Glénat (publisher)
Encyclopedia
Glénat Editions SA is a French
publisher with its head office in Grenoble
. The company publishes many things, including comic book
s and manga
in France
, Benelux
, and Spain
; it was founded by Jacques Glénat. The Spanish subsidiary has its head office in Barcelona
. The Benelux
subsidiary, Glénat Benelux N.V., is located in Brussels
, Belgium
. The Switzerland
subsidiary, Glénat Editions (Suisse) SA, has its headquarters in Nyon
.
) in 1969, when he was still a student. In 1972, only twenty years old, he established his own publishing house, Glénat. The first two books were by Claude Serre
and by Claire Bretécher
. Two years later, he already received the award for best publisher at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
. To support the rapid growth, the company opened warehouses in Orly
near Paris, and a flagship store in Paris
.
A new comics magazine, Circus, first appeared in 1975 and existed until 1989. But the next few years saw Glénat move more away from the traditional juvenile Franco-Belgian comics
and more towards the graphic novel
, with an emphasis on their successful historical series by François Bourgeon
and André Juillard
. A second magazine, Vécu, dedicated to historical comics, was created in 1985 and survived until 2004.
From 1980 on, Glénat also published non-fiction books related to mountain climbing and to the sea. They also bought the publisher Vents d'Ouest and from 1991 on started publishing manga
. But the biggest success of all came with Titeuf
by Zep
, which soon was one of the bestselling French comic series, with its own magazine Tchô and animated series.
The book division has a catalogue of over 4,000 titles, publishing some 400 new books and 12 million volumes a year. Bestselling series include Titeuf, with 16 million copies, and Dragonball, with 17 million copies. It is the second largest comics publishing group in France, behind Média-Participations
, with some 20% of the market.
The company has three international subsidiaries, Glénat Benelux, Glénat Espagne (Spain), and Glénat Suisse (Switzerland). The company is also very active in Canada and collaborates with other publishers in other countries. Apart from translating and distributing the original Glénat productions, these regional companies also produce their own content and specializations. Glénat Espagne controls 40% of the manga market in Spain, and Glénat Benelux has 13% of the market of Belgian comic shops.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
publisher with its head office in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
. The company publishes many things, including comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
; it was founded by Jacques Glénat. The Spanish subsidiary has its head office in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. The Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
subsidiary, Glénat Benelux N.V., is located in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
subsidiary, Glénat Editions (Suisse) SA, has its headquarters in Nyon
Nyon
Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of...
.
History
Jacques Glénat started his comics fanzine Schtroumpf (the French, original, title of The SmurfsThe Smurfs
The Smurfs is a comic and television franchise centred on a group of small blue fictional creatures called Smurfs, created and first introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo on October 23, 1958...
) in 1969, when he was still a student. In 1972, only twenty years old, he established his own publishing house, Glénat. The first two books were by Claude Serre
Claude Serre
Claude Serre was a French cartoonist born in Sucy-en-Brie, Val-de-Marne.After academic studies, he studied the craft of stained glass for eight years under Max Ingrand, along with his cousin Jean Gourmelin...
and by Claire Bretécher
Claire Bretécher
Claire Bretécher is a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations include the Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine.-Biography:...
. Two years later, he already received the award for best publisher at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
Angoulême International Comics Festival
The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
. To support the rapid growth, the company opened warehouses in Orly
Orly
Orly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The name of Orly came from Latin Aureliacum, "the villa of Aurelius"....
near Paris, and a flagship store in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
A new comics magazine, Circus, first appeared in 1975 and existed until 1989. But the next few years saw Glénat move more away from the traditional juvenile Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are created in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are known as BDs, an abbreviation of bande dessinée in French and stripverhalen in Dutch...
and more towards the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, with an emphasis on their successful historical series by François Bourgeon
François Bourgeon
François Bourgeon is a French comics artist, author of several noted European comic books.-Biography:Bourgeon was originally educated as a master stained glass artist, but difficulties in finding employment and a passion for drawing altered his course onto a different career...
and André Juillard
André Juillard
André Juillard is a French comic book creator.-Biography:Born in Paris, Juillard is one of the most prolific artists of historical comics in France. His career began in 1974...
. A second magazine, Vécu, dedicated to historical comics, was created in 1985 and survived until 2004.
From 1980 on, Glénat also published non-fiction books related to mountain climbing and to the sea. They also bought the publisher Vents d'Ouest and from 1991 on started publishing manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. But the biggest success of all came with Titeuf
Titeuf
Titeuf is a magazine series created by Zep which was adapted into an animated TV series, and appears in the dedicated comics magazine Tchô!.-Publication history:...
by Zep
Zep
Zep is the pseudonym of Philippe Chappuis, a comics creator from Switzerland, known for his series Titeuf, a popular character in French-speaking countries, and Tchô!, the associated comics magazine.-Biography:...
, which soon was one of the bestselling French comic series, with its own magazine Tchô and animated series.
Company
As of 2009, the company gets 50% of its turnover from comics, 20% from manga, and 15% from books, with the last 15% divided over smaller products.The book division has a catalogue of over 4,000 titles, publishing some 400 new books and 12 million volumes a year. Bestselling series include Titeuf, with 16 million copies, and Dragonball, with 17 million copies. It is the second largest comics publishing group in France, behind Média-Participations
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 and Fleurus.-History:...
, with some 20% of the market.
The company has three international subsidiaries, Glénat Benelux, Glénat Espagne (Spain), and Glénat Suisse (Switzerland). The company is also very active in Canada and collaborates with other publishers in other countries. Apart from translating and distributing the original Glénat productions, these regional companies also produce their own content and specializations. Glénat Espagne controls 40% of the manga market in Spain, and Glénat Benelux has 13% of the market of Belgian comic shops.
Awards
- 1974: Best French PublisherAngoulême International Comics Festival Other awardsA number of awards was only presented at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for a short time.-Award for best French artist:* 1974: Alexis* 1975: Jacques Tardi* 1976: André Cheret* 1977: Moebius* 1978: Paul Gillon-Award for best foreign artist:...
at the Angoulême International Comics FestivalAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
, France
External links
- Glénat website (FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Glénat website (SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) - Glénat website (DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) - Foreign rights page in English
- Interview page in English