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Early career

Born in Queens, NY, Meth grew up in Rockaway, NJ. He attended Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University in the U.S., and Wroxton College in the UK. In the early 1980s Meth worked as a staff editor for Electronic Design Magazine while freelancing for The Los Angeles Times Entertainment Newswire along with numerous periodicals including Billboard, Computer Decisions, Fangoria, Hit Parader, MIS Week, Seventeen, Starlog, Video Magazine and Wizard Magazine.

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. Encouraged by his friend author Harlan Ellison, Meth embarked on a fiction-writing career. One of his first published works was the controversial "I, Gezheh" which dealt with corruption in Chabad. Author Robert Bloch provided an afterword for the story, which was illustrated by Dave Cockrum (co-creator of many of the best known characters from the Uncanny X-Men). "I, Gezheh" appeared in several anthologies, including Gauntlet, before being purchased and e-published by BarnesandNobel.com. Meth has written other articles and stories taking Chabad leadership to task for corrupting the movement, most notably "Wagging the Rebbe."

Aardwolf Publishing

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 including many of Meth’s collections featuring covers and art contributions from comics illustration pioneers, including Jim Steranko, Joe Kubert, Mike Ploog, Frank Brunner, Alex Toth, Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Michael Kaluta, Kelly Freas and George Pérez.

Relations with other comic creators

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. The most significant of these actions took place in 2003 when Meth, along with Neal Adams, negotiated an unprecedented royalty settlement with Marvel Entertainment on behalf of Dave Cockrum for his participation in creating X-Men characters. Meth also edited The Uncanny Dave Cockrum...A Tribute (Aardwolf Publishing), which set the standard for art-tribute books of its type.

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". But Meth is highly regarded by most of his peers and noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its deft mingling of real-world issues with humour and references to popular culture.

Entertainment positions

In 2003 several of Meth's stories were optioned by producer Richard Saperstein, president of The Weinstein Company. Later that year Meth joined IDT Entertainment as V.P. of Creative Development where he worked with Stan Lee on POW Entertainment properties as well as on Showtime's Masters of Horror series and ABC's Masters of Science Fiction. In 2004 he completed The Futurians screenplay and oversaw the development of Gene Roddenberry's Starpoint Academy. Meth left IDT Entertainment in 2006 when the division was sold to Starz Entertainment. In 2007 he oversaw the acquisition of IDW Publishing by IDT Corporation and joined IDW as Executive V.P. of Editorial/Strategies. Meth's first comics series, Snaked (IDW, 2007), was optioned by The Genre Company for film production; Meth was attached as screenwriter and Executive Producer.

In 2008, Meth created and launched IDW Publishing's New Classics of the Fantastic Series, repackaging out-of-print, award-winning SF and Horror titles. Titles released in this series include NIGHTWINGS by Robert Silverberg, HOTHOUSE by Brian Aldiss, DARE by Philip Jose Farmer, ROGUE DRAGON by Avram Davidson and LORI by Robert Bloch.

Quotes

"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..." Harlan Ellison

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 Recordings

In 2008, musical artists Septimus Orion released an audio recording of Meth's short story "Queers" accompanied by music and sound effects. Queers is track number six on the album CAGED, which is the band's first release.

Online Short Stories

• "I, Gezheh"
• "Wagging the Rebbe"

Interviews

• 5 Questions with Clifford Meth, Wizard 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