Meredith McClaren's Blog

So my local zoo invited me and a few other comic artists to participate in a gallery show! A few…

ALT

So my local zoo invited me and a few other comic artists to participate in a gallery show! A few pieces with a focus on the critters that Phoenix Zoo here specifically works to conserve, which is a pretty neat program. (They let me peek!)

If you’d like to see the pieces I contributed, please feel free to drop by their opening celebration on October 4th, at the Wild Side Gallery, Phoenix Zoo, Arizona, from 9am to 1pm.

Or if you’re in the area this fall and winter, the show runs until January 2026. Go see some animals. They’re very cool.

Description:

A small illustration in black and white of myself from behind. I’m looking at two pieces of art (my own) from the Comic Conservation show at the Phoenix Zoo’s Wild Side Gallery.

The opening celebration will be this October 4th, from 9am to 1pm.

And the show runs until January 2026

Sept 29 is World Heart Day!

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Sept 29 is World Heart Day!

And I thought: ‘Oh. Hey. Me and @1979semifinalist did a book about those.’

So I did a little doodle of Emma, the bestest girl, with the worstest life choices. From me and Kelly’s first collaboration: HEART IN A BOX. Published by Dark Horse Comics.

Ahem.

When the Man with No Name breaks Emma’s heart, she wants to die. But you never die from these things; you just want to. In a moment of weakness, she wishes her broken heart away and a mysterious stranger–who may or may not be totally evil–obliges. But emptiness is even worse than grief, and Emma sets out to collect the seven pieces of her heart spread across the country, a journey that forces her to face her own history and the cost of recapturing it, and leads inevitably to a confrontation with the Man with No Name himself.

I’m not exaggerating when I say, anyone who finds this book, ends up telling me how much they love it. Even years later. (That’s not really a surprise to me. It’s something me and Kelly did together and it came from a place of great love and care.)

But I really wish more people came across it. It kinda fell under the radar. I hope you get a chance to pick it up one day.

Description:

A dark illustration in black and grey tones, with one spot pink. It features the interior of a car, full of stuff and lived in. In the driver’s seat, facing away from the audience is Emma, the protagonist of HEART IN A BOX.

She has made choices.

Many of them bad.

We love her anyways.

The spot pink in the illustration is a small heart key chain hanging from the rear view mirror.

World Tourism Day!

World Tourism Day!

(It’s today)

And it turns out I travel a lot, a lot.

So starting October 6th, I’ll be posting regular installments from my latest travelogue ENJOY. ENDURE, featuring my 2024 trip to Vietnam! And then we’ll get it all printed.

In the meantime, here’s a small excerpt.

Sept 27th is World Tourism Day!

Sept 27th is World Tourism Day!

And wouldn’t you know it? I have a whole little book about my 2022 trip to Greece called IT’S ALL GREEK!

Enjoy the excerpt. 🧿

A reminder of where you’ll find me today.

meredithmcclaren:

Local Comic Book Shop Day is this weekend! Sept 27th!

And I’ll be hawking my wares at Samurai Comics Phoenix from 11-5 to celebrate! You should swing by. Grab a book. Doesn’t even have to be one of mine.

Samurai Comics: 1602 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

A reminder of where you’ll find me today.

hey peeps, i would be calling your doctors STAT to see if you’re in the clear about where your drugs…

ghost-mantis:

bliss-bliss-bliss-bliss:

the-composite-doll:

persephinae:

hey peeps, i would be calling your doctors STAT to see if you’re in the clear about where your drugs are manufactured

then i would definitely be call your representatives and bitch them a new asshole

people are legit going to die because of this

also surgeries??? anesthesia? where is that medicine from? like this is so fucked up

Trump’s latest 100 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals: What we know

Now, today is September 26th, and this is supposed to go into effect on October 1st, which is like nine months in the warped dog-years time of the Trump administration. And it’s very possible he’ll walk it back or conveniently forget about it, which happens pretty frequently.

Which means that calling your reps now may actually make a difference in whether this kills people.

Step 1: Search up the generic name for whatever meds you take, then call your pharmacist - not your primary - and ask where it comes from and whether any part of it is manufactured in the US. THEN call your primary and tell them to pre-order your next round, even if you’re not due yet. (They might try to tell you they can’t do that. They can.)

Step 2: Call your reps - by now you should be calling them so often they’re one of the top numbers saved in your phone, but you can also find them very easily here - and tell them specifically that you are worried about the financial impact on American business this will have and ask them what they plan to do about it. Because sadly, concerns about money and saving their own skin will probably get their attention faster than any concerns about the harm it will do to vulnerable individuals.

NONE OF THIS IS INEVITABLE. I’m serious, call your reps. We’ve gotten other Orwellian nightmare shit walked back or shot down - because remember that we’re not dealing with actual politics anymore, we’re dealing with a spineless madman with late stage dementia who’s favorite pastime is Just Saying Things To Say Things - and we can get this shot down too.

