One thing that I’m constantly shocked and astounded by are some of the morbid and morally questionable fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes and legends that children hear at such a young age. Stories like Hansel and Gretel, Three Blind Mice or even the Dr. Seuss story of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins are surprisingly dark and grim. But now as an adult, I love when someone has the creativity to take these twisted stories and make them even more vicious. Such is the case with THR’s report on an adaptation of the comic book The Piper, a twisted, contemporary take on the classic legend of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The comic centers on a bullied high school band student who unintentionally channels the spirit of the mysterious Pied Piper and triggers terrifying consequences of his actions beyond his control. Sounds like Carrie meets Bully, and I’m just fine with that. But I’m hoping this won’t strike the wrong chord with certain organizations who might be worried for the sake of children whose delicate sensibilities might be affected by violence in schools from bullied kids. Incidents like Columbine and the like are tragedies, and there’s no denying the necessity for the safety of our kids, but attempting to shield them from true violence in the world, let alone a fictional comic book scenario would be irresponsible.

Sorry if that was a little too political or deep for an article concerning a comic book adaptation, but I can just hear the complaints already. Anyway, the search is on for writers, so we’ve got some time to sit on this one for awhile, but you can be sure we’ll be highlighting this as the project develops, so stay tuned for updates.

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