drawing the air away from the gunmen. Weakened by lack of oxygen, they fall easily to Kid Flash's super-speed punches. The sheriff reveals that the two men are part of a notorious gang of bank robbers. Dolman, their safecracker, had been picked up by Blue Valley police. Without Dolman, they had no way of breaking into bank vaults, and thus came to claim him. The publicity garnered by Myles role in the crime lands him a starring role, at Blue Valley's Summer Playhouse. Myles is also given a special permit allowing him to, legally, perform in the town square.

Notes:

• This comic book appeared in the movie Catch Me if You Can.