Beginning in 1982, Joost Swarte developed a unique narrative approach consisting of two side-by-side gags, the first, the
“not this” (which showed a problem, something not to do), and the second, the “but that”, a response to the first
situation in the form of a solution or a way out. Two gags firmly linked, then, that respond to one another and reflect each
other in an inexhaustable game of mirrors. Initially published in the Dutch weekly “Vrij Nederland”, these strips were later
released between 1985 and 1991 as five small-format books. Here, for the first time, Dargaud is publishing all five of these
books in a single collected volume. In January 2019, Joost Swarte will be particularly in the spotlight as part of the
Futuropolis exhibits at the Angoulême international bande dessinée festival.
