Meghan Hetrick is an Atlanta, GA based artist who, although a relative newcomer to comics, has been drawing longer than she can remember and her talent is not only evident in the penciled pages within this interview, but on her website, too. She has joined with writer David Baille for the Vertigo produced Red Thorn that is set in and around the Scottish city of Glasgow and is steeped in the county’s mythology.

Recently I had the opportunity to talk with Meghan Hetrick about Red Thorn ahead of it’s November 18th release.

Graphic Policy: Tell us a bit about yourself; how did you get started in the comic book industry?

Meghan Hetrick: I’ve been *reading* comics since I was a kid, and have been wanting to draw them since about age 13 or so.  How ​I got *into* comics is sort of amusing, as I guess i got found twice? Once by Bill Willingham, who forwarded my work to Shelly Bond (of Vertigo fame), and the second by Katie Kubert (then an editor at DC).  Both instances happened through Twitter, of all places. With Bill, I responded in a typically smartass manner to something he said, which led to him heading to my website, and it went from there. With Katie, I did a “How to Draw Boobies” tutorial that went pretty much everywhere on Earth, and she contacted me from that.

GP: Aside from the eight issues of Bodies, this is the first ongoing series you’ve tackled. How do the deadlines affect the way you typically work?

MH: It really doesn’t, since no matter what, I’m typically drawing for about 12-16 hour a day or so, whether it be on a book or commission pieces. I rarely take much of a break, unless my body deems it absolutely necessary to do so (which has happened, heh).

GP: How did you come on board with the project?

MH: Red Thorn spun out of another project, and we just kept the same creative team when we swapped over.

GP: How much research did you have to do when drawing the city of Glasgow for the series?  Did you get a chance to go over to Scotland? Try any haggis?

MH: A lot. A lot of lot. I haven’t really traveled (yet. That’ll be rectified soon enough), so the old cities and architecture of places like that is mostly foreign. I did luck out in that I lived in the northeast US for most of my life, so I’m familiar with what Americans consider “old” buildings and such, but it’s a completely different story when tackling a country that has thousands of years worth of history.

As for haggis… that’s my boyfriend’s dogs name, so I’d probably rather not.

GP: With Red Thorn being a comic based around Scottish mythology, were you familiar with that mythology prior to taking up the art duties for Red Thorn?

MH: Actually, yes. I’ve been a mythology buff longer than I’ve been drawing, and have mountains of books on the subjects. I eat that stuff up.

GP: Without giving too much away for readers, what can we expect to find when we open Red Thorn in November?

MH: Dark, sexy, classic Vertigo style. There’s love, laughter, murder, snark, and guys in tight leather pants. It’s a very sexy book, without being outlandish (and definitely not for kids).

GP: Once Glasgow Kiss is over, do you know where you want to take the characters next?

MH: I’m leaving that one up to a certain Mr Baillie, who’s in charge of all the writing duties. Knowing me, I’d have them just parked on a couch playing a video game and eating Thai or something.

This is why ​I​ draw, not write.

GP: Where can we expect to see you next? Are you heading out on the Convention circuit any time soon?

MH: I don’t tend to do a lot of conventions, but the first one I’ll be at next year is Cap’s Comic Expo, at the end of February. Not really sure what’s coming up after that :)

GP: Before we go one last question: aliens, cowboys, pirates or ninjas, and why?

MH: My first instinct is to say “all of them,” but for the sake of not being a brat I’ll go with ninjas… and that’s because I have a black belt, so I’d feel bad choosing anything else, hehe.

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Red Thorn is available November 18th.