| Founded | 1986[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Mark L. Hamlin and Roger McKenzie[1] |
| Defunct | 1988 |
| Headquarters location | (editorial office): Wheeling, West Virginia (business office): Wyoming, Michigan |
| Key people | David Campiti |
| Publication types | Comics |
| Fiction genres | Superheroes |
Pied Piper Comics was a short-lived American comic book publishing company that operated from 1986 to 1988. The company was founded by Mark L. Hamlin and Roger McKenzie,[1] with writer/editor David Campiti playing a major role.[1]
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)[2] and Wonder Comics, both of which were financed by comics distributor Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and a small group of investors.[1] The plan was that Campiti would package comics for all three publishers through his studio Campiti and Associates,[3] with Pied Piper handling "special projects such as posters and graphic novels; black-and-white [comics] were Amazing's domain, and Wonder Color would product strictly color comics."[1]
Hamlin previously worked as a sales and marketing representative for Comico: The Comic Company;[4] Pied Piper Comics was a play on Hamlin's name and the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.[citation needed] McKenzie was a comics writer most well-known for his prior work for Marvel Comics.
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.[5] The company's business offices were in Wyoming, Michigan, while its editorial offices were in Camptiti's hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.[5]
Campiti personally edited most of the publisher's comics as well as writing a number of titles.[6]
Pied Piper temporarily acquired David Lawrence & Ron Lim's Ex-Mutants after the title began with two publishers associated with Campiti and financial backer Rosenberg: Eternity Comics and Amazing.[7] 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.[5]
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; while Ex-Mutants and The New Humans both returned to Eternity (which at that point was an imprint of another Rosenberg operation, Malibu Comics).[8]