Clifford Meth

Clifford Meth
Clifford Meth by Michael Netzer
Born	Clifford Lawrence Meth February 22, 1961 (1961-02-22) (age 50)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Editor
Pseudonym(s)	Hank Magitz

Clifford Lawrence Meth (born February 22, 1961) is an American writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."^[1]

Early life

Born in Queens, New York City, New York, Meth grew up in Rockaway, New Jersey.^{[citation needed]} He attended Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University in the U.S., and Wroxton College in the U.K.^[2]

Career

In publishing

In the early 1980s, Meth worked as a staff editor for Electronic Design Magazine^[3][4] while freelancing for the Los Angeles Times Entertainment Newswire, Fangoria, Starlog, Billboard and other periodicals.^[5]

By the mid-1980s Meth became involved with Chabad-Lubavitch yeshivas, 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.^[6] Meth embarked on a fiction-writing career. One of his first published works^[7] was "I, Gezheh", which dealt with corruption in Chabad. Author Robert Bloch provided an afterword for the story, which was illustrated by Dave Cockrum.^[8]

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.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Meth joined IDT Entertainment's Creative Development team.^[9] and worked on Showtime's Masters of Horror^[10] series and ABC's Masters of Science Fiction.^[10] In 2004, he was story editor for Gene Roddenberry's Starpoint Academy, an animated feature screenplay IDT hired Peter David to script.^[11] Meth left IDT Entertainment in 2006 when the division was sold to Liberty Media.^[12] In 2007 he oversaw the acquisition of IDW Publishing by IDT Corporation and joined IDW as executive vice president, editorial/strategies.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

Public persona

Meth's personality and outspokenness have sometimes led to personal differences with some comics professionals, including artist Barry Windsor-Smith, whom Meth lambasted in his column "Past Masters".^[15]

Charitable work

In 2008, Meth established the Dave & Paty Cockrum Scholarship at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.^[16] In 2010, Meth founded the Kars4Kids Literacy Program,^[17] which has made significant contributions to such universities as Seton Hall University.^[18]

On numerous occasions Meth has spearheaded campaigns to raise money and awareness for financially challenged comics’ creators, including Gene Colan,^[19] William Messner-Loebs^[20] and Dave Simons.^[21]

Quotes

Harlan Ellison:

“

The only thing about Cliff’s writing that makes me crazy is the demented titles he puts on them. For a guy who writes as well as he does, and who thinks as deeply as he does, I can’t figure it out...[22]

”

Bibliography

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 Dayglo, IDW Publishing, 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 Adams), (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2005)
• Balm in Gilead (Mahrwood Press, 2007)
• The Uncanny Dave Cockrum (Aardwolf Publishing, 2007)
• Nightwings by Robert Silverberg (IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2008)
• Hothouse by Brian Aldiss (IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009)
• Dare by Philip Jose Farmer (IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009)
• Rogue Dragon by Avram Davidson (IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009)
• Lori by Robert Bloch (IDW Publishing, New Classics of the Fantastic, 2009)
• The Invincible Gene Colan (Marvel Entertainment, 2010)

Audio

In 2008, the album Caged by Septimus Orion included a recording of Meth's short story "Queers", accompanied by music and sound effects.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. ^ Introduction, God's 15 Minutes. Aardwolf Publishing (2003).
2. ^ Fairleigh Dickinson Magazine, Spring, 1980
3. ^ Meth, Clifford, Snaked (Introduction,), IDW Publishing, 2008. ISBN-10 1600103049, ISBN-13 978-1600103049
4. ^ Folio Magazine, October 1, 1991. article title? page #?
5. ^ Lorah, Michael C. "Clifford Meth on 'One Small Voice'", Newsarama, December 13, 2007
6. ^ This Bastard Planet. Aardwolf Publishing (1997).
7. ^ http://www.aardwolfpublishing.com/Authors/meth.htm
8. ^ http://www.aardwolfpublishing.com/Comics-and-books/crib.htm
9. ^ Meth, Clifford. "Stan Lee: Grand Master - Part Three", Comics Bulletin, 2004, n.d.
10. ^ ^{a b} Meth Addict, Update Delirious. Comics Bulletin (2004)
11. ^ David, Peter. "Gene Roddenberry's Starpoint Academy", PeterDavid.net, November 18, 2004.
12. ^ "Liberty Media to Acquire IDT Entertainment", IDT press release, May 16, 2006.
13. ^ Graser, Marc. "Saperstein takes on 'Snaked'", Variety, March 9, 2008)
14. ^ DeNardo, John. "IDW Announces New Science Fiction Line", SF Signal, August 29, 2008
15. ^ Meth Addict, A Rare (and Unappreciated) Barry Windsor-Smith Citing. Comics Bulletin (2004).
16. ^ http://thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com/2008/03/and-nowthe-dave-paty-cockrum.html
17. ^ http://www.comicmix.com/news/2010/10/11/will-stan-lee-sing-the-kars4kids-jingle/
18. ^ http://southorange.patch.com/articles/kars4kids-literacy-program-donates-talmud-to-seton-hall
19. ^ http://www.comicsbeat.com/2008/05/15/gene-colan-benefit-update/
20. ^ http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/110921817611315.htm
21. ^ http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2009/06/looking-back-with-dave-simons.html
22. ^ http://www.fanboyplanet.com/interviews/js-ellisononmeth.php

External links

• Clifford Meth at the Comic Book DB
• 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) Official Website, May 15, 2008
• Clifford Meth on One Small Voice, Newsarama, December 13, 2007
• Horror Yearbook: Interview with Clifford Meth, Horror Yearbook, Dec. 13, 2007
• Interview with Clifford Meth and Rufus Dayglo regarding Snaked, Comics Bulletin, November 27, 2007
• Clifford Meth: Of Snakes and Paradigms, Comics Bulletin, October 10, 2007
• Crystal Meth: An Interview with Clifford Meth, Comics Bulletin, February 23, 2005
• Clifford Meth talks Cockrum Tribute and god's 15 Minutes, Comic Book Resources, March 30, 2004

Persondata
Name	Meth, Clifford
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 22, 1961
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death