Clifford Meth
Encyclopedia
Clifford Lawrence Meth is an American
writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."
, New York City
, New York
, Meth grew up in Rockaway
, New Jersey
. He attended Rutgers University
and Fairleigh Dickinson University
in the U.S., and Wroxton College in the U.K.
while freelancing for the Los Angeles Times
Entertainment Newswire, Fangoria
, Starlog
, Billboard
and other periodicals.
By the mid-1980s Meth became involved with Chabad-Lubavitch
yeshiva
s, but in 1994 the group's reaction to the death of its leader, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson
, led to Meth's disillusionment with the movement. Meth embarked on a fiction-writing career. One of his first published works was "I, Gezheh", which dealt with corruption in Chabad. Author Robert Bloch
provided an afterword for the story, which was illustrated by Dave Cockrum
.
With the aid of Cockrum and fantasy artist Gray Morrow
, Meth co-founded Aardwolf Publishing along with partner Jim Reeber in 1994. The company published a series of comic books, art portfolios, and collections of illustrated fiction.
In 2004, Meth joined IDT Entertainment
's Creative Development team. and worked on Showtime's Masters of Horror
series and ABC's
Masters of Science Fiction
. In 2004, he was story editor for Gene Roddenberry
's Starpoint Academy, an animated feature screenplay IDT hired Peter David
to script. Meth left IDT Entertainment in 2006 when the division was sold to Liberty Media
. In 2007 he oversaw the acquisition of IDW Publishing
by IDT Corporation and joined IDW as executive vice president, editorial/strategies. The following year, producer Richard Saperstein optioned film rights to Meth's IDW horror
comic-book series, Snaked, with Meth as screenwriter and an executive producer.
In 2008, Meth launched IDW Publishing's "New Classics of the Fantastic Series", which published out-of-print Hugo
and Nebula Award
-winning books, beginning with Robert Silverberg
's Nightwings.
, whom Meth lambasted in his column "Past Masters".
On numerous occasions Meth has spearheaded campaigns to raise money and awareness for financially challenged comics’ creators, including Gene Colan
, William Messner-Loebs
and Dave Simons
.
:
included a recording of Meth's short story "Queers", accompanied by music and sound effects.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."
Early life
Born in QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Meth grew up in Rockaway
Rockaway, New Jersey
Rockaway is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,438.Rockaway was formed as a borough on June 19, 1894, from portions of Rockaway Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He attended Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
and Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
in the U.S., and Wroxton College in the U.K.
In publishing
In the early 1980s, Meth worked as a staff editor for Electronic Design MagazineElectronic Design Magazine
First published 55 years ago, Electronic Design is the largest published print magazine for the electronic design industry published in the USA by Penton Media....
while freelancing for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Entertainment Newswire, Fangoria
Fangoria
Fangoria is an American magazine devoted to horror and exploitation films, which has a number of associated brands:* Fangoria Comics* Fangoria Films* Fangoria RadioFangoria may also refer to:* Fangoria , a Spanish electro pop band...
, Starlog
Starlog
Starlog was a monthly science-fiction film magazine published by Starlog Group Inc. The magazine was created by publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs. O'Quinn was the magazine's editor while Jacobs ran the business side of things, dealing with typesetters, engravers and printers. They got...
, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and other periodicals.
By the mid-1980s Meth became involved with Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s, but in 1994 the group's reaction to the death of its leader, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
, led to Meth's disillusionment with the movement. Meth embarked on a fiction-writing career. One of his first published works was "I, Gezheh", which dealt with corruption in Chabad. Author Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
provided an afterword for the story, which was illustrated by Dave Cockrum
Dave Cockrum
David Emmett Cockrum was an American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus...
.
With the aid of Cockrum and fantasy artist Gray Morrow
Gray Morrow
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...
, Meth co-founded Aardwolf Publishing along with partner Jim Reeber in 1994. The company published a series of comic books, art portfolios, and collections of illustrated fiction.
In 2004, Meth joined IDT Entertainment
Starz Media
Starz Media is the motion picture, animation, television, and home video subsidiary of Liberty Media.-Subsidiaries:Starz Media's subsidiaries include:*Anchor Bay Entertainment - distribution division for DVDs and videos....
's Creative Development team. and worked on Showtime's Masters of Horror
Masters of Horror
Masters of Horror is an informal social group of international film writers and directors specializing in horror movies and an American television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network.- Origin :...
series and ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Masters of Science Fiction
Masters of Science Fiction
Masters of Science Fiction is an American television anthology series by the same creators as Masters of Horror. The show debuted on ABC on August 4, 2007 at 10PM for a run of four episodes...
