As is the case more often the not, the Fiddler survived his plunge into the river and returned to battle the Flash again a few months later.  The villain refined his appearance, shaving his dark locks and donning the powered white wig that became his trademark for the remainder of his life. After the Flash thwarts a petty theft and arrests most of his gang, the Fiddler followed the hero at a distance but was in time to piece together a quarrel between Flash and Joan Williams. The exchange, with Joan annoyed at the time Flash's life took him away from home, inspired the Fiddler to undermine the hero. Using local criminals, the Fiddler arranged for "common citizens" (really members of his gang) to demonstrate that the Flash was not needed. As the Flash arrived always just in time to see the "citizens" route the criminals, he was advised to rest, relax or take a vacation. Eventually, the tricks took their toll and the Flash announced his retirement. As soon as he had supposedly departed, the Fiddler instigated a reign of terror across Keystone, staging almost daily robberies. One evening, Joan was particularly regretful of her admonition of the Flash and took it upon herself to become the solution. Using mirrors to blur her form and give her the illusion of speed, she donned a spare uniform and took up pursuit of the Fiddler. While the athletic Joan was quite capable of dealing with ordinary thugs, she was no match for a master criminal such as the Fiddler. To the criminal's astonishment, The Flash appeared to be a woman. Nonetheless, the Fiddler resolved to dispose of her and tied her to the trellis of a near-by train track. As the train bore down on her bound form, the genuine Flash quickly rescued her and bore down on the Fiddler. Not to be easily taken, the Fiddler dove between the ties, falling to his presumed death (Flash Comics #93).

    Again, the Fiddler survived and return in late 1948.  Disguising himself as the master violinist Vardo Vanessi,  Bowin played his music for a sell-out crowd. Unfortunately for the criminal, his craft was not up to the legendary master and he was soundly booed. Furious, he stripped off his disguised and changed his tune to a more numbing medley, rendering the audience unconscious. However, Jay Garrick, also in the audience, recognized the change and with lightning fast reflexes, vibrated out of the harmonic range of the Fiddler's trap and raced toward the stage. Recognizing his old foe was out of the range of instrument, the Fiddler targeted the statuary above his head, which collapse onto the oncoming speedster, knocking him unconscious. When the Flash awoke, the Fiddler was long gone. Stung by his reception at the music hall, the Fiddler stage two more crimes, the theft of a Stradivarius violin and a heretofore unknown violent concerto by Shuboven.  After the Fiddler's successful theft of the Stradivarius, the Flash faked his own demise to lull the villain into a false sense of security. To the Fiddler's dismay, when he stole the entire armored car containing the Shuboven work, found only the Flash inside. After a brief scuffle and a dip for the Flash when he as thrown off the Fiddler's submarine, the villain was captured and carted off to jail. The Shuboven had been a fake, a ruse to lure the overconfident villain into the Flash's trap (Comic Cavalcade #28).  In addition to his battles with the Flash, the Fiddler encountered a number of other mystery men of the era. In 1947, he became a member of the Wizard's re-organized Injustice Society. This case led him to attempt to steal the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, which led him into conflict with Wonder Woman and Dr. Mid-Nite (All-Star Comics #41).