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When it comes to France, the key words given by Chinese are probably like: red wine, Eiffel Tower, Paris Commune, Louvre, Napoleon, Hugo... The impression left on us by the romantic French always seems to be inseparable from food, freedom, and literature; However, comics, a culture with a long history in France, are rarely used as footnotes by the Chinese people.

This is actually quite normal, the comics that Chinese comic fans are most familiar with are probably Japanese comics and our local comics (including Hong Kong comics and Taiwanese comics), but the understanding of comics from other countries is relatively limited.

There are probably two reasons for this. One is because of the similar culture, so Riman is more acceptable; The second is that there are indeed more media reports on Japanese comics. As for the United States, animation and movies adapted from comics have always occupied a more prominent place. You mention "Batman", "Garfield"... The number of people who have seen the video is always much larger than the number of people who have seen the paper comics, which probably has something to do with the way it was introduced. In recent years, the sense of survival of Korean comics has gradually become stronger in the hearts of mainland people, especially a number of comics have been adapted into Korean dramas (such as "Palace"), which has made more comic fans pay attention to Korean cartoonists and comic works.

In fact, if you want to talk about the overseas manga market, France is definitely one of the most important markets, and it should not be ignored. But it is strange that the long and weighty French comics have not carved a clear mark on the vision of Chinese comic fans. Why is that? What are the characteristics of French comics?

Half of it is deep in history, and half of it is free and easy

Comics are not a new industry for France, on the contrary, the history of comics in France is very deep. I remember that last year's "A Bite of China" was on the air, and the narrator often said, "As early as X years X and X hundred years ago, our ancestors were...", which made all the officials very proud - a strong history is cool! It's a comfort to listen to. In terms of comics, the French are very qualified to be "cool" -- as early as 1830, the world's first comic magazine "Comics" was born in France. Since then, of course, there have been many masters in France, such as Daumier, and Mr. Mobius, who is more familiar to the Chinese people. In addition, Mr. Nicolas, the heavyweight guest invited by the 2012 "Golden Dragon Award", is also a Frenchman, and it is he who is in charge of the Asian project in the Angoulême International Comics Festival (the largest and oldest comic festival in Europe), and introduces Chinese comics to France for the first time.

However, here's the problem. Since the history is so deep, why is there no famous French comic book popular in China?

Make hay? No, hobbies matter

Many people may have experienced that when a hobby becomes a job, it may be difficult to maintain the original enthusiasm. The French have few such concerns about comics.

"The French are said to not put economic benefits first, but personal hobbies... It sounds to me that France is very pro-art exchange, and there is no fame or fortune factor in it, there are a lot of free art libraries and cinemas, and if you want to hold an art exhibition, you can apply for government funding. If the government thinks your work is good, it will give you a subsidy. Including overseas comic artists, if you feel that your creation needs money, the French city of Angoulême also has a foundation that provides money completely free of charge. Benjamin's words are probably a good illustration of the state of French comics. There is no battle for appropriations, no famous animation base, no endless hype, no life-and-death competition, and the French comic industry presents a completely different state from the Asian comic industry.

The French pay more attention to the comics themselves than to make money. As long as you devote yourself to your work with infinite enthusiasm, no matter what your painting style is, no matter what your story is, as long as your work is "good" in a sense, the government will give you a subsidy to support your creation. This is one of the most lenient and difficult policies, and new French cartoonists should not immediately think about how to cater to the market and what commercial elements to add, but how to improve their work. This approach is very different from that of Japan and even in our own country. It can't be said who is better and who is worse, but the unique comic atmosphere in France will inevitably give birth to different works.

Enjoy the comics and do your best

Driven by such an atmosphere, every qiē of French comics is in the service of "comics" themselves. For example, printing. The traditional comics popular in France are probably similar to the domestic doujinben in terms of printing, and of course the quality will be better. In the case of the Angoulême Comics Festival, for example, many popular comic book picture books are 16-page hard-cover, full-color, and often less than 100 pages. These hard and heavy comics are a far cry from the lightweight pocket books we are familiar with, often with thicker covers than the inside, heavy to listen to, laborious to carry, and expensive, and it doesn't look like you can flip it in your pocket at any time.

But such comics undoubtedly have a better visual experience,Large-format full-color comics also put forward higher requirements for the picture itself,As for the painting style... It doesn't matter. "It's full of all kinds of bizarre styles, old-fashioned, artistic, avant-garde, realistic, abstract, all kinds of styles have found their readers here...... "This casual and even somewhat laid-back style is very different from the current situation in China, coupled with cultural differences, it is not surprising that French comics are not popular in China.

