After Allen's death during "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Hartley retired from crime to become a socialist champion of the poor and underprivileged. He also came out as one of DC's first openly gay characters, and joked that this was ironic, as he was one of the few villains to have ever "gone straight". He first realized he was gay when he became attracted to Rod Lauren when watching "The Crawling Hand". Rathaway becomes a good friend of the Flash, Wally West, and his wife Linda, whom he helps with scientific problems.