CALL YOUR REPS!!!

ALTSept 26th is National Love Note Day.So no better time ...

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Sept 26th is National Love Note Day.

So no better time to show one of our favorite couples from BLACK CLOAK being so stupid cute.

Valorie and Devaki belong to BLACK CLOAK. And if you’d like to see more of them, you should pick up the book at your local book seller. BLACK CLOAK was drawn by me, written by @1979semifinalist, lettered by Becca Carey, and designed by @rianhughes.

Description:

A two panel illustration, featuring a side couple from the Image Comic BLACK CLOAK. Drawn by me and written by Kelly Thompson.

The top panel shows Valorie, our resident mage. She’s surrounded by the tools of her craft, plants, vials, books. Reading through one of her tomes. Her Taka companion is hanging off her back. He is an old man. He can sleep where he wants.

The bottom panel shows Devaki, a hardworking cog in the political apparatus of BLACK CLOAK’s city setting, Kiros. He’s juggling papers in front of his office machines and reaching for more work off screen.

In Valorie’s panel we can see a note outlined in the forefront. What we can read is: ‘Valorie- thinking of you, my heart-’ This is a love note from Devaki. She treasures it.

In Devaki’s panel we can see a mug with a note taped to the front, also outlined in the forefront. Written on the note, from Valorie, with love, is: 'MAKE ME MONEY, BITCH! -V’

They’ve never been happier.

Today is National Comic Book Day. Yup. To celebrate I thought I’d post previews from the three books…

Today is National Comic Book Day. Yup. To celebrate I thought I’d post previews from the three books that I had come out this year.

For our final installment of 2025, we have MEAT EATERS. Published by @onipress

Let it be said that dying is hard. Nineteen-year-old Ashley Moore found this out the hard way. All Ashley wanted was to keep her head down and work hard until she could escape the small town where she felt she was stagnating. But after waking up one night covered in blood—and irrevocably dead—Ashley finds her foolproof plan for getting out has gone up in smoke, and something within her has changed.

Without a heartbeat and with a disturbing craving for fresh—preferably bloody—meat, Ashley finds herself privy to a world that exists just beneath our own: a world of ghouls and monsters and things that go bump-in-the-night. Despite her desire to be left alone—and to not think about the night of her death at all—Ashley is slowly drawn into the realm of the unusual, getting advice from ancient vampires, dodging angry pack leaders, and becoming the reluctant big sister to werewolves Motley and Harrison. As she does, she finds it increasingly difficult to put away the parts of herself she wishes to ignore—namely, what happened that fateful night she stopped breathing. The truth, it turns out, can’t stay buried forever.

In this visceral story about the effects of trauma and anxiety, dying is indeed hard. But getting on with it? That can be worse.

Ashley died. And that sucks. Unfortunately, she had to get up the next day.

Today is National Comic Book Day. Yes. Yes, it is. To celebrate I thought I’d post previews from the…

Today is National Comic Book Day. Yes. Yes, it is. To celebrate I thought I’d post previews from the three books that I had come out this year.

Next up is BLACK CLOAK v2, written by @1979semifinalist and drawn by Me. Published by IMAGE COMICS.

Essex and Pax’s last case brought horrible truths to light and almost leveled the city of Kiros. Now, five years since the “Essex Fire,” Kiros has changed dramatically and ex-Black Cloak Phaedra Essex is either the city’s greatest hero, or greatest villain, depending on who you ask. Meanwhile Black Cloak Pax has a bloody new case, a rookie partner, and absolutely no leads.

It’s a very bad time for something ancient to have awakened beneath the city.

Collects issues #7 – 11.

For the scifi, fantasy, detective crowd.

Today is National Comic Book Day. I looked it up and everything. To celebrate I thought I’d post…

Today is National Comic Book Day. I looked it up and everything. To celebrate I thought I’d post previews from the three books that I had come out this year.

First up is CRUMBLE, written by myself and drawn by @andyharvest. Published by Little Brown Young Readers.

Emily, her mom, and her aunt Gina have a very special magical power: They can bake emotions into the desserts they sell at their family bakery. Need a dash of confidence? Try their millionaire shortbread! Want relief after a stressful day? The cheesecake will lighten your spirits! There is only one rule: Never bake a bad feeling.    

Every day after school, Emily and her best friend, Dae, make tried-and-true recipes, while she and Aunt Gina brainstorm new ones. But when Aunt Gina dies in an accident, Emily’s life is turned upside down. Not knowing what to do, Emily breaks the rule and bakes  her bad feelings into… a crumble. It looks gross. Dae says it tastes gross. But they can’t stop eating it. Neither can Emily’s classmates. And with her grief and pain baked into the crumble, Emily gets the comfort of being at least a little numb. So even though she’s not supposed to, she makes it again, and again, and again.  

But baking (and eating) bad feelings doesn’t really make them go away …  

For the young bakers in your life, or the small people who are maybe going through it.