Webcomics, known as webtoons, are gaining ground in France's cultural landscape.
The digital comics market is on the rise, and France is no exception. French publishers are investing heavily in the webtoon sector, capitalizing on the popularity of this format and engaging new readerships accustomed to vertical scrolling.
This investment is reshaping the French manga industry, fostering new kinds of digital comic experiences and boosting print sales of webtoon-adapted works.
Growth of the Digital Comics Market
Digital comics, especially webtoons, have become hugely popular globally, and France is no exception. Webtoons generate billions globally, reflecting a strong market opportunity for publishers to modernize and diversify their comic offerings.
Expansion Beyond Traditional Manga
Webtoons are bridging into Western markets, including France, by offering localized translations and original content. French publishers are adopting "printoonized" formats—print comics adapted from webtoons with dynamic storytelling techniques similar to manga, which appeal to French readers familiar with manga aesthetics.
Boost to Print Sales of Webtoon Works
The printoonization approach has led to significant success in France; for example, the series Solo Leveling has sold over 2.5 million copies in French bookstores, demonstrating how webtoon-originated stories can thrive in physical manga markets.
Impact on the Manga Industry in France
The influx of webtoons is causing a ripple effect in the French manga industry.
- Market Diversification and Competition: Traditional manga publishers face competition from webtoon content, encouraging innovation in storytelling styles and formats, such as vertical scrolling digital comics and hybrid print/webtoon products.
- New Audiences and Consumption Habits: Webtoons attract younger, digital-native readers, thus broadening the overall comics market and potentially increasing interest in manga as part of a larger comics ecosystem.
- Partnerships and Content Expansion: International webtoon platforms collaborate with various publishers to bring Korean and other Asian webtoons into the French market, alongside original French creations, fostering a diverse comic culture.
Challenges and Opportunities
The webtoon sector is not without its challenges. Piracy remains a significant issue, with Naver Webtoon, a subsidiary of Webtoon, joining the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) to combat digital piracy. The manga industry is also starting to adopt digital consumption codes to combat piracy.
Despite these challenges, the future looks promising. The webtoon industry could generate an estimated global revenue of 30-40 billion dollars by 2030.
Notable Developments
- The second season of the Netflix series All Of Us Are Dead, based on a webtoon, is announced for 2026.
- The American streaming giant Netflix is planning to adapt the webtoon Solo Leveling.
- The South Korean platform Webtoon has over 160 million active users across more than 150 countries.
- The partnership between the Webtoon company and SNCF features six French-language series out of the fifteen offered.
- Among the French-language series offered, Blood in Love by Salen Fevrier, Sword and Quests by KenjiToon, and Captain Zorgue by Issa Boun are included.
- The Japan Expo in Paris in July 2025 featured many "100% webtoon" stands.
- 12 French-speaking artists were trained in webtoon creation by Korean experts as part of the first edition of the Webtoon Academy Angouleme.
- Disciples (Redice Studio), the artist of the world's most famous webtoon, Solo Leveling, was the guest of honor at the Japan Expo in Paris in July 2025.
As French publishers continue to invest in webtoons, the landscape of the French manga industry is poised to change, offering new opportunities for creators, publishers, and readers alike.
The growing popularity of webtoons is expanding the French comic industry, blending cultural elements of both Eastern and Western aesthetics, creating a unique fusion of lifestyle and technology within the world of books and entertainment.
France's increasing investment in webtoons has not only reshaped the traditional manga industry but also opened doors for partnerships with international platforms and the creation of original French content, propelling the growth of a multicultural comic culture.
