Pied Piper Comics was a short-lived

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

publishing company that operated from 1986 to 1988. The company was founded by Mark L. Hamlin and

Roger McKenzie Roger McKenzie may refer to: * Roger McKenzie (musician) (1971–1995), English musician and DJ * Roger McKenzie (comics) (born 1950), American comic book writer *Roger McKenzie, British activist associated with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamen ...

, with writer/editor

David Campiti David Campiti (; born May 9, 1958) is an American animation producer, comic book writer, talent agent, and packager. He was deeply involved with a number of comics publishers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Eternity Comics, Pied P ...

playing a major role.

Origins

According to David Campiti, Pied Piper's origins were tied to two other publishers with which he was associated at the time: Amazing (full name: Amazing Publishing Company) and Wonder Comics, both of which were financed by comics distributor

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is an American film, television, and comic book producer. He is the chairman of Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls a library of comic-book characters and adapts them for film, television and other ...

and a small group of investors. The plan was that Campiti would package comics for all three publishers through his studio Campiti and Associates, with Pied Piper handling projects in the form of posters and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

. Amazing published black-and-white comics, while Wonder Color published comics in color. Hamlin previously worked as a sales and marketing representative for Comico: The Comic Company; Pied Piper Comics was a play on Hamlin's name and the legend of the

Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refer ...

. McKenzie was a comics writer most well-known for his prior work for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

Overview

Hamlin, McKenzie, and Campiti shared the title of Publisher of Pied Piper Comics, with Campiti also holding the title of Editor-in-Chief. Hamlin was Financial Manager and McKenzie was Managing Editor. The company's business offices were in

Wyoming, Michigan Wyoming is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 76,501 at the 2020 census. Wyoming is the second most-populated community in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is bordered by Grand Rapids on the northea ...

, while its editorial offices were in Camptiti's hometown of

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

. Campiti personally edited most of the publisher's comics as well as writing a number of titles. Pied Piper temporarily acquired David Lawrence and

Ron Lim Ronald Lim (born 1965) is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on their various "cosmic" titles, most particularly the ''Silver Surfer'' (vol. 3) series. Biography Lim' ...

's ''

Ex-Mutants ''Ex-Mutants'' is a comic book series created by writer David Lawrence and artist Ron Lim, along with comics packager David Campiti in 1986. It was first published by Eternity Comics and then Amazing Comics, Pied Piper Comics, and finally M ...

'' after the title began with two publishers associated with Campiti and financial backer Rosenberg:

Eternity Comics Eternity Comics was an American comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as some lice ...

and Amazing. Campiti left Rosenberg's various ventures in 1987, taking Lawrence & Lim's ''Ex-Mutants'' with him to Pied Piper. The company also published ''Lawrence & Lim's The New Humans''.

Demise

Pied Piper collapsed in 1988, with a number of titles, such as ''Hero Alliance'' and ''Power Factor'', being continued by Campiti's own publishing venture,

Innovation Publishing Innovation Publishing (also known as Innovation Books and the Innovative Corporation) was an American comic book company based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was co-founded by David Campiti in 1988 after writing a business proposal and raising ...

, while ''Ex-Mutants'' and ''The New Humans'' both returned to Eternity (which at that point was an imprint of another Rosenberg operation,

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (launched as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included ''Th ...

Titles

* ''Beast Warriors of Shaolin'' #1–3 (1987) * ''

'': ** ''Lawrence & Lim's Ex-Mutants'' vol. 1, #6–8 (1987) — acquired from Amazing; later acquired by

** ''Lawrence & Lim's Ex-Mutants Microseries: Erin'' #1 (1987) * ''Lawrence & Lim's The New Humans'' #1–3 (1987) — later acquired by Eternity Comics * '' Hero Alliance: End of the Golden Age'' (1986), ''Pied Piper Graphic Album'' #1 — collected material from Sirius Comics, later acquired by Wonder Comics, and then

* ''Mr. Doom'' (1987) * ''Phigments'' #2 (1987) — series acquired from Amazing Comics * ''Power Factor'' #2 (1987) — series acquired from Wonder Comics, then continued by Innovation Publishing

References

Notes

Sources

* {{gcdb publisher, id=532, title=Pied Piper Comics 1986 establishments in Michigan 1988 disestablishments in Michigan Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1986 Publishing companies disestablished in 1988