We live in interesting times, which is true in comics too. In this episode, we take a closer look at a year which saw contraction on the French comics market and upheaval in national comics culture, including a reckoning with one of its longest-standing institution, the Angoulême comics festival.

Our guest is Xavier Guilbert, comics journalist, critic, curator and comics market analyst. A contributor to the Angoulême festival for many years, he has followed the developments over the last year or so, which we talk to him about, just as he provides an anaylsis of a market undergoing change and contraction, especially in sales of manga, which just a couple of years ago drove it to new heights. The discsussion is wide-ranging, moving far beyond bestsellers and sales figures.

Above all, it addresses the cancellation this year of what is arguably the most significant comics festival, the Festival Internationale de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême. The cancellation brought into the open long-simmering conflicts in French comics culture: it is about power, money, the conditions of creators and who takes responsibility in an industry where most creators work for minimal recompense and under constant pressure.

What went wrong? Is the cancellation the result of bad management or a symptom of a deeper malaise in comics culture? And what are we all at the risk of losing when an institution like the Angoulême festival falters?

Vi lever i interessante tider – også i tegneseriens verden. I denne episode ser vi nærmere på et år, hvor den franske tegneseriebranche har været præget af både markedsnedgang, strukturelle kriser og et opgør med nogle af de institutioner, der ellers har været faste holdepunkter i årtier.

Vores gæst er Xavier Guilbert, tegneseriejournalist, kritiker, kurator og mangeårig iagttager af den franske og internationale tegneseriescene. Han har fulgt Angoulême-festivalen indefra gennem mange år og sammen taler vi om et marked i forandring: om mangaens tilbagegang efter årene med eksplosiv vækst og om klassikerne der stadig sælger. Men vi taler også om det, der rækker langt ud over salgstal og bestsellerlister.

For 2025 blev året, hvor verdens måske vigtigste tegneseriefestival i Angoulême blev aflyst. En aflysning, der blotlagde dybe konflikter om magt, økonomi, arbejdsvilkår og ansvar i en branche, hvor mange skabere lever under konstant pres.

Hvad gik galt? Er krisen et resultat af konkret dårlig ledelse eller et symptom på mere grundlæggende problemer i tegneseriekulturen? Og hvad mister man, når en institution som Angoulême forsvinder?