“…I always wanted to write a comic full of imaginary subcultures that took place in an invented city, but with the ‘alternate history’ angle tacked on, I can custom-fit the environment. I don’t want cell phones, so there aren’t any. I don’t want Arizona’s crazy meth problems, which would just be silly to omit if I were writing about the state’s underclass realistically, so that’s gone, too. Whatever I say, goes. And when something comes up, someone asks me why Templar’s Arizona is (x) instead of (y), well hey, alternate history!

“I also wanted the city to be more timeless than a product of my specific age. I don’t know if I’m completely successful in that regard, but it was definitely part of the motivation. I don’t want anyone looking at TAZ twenty years from now and saying, ‘Man, iPhones and internet. This is so 2000s!’”

Spike