Joost Swarte - Jopo de Pojo

Now, here is an artist I had hoped to meet with for a very long time!...

40+ years ago, I was drooling over his incredible, zany, sometimes cruel and absurd stories, drawn in his inimitable, tight, wonderful "ligne claire" style (remember, folks: he even coined the expression...)! So, when I learnt he was signing his latest illustration book (all his recent covers for the New Yorker, no less!), I jumped at the opportunity to go and express how admirative I am of his work!

And even though I love his illustrations, I told him how much I regret he walked away from comic stories and his signature characters, Anton Makassar and Jopo de Pojo...

We spent a great moment exchanging views and anecdotes of this era and he concluded by this fantastic rendition of Jopo de Pojo, coming back to life after all these years, but still crazy...

After that, we got to meet again a couple of times in the streets of Angoulême (we happened to stay at the same hotel...), greeted each other and continuing to chat a bit!

Ah! I'm sounding just like a fan, there!...
Face it, I am!