We are delighted to be joined by cartoonist Meredith McClaren. Meredith has worked on many comics/graphic novels, including Black Cloak, Heart in a Box, Hopeless Savages, and Super Fun Sexy Times. With her latest graphic novel, Meat Eaters, releasing on July 8th from Oni Press, we got to chat with her all about Meat Eaters.
Hi Meredith, it’s so great to have you here with us.
Hello, hello!
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Sure!
My name’s Meredith. I draw comics because I have no other marketable skills. I thought once that I would go into animation, but then I learned that I only really had the patience to draw a really neat thing ONCE, and pivoted to comics. Which let me draw a whole lot of really neat things. Sometimes even more than once.
Can you tell us about the origins of Meat Eaters?
Meat Eaters comes from a lot of different places. I’ve always loved horror and spooky things. And I really love the less glamourized creepy creatures. (Werewolves and vampires are very cool, but where is the affection for zombies and ghouls?)
I really wanted to tell this story about someone who falls into the reality of creepy monsters and tries to approach it with as much disdain and practicality as they would any other chore in their day to day.
I also wanted to talk about growing into a person you maybe didn’t want to be. Becoming a ghoul is outside of a person’s control in fiction (usually), but so is having mental issues, physical difficulties, eating disorders. Horror is a great and enduring genre because it casts a mirror on difficult topics and Meat Eaters let me broach a couple of them.
What can you tell us about Ashley Moore?
She’s going through it.
She’s a lot like the teenager that I used to be.
I said I liked horror/scifi/fantasy a lot as a kid and teen, so I was watching things like Buffy and other young adult focused shows. And one of the biggest disconnects I had with it was the lifestyle the characters lived or wanted to live.
The lives they espoused as ‘normal’ young adults couldn’t have been farther from my own lived experience. I did not want to go to parties. I did not want a torrid romance.
(Becoming a werewolf sounded real cool though.)
I wanted Ashley to reflect that kind of coming of age. Because not seeing any of that on TV and being told that was the life I was supposed to want was really dissociative. Ashley just wants to get her work done and chill out at home.
You created all of the art for the Meat Eaters. What part of that process did you enjoy the most?
To be honest, every step in the process has a bit where they can all go in the bin. But there’s a moment after each step: script, pencils, inks, colors, where you finish that phase and go ‘oh, this looks really nice actually.’
That’s the best part.
How did Oni Press get involved with Meat Eaters?
My agent Jessica Mileo and I pitched it. I already had a history with Oni, they’ve published a few of my books and even gave me my first official contract with Jen Van Meter’s HOPELESS SAVAGES v4. So, it was pretty easy for everyone to go along with a new project.
What has it been like working with Oni Press?
I really like Oni. The editor on the bulk of the book was Megan Brown and she’s been so helpful and involved. It’s nice to have a soundboard, even if it’s just to tell you that you’re doing well and staying the course.
Now I’m working with the marketing team and they’re really pulling all the stops. It’s wonderful when you feel like you’ve got the whole publisher backing your book’s success.
How long have you been working on Meat Eaters?
It’s been in my pitch files since 2018. But the book didn’t start in earnest until 2022.
Who are Motley and Harrison?
Ashley’s foil and the clingiest strays.
So, everything I told you about how Ashley does not espouse the ‘glamourized teen lifestyle?’ Motley and Harrison don’t have it either BUT THEY WANT IT. Or they think they do. They’re on the outside looking in. Both of them are werewolves and their social interactions are JUST SHY of traditional homeschooled kids. They grew up thinking the things they saw on television were ‘normal’ and they feel like they’re missing out.
When they discover that Ashley knows about creepies, and therefore is a safe social interaction, they see an ‘in’ on everything they’ve wanted, and they might be a little overzealous about getting it.
Can you tell us about the world that Meat Eaters is set in?
It is set in the ambiguous small town of Twill. But other than that, it’s just the same as the world we know. Minus the blood, gore, and monsters.
…or maybe just the monsters.
Reality really scammed us by not giving us monsters.
How would you describe Meat Eaters?
It’s really a book about other stuff; the monsters are just a bonus.
With Meat Eaters releasing July 8th, how do you feel?
I’m anxious to see what people think. Which is pretty normal. I hope people like it. I hope people are a little creeped out by it. And I hope that sometimes it makes them laugh a little.
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
Oh gosh.
Um.
GDT’s FRANKENSTEIN looks really neat, doesn’t it?
We want to say a big thank you to Meredith for chatting with us and would like to wish her the best of luck with Meat Eaters.
