In Angoulême, the signing race and the exhibition marathon are launched

Special envoy to Angoulême

“I'm completely lost, I imagined a small salon but in fact it's all over the city!” exclaims Quentin, 20, an illustration student visiting the 51st International Comics Festival of Angouleme. Coming from the Toulouse region, he and his parents stayed in a hotel in Cognac, having been unable to find anything closer. Friday morning, his father Didier bought a Lone Sloane by Philippe Druillet to introduce his son: “I read as a teenager but I had lost the books.” Met near the exterior panels of the exhibition on Canadian artists, in front of city hall, the 65-year-old man is admiring: “It’s interesting to see what is being done elsewhere. We can't imagine the number of different styles of comics..." His partner Emmanuelle, 56, likes "authors who explode the codes, like Fred at the time". She understands that her son, who wants to become a comic book author, will have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

Lucas, 27, an aspiring designer from Nantes, would also like to meet professionals. “With a friend, we came to try to find publisher appointments but we discovered late that we had to make appointments for pre-appointments in order to have appointments,” says he says in a joking manner which is not a joke. Editors receive thousands of files by email or post, whereas we can know straight away what needs to be corrected.” In the meantime, he really appreciated the exhibition on Requiem, Knight Vampire: “Seeing originals by Olivier Ledroit in grape format is still not nothing.” Her friend Nancy, who lives in Angoulême, is absolutely not annoyed by the crowds of visitors: “It livens up the city a little, which is generally super calm.”

Sitting on the steps of the Angoulême theater, Yohann, 19, and Sarah, 26, wait for Shin’ichi Sakamato’s masterclass. “I wasn't interested in comics, well, “the big color albums”, but I saw that there were mangas so I came,” confides the young man, convinced by his big sister. She was the one who managed the accommodation: “I did it well in advance, I reserved my Airbnb in February!” From 6 a.m., they were stationed in front of the Manga City building to obtain two of the 70 tickets signed by Sakamoto. “Four hours of waiting in the cold, standing,” laughs Sarah. “Usually, it’s the zoo, but here he dialed us at 7 a.m. and then he called people by their number,” his brother continues. They were thus able to obtain the keys to a signature on the ex-libris. And buy some Taiwanese comics (“the strongest artists in the world”). Enough to forget having been rejected from some already full conferences.

Around Saint-Pierre Cathedral, many visitors have a snack on the lawn or on a bench. Among them, a man and his son from Poitiers. Hugo, 11, bought One Piece, My Hero Academia and Red Flower, a French manga by Loui. “I’ll try to get a dedication or a drawing,” the boy hopes. His father, David, 41, would like to add to his collection of Aaarg, an alternative comics periodical, as well as nostalgic titles like Buck Danny and Redbeard. A little further on, two friends in their thirties admit to having been amazed by the Moto Hagio exhibition. Garance fell for the catalog at 40 euros. His loot from the festival also includes “a signed drawing of Agnese Innocente for her album on Audrey Hepburn”. His friend Sandra bought the samurai manga The Inhabitant of the Infinite, after discovering the exhibition dedicated to Hiroaki Samura: “Frankly, it was magnificent, he has very interesting work on the body, the fights, but also more dreamlike moments.”