What is Azimuth? Talking to Dan Abnett & Tazio Bettin about their new 2000 AD series
19th June 2023
Starting in the pages of 2000 AD Prog 2337, out 21 June, Dan Abnett and Tazio Bettin bring us the first part of a spectacular new series – Azimuth – It’s A Job For Suzi Nine!
As you’ll read when you crack open the pages of the Prog, Azimuth is all about this…
‘Welcome to the city of Azimuth, a data-driven metropolis, where anything is possible. Ruled by an aristocracy of the New Flesh, such concepts of life, death, and body forms are fluid. Anyone can take any shape, if it can be conceived by the imagination. Suzi Nine Millimetre, for example, is a cadavatar, whose existence is given purpose by the jobs she undertakes for her New Flesh masters.’
And having read that first episode now, I am so excited to see where Dan and Tazio take this one. It’s yet another great strip from the Galaxy’s Greatest.
I chatted with both Dan and Tazio before I’d had chance to see that first episode and both fine gents wanted to remain a little tight-lipped about things that would be going on in the strip, but it’s still a fascinating insight into the white-hot creative process behind this one. In fact, there was so much to talk about that we’re splitting this one in two. First, time to chat to Dan and Tazio about the very idea of Azimuth and what it’s all about, then tomorrow we’ll talk to Tazio about his collaboration and his art.
So, wake up Suzi Nine Millimetre…
Dan, Tazio, hello. Dan, a pleasure to talk to you again. Tazio, we’ve spoken before with your covers for the Prog but never interviewed you before now. So… welcome!
TAZIO BETTIN: Thank you! It’s an immense pleasure for me!
Now, coming in 2000 AD Prog 2337 you have the new series called Azimuth.
So far – well, at least while we’re chatting – all we’ve seen of it is the ‘Starting in Prog 2337’ image that appeared recently. This one in fact…
From that there’s a definite Moebius vibe going on, sci-fi but familiar, ancient yet futuristic. Something with a mix of cultures, religious imagery contrasting with the architecture of the cityscape and that monolithic building in the background with another statue on it – a temple, a palace? a casino? We can see it’s a city enclosed by walls, and there are figures funneling into the city, so we know it’s not a city under siege or anything like that. And then we have the fungal elements there, the large mushroom/fungi structures, one of which has a building in it. And that’s without even mentioning the floating structures, half of them looking like floating rock structures, half of them more spacecraft-like.
I guess what I’m saying is that there’s a lot going on here, a huge amount of visual imagery that promises so much, offers so much. But right now it’s all just a tease – which is another way of saying I just don’t know what to make of it! If I had to hazard a guess here, I’d say we’re looking at something not of this Earth certainly, something of the future. An alien landscape, future technology.
And of course, then we have the title itself… Azimuth. The dictionary offers this… ‘the angle between North, measured clockwise around the observer’s horizon, and a celestial body’ So that’s no help at all. Or is it?
So… after all that speculation, what’s it all about Dan & Tazio? Who is, what is, where is Azimuth?
DAN ABNETT: Well, that’s a huge and impressive amount of speculation and deduction, Richard! And though some parts of it are incorrect, they are also all entirely correct.
There we are folks… the author being as mysterious as the author wants to be!
DA: Azimuth is a brand new strip from us, Azimuth is the name of the city, the entire location and setting, and Azimuth is… everything.
It is everything you need or want it to be. Or not. More than ever before, I think the comment “you’ll have to read it to find out” applies, though in answer to a secondary question “why should I read it?” I will say… the art. Tazio is brilliant, and this is simply wonderful.
TB: I feel very honoured to hear you inspected my artwork with so much attention to the details! Thank you Richard!
Creating a setting for Azimuth has been an exciting process. Dan gave me an initial idea of what he wanted the world to look like, and we worked together in shaping it.
We started from an initial kernel of an idea over emails and Skype chats and developed the place gradually, starting from some concept and reference, through to the actual process of working on the pages.
With a coherent idea in mind, the place is literally developing with every page I draw. It’s a cooperative process, which I enjoyed immensely. One of the many things I love about working with Dan is that you always become an active part of where the story will go and what it will look like.
A new project means a chance for me to delve into a completely different style, and you are correct, of course: Moebius has been an obvious inspiration, as well as the many European comic artists I grew up with in my teenage years, like Bilal, De Luca, Pratt, Druillet, and Toppi. When I think about weird science fantasy, that’s where I built my visual vocabulary, and Azimuth certainly was the right place to put that vocabulary to use.
I like to try and keep my mind fresh by exploring different styles: it’s a great experience because one learns a lot from it. I try to avoid calcifying my work on one style: that is just a byproduct of how I see things anyways, and I’d rather try and explore new ways of expressing that. Drawing things always in the same manner will only limit your ability to evolve as an artist.
With Sinister Dexter, I used a rather heavy inking technique, with the occasional addition of halftone screens: it made for rather gritty and oppressive atmospheres, and I felt it was coherent with the story and with what we had seen up to that time on the strip. With Azimuth, I decided to go in a completely opposite direction: I wanted it to look bright, weird and full of strange details, without hiding anything behind solid blacks.
