OUTSIDER WRITING FOR OUTCAST READERS

A forum to converse and spread the word about the wonderfully demented and visceral avant garde writer Clifford Meth...fuck, that sounds pretentious!

THE MAN, THE METH:

Clifford has been writing for the music, comics, science fiction, and horror industries since 1980. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines from Billboard to Wizard, and he's frequently syndicated by the L.A. Times Entertainment Newswire. You can read his semi-weekly column "Past Masters" at www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com.

Cliff's first published fiction "I, Gezheh" debuted in 1994 in Aardwolf ..1. With an Afterword by author Robert Bloch, the controversial story earned Meth an instant following. "I, Gezheh" was subsequently reprinted in Gauntlet, then purchased for e-publication by Barnes & Noble.

More than 50 of Cliff's short stories have seen print--most of them in a series of tight, thematic collections of illustrated fiction from Aardwolf Publishing. In 1997, Barnes & Noble Online selected Perverts, Pedophiles & Other Theologians as its Horror Pick of the Week, and it remained on the Top-10 List for four consecutive weeks. In 2002, Cliff's experimental novella Wearing the Horns was released with an introduction by famed rocker Pat DiNizzio of The Smithereens.

Cliff's most recently published work, METHo.d., was designed by veteran comic artist Jim Steranko, who also did the cover. Prior to this, Cliff released god's 15 minutes, an omnibus that collected his first five books and included an Afterword by Harlan Ellison. Two stories from this collection were optioned for the big screen by Richard Saperstein (EVP of Seven). He is also working on concurrent film and publishing projects with Neal Adams, Peter David and Dave Cockrum.

INTERVIEW WITH METH (exclusively for the Crib Death Group!)

by James Boyer

You recently released a collection of new short stories called METHo.d. What can we expect from these new stories?

The new collection continues the misadventures of Hank Magitz, an antihero caught in the vortex of a perpetual midlife crisis. Hank has a strong attraction to the dark side; a healthy appetite for whores and alcohol and violence, and he's a magnet for desperate characters. You know, your typical middle-age guy. So what can people expect from these stories? A reassurance that they're not alone in their lives of quiet desperation.

Comics legend Jim Steranko did the cover art and design for METHo.d. and there are interior illustrations by well-known comics illustrators like Steve Lieber, Michael Netzer, Al Milgrom, Wm. Messner-Loebs, and Jordan Raskin. What is it like to work with some of the most prominent names in the comic industry?

These artists are all very different from one another, just like professional baseball players or accomplished actors differ from each other. And I've known some folks longer than others, so I can't generalize. Of course, having a professional association with Jim Steranko is meaningful. He's a tough character to know at any level, let alone to work with, but I've admired Jim's art since I was a lad, so seeing him on my cover is a huge thrill.

Who are some of your favorite artists/writers in the comic industry today?

I don't read comics with the enthusiasm or regularity I did as a boy. There was a time that I didn't miss a single issue. I read everything Marvel published from 1966 through 1979 and most of DC's books from the 80s. Today, I pick up a random book here and there when someone tells me there's something special that's worth a look, but I don't have any favorite current artists. My favorites are from a bygone era: Gene Colan, John Buscema, Neal Adams, Jim Aparo. As for comics writers, well, we've certainly come a long way from the Stan Lee and Roy Thomas scripts I grew up on. I'm a great fan of Wm. Messner-Loebs, Peter David, Neil Gaiman, but I'm also pals with these guys so it's hard to achieve verisimilitude when I'm reading them. The exception is Alan Moore. I do know Alan - not as well as I know the others - but knowing him doesn't diminish my awe of him. His genius fills the building.

Are there any that you would absolutely swoon over the chance to work with?

Well, in light of what I just said, Alan Moore. But I can't imagine what I'd bring to the party. I suppose I could sharpen his pencils.

When did you decide to incorporate the comics world into your short fiction work?

It just seemed natural. I'd been hanging around comics artists most of my life, so asking certain people to illustrate a particular story just made sense.

You are working on One Small Voice which will be a collection of all your older stories that were not collected in god's 15 minutes. When should we expect this to come out and what should we expect in the way of art and introduction?

Neal Adams did a beautiful painted cover for One Small Voice and I believe Chris Claremont is writing the introduction. I can't really say when the book will be complete because Aardwolf Publishing is doing the book and that's a small imprint. The guy who does the production for Aardwolf is very talented but equally flakey. I'm sure he wouldn't be pleased to hear me say that. But the book will look quite nice. There are contributions, both new and old, from artists like Gene Colan, Frank Brunner and the late Alex Toth. There's also some small chance that my full, unpublished interview with Frank Zappa will find its way into that book. Maybe.

Speaking of interviews -- you have worked for many magazines and conducted countless interviews. What are some of your most memorable interview experiences?

Howard Stern comes to mind. He gave me his only 1989 interview. It had reached a point where Howard no longer trusted the press, and for good reason, so he'd completely stopped talking to reporters. But I wanted to interview him for Billboard and I contacted his agent, Don Buchwald, and sent my clips. I was very flattered when I got a call from Don saying that Howard had read me and liked me and agreed to the interview.

