Culture: Comics / Global
Top draw
Artist Pierre-Yves Berhin (nom de plume ‘Hamo’) draws us in to the witty animated tale of how ‘bande dessinées’ became a bastion of soft power for Francophone storytellers and beloved by readers of all ages. Only in Monocle.
Japanese manga is perpetually popular but Franco-Belgian bande dessinées (or BD) are charming a new generation of readers. There is a long tradition (think Tintin and Asterix) but a bright future too. Today one book in every four sold in France is a BD. The global market is worth €15bn in 2023 and expected to grow to €21bn by 2030. As the industry swells so does the range of subjects artists cover, from clever biographies to thrillers that are as likely to be read by adults as in schoolyards.
To explore the animated medium’s mass appeal, monocle commissioned one of our favourite graphic artists, Hamo, to tell the tale of his art. Readers can draw their own conclusions.