I wanted to depict a place that feels like it’s the nexus of an entire world. Such a place would be a melting pot of cultures and influences. As such, you will find architectural and aesthetic details inspired by many cultures and time periods, from Mesopotamian ziggurats to Cambodian stupas and French XVIII Century palaces, technological oddities, giant mushrooms (watch out for those mushrooms!), and weird creatures.
How many episodes have we got for this one?
DA: Initially, a block of ten, but this is ongoing, so there will be more chunks to come. We’re working on them now.
What sort of things can we expect from Azimuth in the future?
TB: From my side, I’ll be cryptic and say: watch for clues.
And that’s it? Oh c’mon…
TB: Okay, I’ll give you a hint. There are QR codes here and there that you can scan with your phone and read clues from. Also look for Easter eggs. They will give you some ideas of what kind of world this is, and where it comes from.
DA: Well it’s an extraordinarily weird and unsettling place, packed full of mysterious, so those very mysteries are the things we will be unlocking as we go. We’ll explore this city together.
The opening arc focuses on our hero, a citizen called Suzi. That’s Suzi Nine Millimeter. She’s our guide, but she doesn’t know a great deal more than we do. As her name suggests, the journey around this city will be violent. Brutally violent, in places.
As you’ve said it will be an ongoing strip, you’ve obviously had many thoughts beyond this first series and have plans in place for where it’s going.
DA: Indeed. We have thought, and planned, further ahead than you can possibly imagine.
TB: All I’m going to say this: prepare to enter the rabbit hole, because there’s a lot for you to discover!
Dan, Tazio, you’ve already worked with each other on recent Sinister Dexter storylines. But was this something you co-created together or was it yet another great idea pouring forth out of the Abnett brain? (hardest working droid at 2000 AD possibly?).
DA: I’ve loved working with Tazio on SinDex. His work is extraordinarily good, both in terms of character and detail, and in the fundamental storytelling.
This idea sort of came from me first, in as much as I had a cunning plan, but it was created and developed from the very start with Tazio. We talk, by email and Skype, to brainstorm ideas, and because Azimuth is so visually inventive and driven, it was very much built for him to draw, with his strengths in mind. It is definitely a co-creation, even if I was the first to say “What if we..?”
Dan, there aren’t that many 2000 AD creators who, with three long-running series (SinDex, Brink, and The Out) would think the next step was to create something new like Azimuth. So why the new series now?
DA: Well, 2000 AD is hungry for a start. It needs to be fed. And this idea was exactly the right idea for us at the right moment. It’s great having established and well-received series like Brink, The Out and SinDex (not to mention Feral and Foe, or indeed resting strips like Kingdom or Grey Area that may rise out of slumber again at any moment).
Dammit, knew when I mentioned those three that I’d forgotten some – not Grey Area, more on that in a bit. And Lawless, of course Lawless, who could forget Lawless? Well, obviously myself AND Dan!
DA: But doing something shockingly different keeps you on your toes. It’s a way to channel ideas that might not find a place easily in well-established stories. I also think there’s a knock-on effect. Something new exercises the creative muscles, which helps keep long running strips fresh and sharp too.
I was chatting to David Hine and Boo Cook recently about another completely new series in 2000 AD, Void Runners, and about the work that’s involved, exponentially more work, in bringing something absolutely new to the page as opposed to a new series of an established strip.
So what is the difference here in originating something a new title and expanding on an existing one? I imagine there’s months of planning and plotting, creating the worlds, the people, the cast, the backstories, the worldbuilding?
DA: I think that’s true to a certain extent, although with ongoing world-building, and plot-making, as complicated as it can get on things like Brink and The Out (where we’re constantly striving to both sustain and improve the quality), a blank slate can often seem invitingly easy.
But yes, there’s a lot of invention here, for Tazio with the look and the art and the ‘visual continuity’, and for me in the ‘world-building’ (a phrase I’m actually not keen on, though I use it a lot).
Yes, it’s one of those I use too much too, wincing as I say it, but it’s such a damn convenient shorthand!
DA: Azimuth, for example, has its own vocabulary and slang, which is consistent throughout and which you learn quickly because Suzi is talking to you as she guides you. So, for instance, I’ve had to create and maintain a database of terms and phrases to keep up with it, and I’ve filled a lot of notebook pages with material ready to use.
What sort of script do you send over Dan and how much creative input has there been from Tazio on putting this world together?
DA: It’s full script: panel-by-panel descriptions with dialogue, broken down (as I usually work) into ‘my’ best take on the frame-by-frame storytelling. But there are also often descriptive gaps, in terms of characters and specific locations, where I say to Tazio “I need this to be able to do that” and then invite him to take it where he wants to take it (provided that “this” can still do “that”). And we’ll often discuss a script once the bones are in place. Often, Tazio’s added a visual detail or character that is so cool, I’ve picked it up and run with it after, and made more of it.
And whilst we’re talking of Tazio’s work, have you seen the finished pages yet Dan?
