__NOTOC__
Belgium and France have a long tradition in
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
and
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
(''
bandes dessinées Bandes may refer to:
* BANDES, The Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank
* Susan Bandes, American lawyer
* Efim Samuilovich Bandes (1866–1927), Russian-Jewish political activist, known in the United States as Louis Miller
{{dis ...
'') with some shared history in comics and
publishing house
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
s.
History
The first important publishers of bandes dessinées started producing comics magazines and books in the 1930s and 1940s, especially in Belgium, with
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium.
History
The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller or ...
,
Dargaud
Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943.
...
,
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. It is ...
and
Le Lombard
''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when ''Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Dupuis ...
as the most famous ones.
From the 1970s and the "adult" turn of the comics, new publishing houses rose, especially in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, like
Les Humanoïdes Associés
Les Humanoïdes Associés (or simply Humanoïdes) is a France, Franco-United States, American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Jean Giraud, Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philipp ...
,
Glénat and
Delcourt.
In the 1990s, several new small independent publishers emerged, such as
l'Association
L'Association is a French publishing house located in Paris which publishes comic books. It was founded in May 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu, Lewis Trondheim, David B., Mattt Konture, Patrice Killoffer, Stanislas, and Mokeït.
L'Association i ...
,
Amok, and
Fréon. While some of these new publishers gained popular success and succeeded in creating a new look in their comics, others kept a more intransigent approach. In recent decades, many independent publishers have been restructured. While keeping their brand names, most of them have been bought, included or gathered in larger conglomerates, such as
Média-Participations
Média-Participations is a French media concern, controlled by a Belgian holding concern, specialized in Franco-Belgian comics. It has some forty publishers in its portfolio, including Dupuis, Dargaud, Le Lombard, Fleurus (publisher), Fleurus, La ...
.
Non-exhaustive list of notable Franco-Belgian publishers
*
12 bis
12 bis was a French publisher active from 27 June 2007 to 1 August 2017, which has since been absorbed by Glénat. The company published predominantly ''bande dessinée'' comic books and manga in France. It was founded by Dominique Burdot, for ...
*
Actes Sud
Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members.
...
*
Albin-Michel
*
Ankama
Ankama is a French entertainment company headquartered in Roubaix, France, focused on the design of massive multiplayer online role playing games (''Dofus'', ''Dofus Arena'' and ''Wakfu''). The company is also active in publishing, animation an ...
*
L'Association
L'Association is a French publishing house located in Paris which publishes comic books. It was founded in May 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu, Lewis Trondheim, David B., Mattt Konture, Patrice Killoffer, Stanislas, and Mokeït.
L'Association i ...
*
Bamboo Édition
Bamboo Édition is a French comics publisher, mostly specializing in humor series. Their manga imprint, Doki-Doki, was established in April 2006.
Doki-Doki Titles
*'' 7 Billion Needles''
*''Antimagia''
*''Atori shō''
*''Aya no shiki''
*''Broken ...
*
*
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium.
History
The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller or ...
*
Dargaud
Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943.
...
*
Delcourt
*
Le Dernier Cri
Le Dernier Cri is a Marseille based publishing house focused on publishing books, prints, silkscreens, posters and original art of visual artists that produce underground art. Pakito Bolino and Caroline Sury started the organisation in 1992. Bes ...
*
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines.
Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. It is ...
*
Ego comme X
Ego comme x was the name of a French comics publishing house created in Angoulême in 1994.
Company history
''Ego comme x'' started by publishing a magazine in 1993 created by a few authors and after a few years started to publish other works.
...
*
Fluide Glacial
''Fluide Glacial'' () is a monthly Franco-Belgian comics magazine and a publishing house founded on 1 April 1975 by Gotlib, Alexis and . It's one of the most successful comics magazine in France, along with Métal Hurlant.
Since its foundation, ...
*
Frémok and its predecessors Amok and Fréon
*
Futuropolis
''Futuropolis'' is a 1984 American short animated/stop motion science fiction film written and directed by Steve Segal and Phil Trumbo. The film introduces Tom Campagnoli, Mike Cody, Stan Garth, Catherine Schultz and Cassandra Cossitt in lead rol ...
*
Glénat
*
Les Humanoïdes Associés
Les Humanoïdes Associés (or simply Humanoïdes) is a France, Franco-United States, American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Jean Giraud, Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philipp ...
*
Éditions Joker
*
Le Lombard
''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when ''Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Dupuis ...
*
Lug
*
Mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
*
Les Requins-Marteaux
*
Semic
*
Soleil
SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name ''SOLEIL'' is a backronym for ''Source optimisée de lumière d’énergie intermédiaire du LURE' ...
*
Standaard Uitgeverij
Standaard Uitgeverij is a Belgian publisher, and the leading publisher in the Dutch language market of Flanders.
History
In 1919, the Standaard group was created, mainly consisting of a chain of bookshops (Standaard Boekhandel), a newspaper (''De ...
*
Vents d'Ouest
Vent or vents may refer to:
Science and technology Biology
*Vent, the cloaca region of an animal
*Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase
Geology
*Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...
Vents d'Ouest
/ref>
See also
* French Manga publishers
*List of Franco-Belgian comic series
Franco-Belgian comics, together with American and British comic books and Japanese manga, are one of the three main markets. The term is broad, and can be applied to all comics made by French and Belgian comics authors, all comics originally publ ...
Notes
{{reflist
Publishing houses
Publishing houses