Another memorable one was Frank Zappa. I was assigned a story on Frank by Fast Lane magazine, a men's magazine that went out of business within months of its debut. Zappa's people gave me a 30-minute time slot and I called Frank at the designated time, but Frank and I got on so well that we ended up talking for hours.

My favorite interview was Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt remains one of my three or four favorite authors. I had sent him my book Crawling From the Wreckage when it first appeared and much to my surprise, he wrote back to me with some startling criticism. He particularly liked the story "Knee Jerk" but was disturbed that I had left out certain elements of the story that he felt were obvious and purposeful omissions, and I suppose he was right. This letter of his began a brief correspondence, which in turn led to my interviewing Kurt for Barnes & Noble's internet launch. This was about a decade ago. There were several photos taken of us that afternoon that you can see at my website.(one of those pictures can also be seen here in the picture gallery)

If you had the chance to interview anybody, who would it be?

Pete Townshend and Bob Dylan come to mind. I assume you mean people who are still living. And by interview, I assume you mean spend time with, because quite frankly that's the only good reason to interview anyone, unless you're being paid for the occasion. Interviews require research and transcription time, in addition to the actual interview, and you're often tasked with writing a lead to the Q&A or writing a full-bodied story. All of that is only worthwhile if you're being paid well, or if the interviewee is worth spending time with. I've interviewed certain people (Ian Anderson comes to mind) on multiple occasions just because I enjoy their company and their conversion. But most celebrities aren't worth spending time with. I've interviewed numerous movie stars and TV stars for the L.A. Times Entertainment Newswire or any of the entertainment publications I worked for, but if I hadn't been paid, I wouldn't have bothered. Vincent Price was an exception. On the other hand, I do enjoy the company of musicians and writers. I interviewed Pete Seeger about a dozen years ago and would very much like to have interviewed Woody Guthrie. But I would just as soon played guitar with Woody, or ridden in a boxcar with him.

Aside from short fiction, you have also been very busy doing script-work. Could you tell us what projects you are currently working on?

I can only talk about "The Futurians" at the moment. My script is a loose adaptation of Dave Cockrum' s original graphic novel. As many people know, Cockrum co-created Marvel's X-Men. "The Futurians" was his first project after leaving the X-Men, so there's a lot of early X-Men look-and-feel to his project. I've taken that base and updated the entire project with a romantic tragedy and a somewhat deeper science-fiction spin than the original story had, but other than that it's still the mutant high-adventure-in-outer-space thing that Cockrum originally envisioned. The project has been a lot of fun. I wrote the script for IDT Entertainment, but the company was recently purchased by Liberty Media, so with anticipated organizational changes, I suspect it will be some time before we'll know what's going to happen with "The Futurians". But that's Hollywood.

Bibliography:

Girl (1983):

A decade before his fiction appeared in print, Clifford Meth earned the attention of Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti with his bold poetry chapbook. Published by a grant from Mennen Corporation and Fairleigh Dickinson, 'Girl' established Meth as a major new voice. "It must be good because I like it and I don't know shit about poetry." --Harlan Ellison

Aardwolf no.1 & no.2 (1994):

These Aardwolf publications contain stories by Clifford Lawrence Meth (stories:"I, Gezheh" and "Stiffed", Robert Bloch, David Boswell (with a new Reid Fleming: World's Toughest Milkman adventure), and Bill Messner-Loebs. Illustrations by Marie Severin, Dave Cockrum, Paty, and Gray Morrow.
Aardwolf no.2 contains the Meth story "Snakes" and a special tribute to Robert Bloch from such notables as Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Julie Schwartz, and Peter Straub.

Crib Death & other bedtime stories (1995):

First collection of short stories from Meth. Stories in this collection include: "The Big O", "The Asshole Syndrome", "Max", "Uncle Joe", "The Poet" and "Crib Death". This collection was reissued in 1997 with an additional story ("Queers") and re-titled Crib Death: The Baby-sitter's Companion.
"This collection of short tales by Clifford Lawrence Meth has the uncommon good fortune to be graced not only with an exquisite cover by Joseph Michael Linsner and interior illustrations by Rob Orzechowski, Paul Abrams, Marie Severin, Paty, Mike Witherby, and Dave Cockrum, but also with the fine-tuned comic-book sensibility of its author...Meth tells [these stories] with a vividness akin to the house of Gaines. Of course, such is the nature of the stories featured herein that writing about them in any detail would lessen your enjoyment thereof. I'll content myself with the lone observation that 'The Asshole Syndrome' is one of the funniest horror stories I've read...and the heartfelt advice that you get this puppy as soon as possible." --THE COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE

This Bastard Planet (1995):

..4816bc3596f775d3684310733e6b75a0.jpg">

The White Man Dancing(1996):

Crawling From The Wreckage (1996):

Perverts, Pedophiles & Other Theologians (1997):

Conflicts Of Disinterest (1998):

Wearing The Horns (2002):

God's 15 Minutes (2004):

The Three Tenors: Off Key (2005):

Meth o.d. (2006)

<