DA: Thus far, finished art, and I’m waiting on the lettered version. I’ve seen breakdowns and pencils along the way (which we use to brainstorm from, much like the scripts). It is, simply, awesome.
What were you after from having Tazio on the strip, what has he brought to Azimuth for you?
DA: I was simply after Tazio. I had an idea for something, and then realised what that would and could be if Tazio drew it. As I keep saying, he’s amazing, and we collaborate well. So having seen how good he was on SinDex, I wanted to see what he could do when he wasn’t ‘constrained’ by the requirements of a strip’s established parameters.
The hybrid cultural reference is one thing. The high strangeness is another. And the detail… I can be very precise and specific in the dialogue because I know the visual detail will be absolutely there to support it.
Dan, another conversation I had recently was with Mark Harrison, your artist on The Out and a man always worth reading in our Covers Uncovered features when he decides to go deep, deep, deep into the motivations and reasons for his cover choices. Anyway, we were chatting about The Grey Area, a series that I distinctly remember being one that grew on me, going from something that was okay to something excellent. I was re-reading that recently and happened to ask Mark about the possibility of it coming back. After all, the end of the second collection does hint that there’s a lot more to come. Any chance we’ll be seeing you and Mark get on with that?
DA: Certainly. Mark and I both enjoyed working on it, and there’s a still a lot we can do with it. The series really came into its own once Mark was on aboard and ‘visually codified’ everything. But we’d delivered some big story arcs, and taken it to a decent ‘pausing moment’.
Mark didn’t co-create Grey Area, he simply came on board and made it his own. So he’d always hankered after co-creating something from the very start, so we decided to ‘rest’ Grey Area and create The Out. The Out was meant to be a nice creative contrast, and we had originally intended to alternate between the two strips, doing a book of one, and then a book of the other, keeping things fresh. We hoped people would enjoy The Out. We had no idea it would be quite the hit it has become. So we’ve stuck on it for a while. In due course we will give it (and us) a breather, and I’m sure Grey Area will be our change of pace.
Although of course there’s the small matter of The Out Book 4 to be getting on with as well! Not to mention more Brink with the great INJ Culbard. And I’m sure there’s more Sinister Dexter in the works. So, what’s next for you Dan, and how do you decide which series to concentrate on?
DA: You know me. I can multitask.
He most surely can readers.
And how’s things going with Brink, SinDex, and The Out? When can we expect more?
DA: Great! Yes, there will be more of all of them before long… I’m not sure in which order, because that depends on Tharg’s scheduling, but all three are in the works.
And what else do you have that you’d like us to keep an eye out for that’s coming out soon?
DA: Beyond 2K, I have been doing Groot for Marvel, Vampirella for Dynamite, and I have a Cthulhu mythos graphic novel due out at the end of the year.
Alongside Brink, Ian and I have been asked back to Boom! Studios to do, at long last, a fourth series of our cult little anthropomorphic hit Wild’s End, the first issue of which is due this month. It’s great to be back on that.
Fantastic news. Seriously, any fans of Dan and Ian’s work on 2000 AD should hurry along to their local comic shop and order the new Wild’s End right now!
DA: And I have spent the last two years writing the Horus Heresy novel to end (literally) all Horus Heresy novels, for the Warhammer universe. It is immense, and was a hell of thing to work on. That’s now coming out, in large volumes, because it was too effing big for one book. The End and the Death Volume 1 is out there now for your reading pleasure.
Welcome to the world of Azimuth – Suzi Nine Millimetre has her job and we’re off on a stunning adventure…
And that was where we had to leave it. Dan had about 20 different things to write and Tazio had been allowed away from the drawing board by Tharg for a little too long! But be sure to join us tomorrow for a chat with Tazio – a little about Azimuth, a lot about art!
Thank you so much to both Dan and Tazio for taking the time to chat to us about Azimuth. You can see the very first episode of this new series in the pages of 2000 AD Prog 2337 – out on 21 June from anywhere you can find the Galaxy’s Greatest, including the 2000 AD web shop.
We’ve spoken to Dan a fair few times here at 2000 AD.com in the last few years – Dan and Mark Harrison talk The Out here and you can also hear them talk about it on the 2000 AD Thrillcast, Dan and Phil Winslade talk Lawless: Boom Town here. Dan and Richard Elson talk Feral & Foe series 2 here and Kingdom Vs Shako here. Then there’s Dan alone talking about the first Grey Area collection This Island Earth here. Dan & INJ Culbard talking Brink Book 2 here and Dan on his lonesome again on Brink Book Three: High Society here. And finally, more solo Dan on Sinister Dexter and The Beatles here. Phew, told you we’d chatted a fair bit!
And although this is Tazio’s first time being interviewed here, we have featured his excellent covers in the Covers Uncovered feature – Sinister Dexter covers for Prog 2259, and Prog 2283, and then there was an unusual guest appearance in this Andy Clarke Covers Uncovered for Prog 2290 where we talked all things Austin Allegro! Finally, there’s his cover for Hope… In The Shadows for Prog 2302.