. In 2004, he was story editor for Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
's Starpoint Academy, an animated feature screenplay IDT hired Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
to script. Meth left IDT Entertainment in 2006 when the division was sold to Liberty Media
Liberty Media
Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate and the control is exercised by company Chairman John C. Malone, who owns a majority of the voting shares....
. In 2007 he oversaw the acquisition of IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
by IDT Corporation and joined IDW as executive vice president, editorial/strategies. The following year, producer Richard Saperstein optioned film rights to Meth's IDW horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
comic-book series, Snaked, with Meth as screenwriter and an executive producer.
In 2008, Meth launched IDW Publishing's "New Classics of the Fantastic Series", which published out-of-print Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
-winning books, beginning with Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
's Nightwings.
Public persona
Meth's personality and outspokenness have sometimes led to personal differences with some comics professionals, including artist Barry Windsor-SmithBarry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith, born Barry Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States....
, whom Meth lambasted in his column "Past Masters".
Charitable work
In 2008, Meth established the Dave & Paty Cockrum Scholarship at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. In 2010, Meth founded the Kars4Kids Literacy Program, which has made significant contributions to such universities as Seton Hall University.On numerous occasions Meth has spearheaded campaigns to raise money and awareness for financially challenged comics’ creators, including Gene Colan
Gene Colan
Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
, William Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs...
and Dave Simons
Dave Simons
Dave Simons was an American comic book artist known for his work on Conan, Ghost Rider, Red Sonja, and Spider-Man for Marvel Comics and Forgotten Realms for DC Comics...
.
Quotes
Harlan EllisonHarlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
:
Publications
- girl (chapbook) (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1983)
- Crib Death & Other Bedtime Stories (Aardwolf Publishing, 1995)
- This Bastard Planet (Aardwolf Publishing, 1995)
- The White Man Dancing (Aardwolf Publishing, 1996)
- Crawling From the Wreckage: The White Man Limping (Aardwolf Publishing, 1996)
- Crib Death: The Babysitter's Companion (Aardwolf Publishing, 1997)
- Perverts, Pedophiles & Other Theologians (Aardwolf Publishing, 1997)
- Conflicts of Disinterest (Aardwolf Publishing, 1998)
- Wearing The Horns (Aardwolf Publishing, 2003)
- god's 15 minutes (Aardwolf Publishing, 2004)
- METHo.d. (Aardwolf Publishing, 2006)
- Snaked (with Rufus DaygloRufus DaygloRufus Dayglo is a London-based comics artist working for 2000 AD and Titan Books in the United Kingdom, and IDW Publishing and Image Comics in the United States...
, IDW PublishingIDW PublishingIDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, 2007) - One Small Voice (IDW Publishing, 2008)
- Meth, Colan & Other Theologians (Aardwolf Publishing, 2008)
- Billboards (IDW Publishing, 2009)
As editor
- Strange Kaddish (Aardwolf Publishing, 1996)
- Stranger Kaddish (Aardwolf Publishing, 1997)
- Heroes and Villains (with Neal AdamsNeal AdamsNeal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
), (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2005) - Balm in Gilead (Mahrwood Press, 2007)
- The Uncanny Dave Cockrum (Aardwolf Publishing, 2007)
- Nightwings by Robert SilverbergRobert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
(IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2008) - Hothouse by Brian AldissBrian AldissBrian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
(IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009) - Dare by Philip Jose FarmerPhilip José FarmerPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
(IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009) - Rogue Dragon by Avram DavidsonAvram DavidsonAvram Davidson was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche...
(IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009) - Lori by Robert BlochRobert BlochRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
(IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009) - The Invincible Gene Colan (Marvel Entertainment, 2010)
Audio
In 2008, the album Caged by Septimus OrionSeptimus Orion
Septimus Orion is a recording project initiated with the release of its first studio album CAGED in August 2008. The album includes an audio version of Clifford Meth's short story Queers. This short story was originally published in god's 15 minutes by Aardwolf Publishing. Celtic Frost drummer Reed...
included a recording of Meth's short story "Queers", accompanied by music and sound effects.
External links
- Everyone's Wrong and I'm Right, The Clifford Meth Blog
- Clifford Meth : One Small Voice, Official website
- Cliff Meth's "Past Masters" column
- 5 Questions with Clifford Meth, Wizard (magazine)Wizard (magazine)Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
Official Website, May 15, 2008 - Clifford Meth on One Small Voice, NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, December 13, 2007 - Horror Yearbook: Interview with Clifford Meth, Horror Yearbook, Dec. 13, 2007
- Interview with Clifford Meth and Rufus Dayglo regarding Snaked, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, November 27, 2007 - Clifford Meth: Of Snakes and Paradigms, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, October 10, 2007 - Crystal Meth: An Interview with Clifford Meth, Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
, February 23, 2005 - Clifford Meth talks Cockrum Tribute and god's 15 Minutes, Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
, March 30, 2004