A self-cut role - Asian comics in France

But you have to think that it is not right for the French to play their own way alone. In fact, Asian comics have a great influence on French comic fans, especially young comic fans, and in recent years, there have been many Chinese comic publishers and cartoonists participating in the Angoulême Comics Festival, and Korean comics also have their own exhibition areas. But when it comes to attacking the French comic market, it is the Japanese comics led by Shueisha's works. Japanese comics and traditional French comics are different from the concept,The Japanese comics we are familiar with are all works that have been selected by readers and tested by commercialization,Although there is the author's own insistence,But it is impossible not to have a strong commercial atmosphere。 Small volumes, black and white pages, volume after volume of compact stories - what kind of success will such a comic have in France? Below we attach the 2010、2011、2012 three-year Japanese comic French circulation rankings,So that you can clearly see the survival status of Japanese comics in France that we are familiar with。

2010 Japanese manga in France circulation rankings

Take a look at the 2010 Japanese comic single volume circulation ranking, a prominent feature is that it is all juvenile comics! Originally, in the impression of ordinary people, the French are romantic, and they should be more interested in the oriental stories of the wind and snow, coupled with the beautiful pictures, it seems that girl comics should be more popular. It turns out - not at all. The circulation of 250,000 copies per volume of "Naruto" is not a small number even in Japan. It is worth mentioning that the print run of "One Piece" has risen steadily, from 85,000 to 90,000 to 95,000, who said that foreigners are not interested in "Pirates"?

2011 Japanese manga in France by circulation

In 2011, there were some changes in the sales of Japanese comics in France compared to 2010. The circulation of 250,000 per volume of "Naruto" has not been shaken, but "One Piece" has entered the 100,000 average volume mark. It is worth mentioning that the composition of the best-selling manga has changed a lot compared to the all-colored shonen manga in 2010. The popularity of "Black Butler" has added shoujo manga to the top 10 best-selling manga, while "Judge" is a horror manga. In addition, the print volume of "Death" has dropped, and it is also facing the embarrassment of "carrots" in France.

2012 Japanese manga in France circulation rankings

The most eye-catching sales of French Japanese comics in 2012 is undoubtedly the massive rise in "One Piece". "Top Showdown" has undoubtedly set off a craze both in Japan and overseas, compared to the single volume print run of "Naruto", which has decreased to 225,000 copies. After a slump in 2011, the print run of "Bleach of Death" rose to 60,000 copies per volume, and the 28th volume of "The Hunter" also reached 50,000 French people.

Japanese manga in France

Based on the above figures, Riman does occupy a large market share in France. But what is more unexpected is that the French are not very interested in the oriental youth love campus stories, and the one-sided reversal pattern of juvenile manga has continued from Japan to overseas. In fact, when it comes to the king of overseas Japanese comics, "Dragon Ball" is well-deserved. However, "Dragon Ball" has been over for a long time, and "Naruto" has been the first of the French people in recent years: mysterious ninja culture, bloody plot... The French have so many reasons to be interested in Naruto. But judging from 2012, the situation that "One Piece" is dominant in Japan and lacks popularity overseas has been slowly reversed, and the plot is really strong, and it is not surprising that it can be more widely recognized.

Special reminder: Beware of counterfeit goods at foreign comic exhibitions

Finally, insert a little digression: Since we talked about the situation of comics in France today and also mentioned foreign comic exhibitions, considering that the chances of students watching the topic to study abroad in the future are still quite large, the editor has to remind one more digression: Be careful when buying things in Europe and the United States, don't think that you can only buy copycat figures and peripherals in China.

In fact, it is precisely because of the arbitrariness of European and American comic conventions that it is not unscrupulous for unscrupulous traders to sell copycat figures and peripherals at high prices. Here we want to remind those students who have love but no research on more expensive peripherals such as figures, don't think that the foreign comic con is genuine, if you want to start, you should make up more basic identification knowledge before starting, don't spend a high price to buy fakes. In addition, there is also the possibility of buying counterfeit goods sold by third parties on Japanese stations such as Japanese auctions and Amazon Japan, so please be vigilant.

epilogue

Traditional French manga and popular Japanese manga (mainly shonen manga) completely highlight two very different attitudes. In terms of commercialization, the comics of France are more detached and casual, but their love for comics is undoubtedly serious. The popularity of Japan's invasions in recent years begs the question: can French comics maintain their own style in such an atmosphere? In 2013, what will the French comic market give us? We'll see.