Angoulême Festival 2025: Dive into the heart of Europe’s biggest comic book event

An unmissable event for comic book enthusiasts

For over 50 years, the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême has been the unmissable event for comic book enthusiasts, professionals, and collectors. Founded in 1974, it is now one of the largest comic book festivals in the world, on par with San Diego Comic-Con and Tokyo’s Comiket. Each year, Angoulême transforms into a gigantic open-air museum, attracting hundreds of artists, publishers from around the world, and nearly 200,000 visitors who come to celebrate the ninth art in all its forms.

Much more than just a trade fair, Angoulême is a barometer of trends, a place where new talents are revealed, where the legends of comics, manga and Franco-Belgian comics are honored and where enthusiasts can admire original works and obtain autographs from their favorite artists.

Through prestigious exhibitions, conferences, book signings, and professional meetings, the festival plays a key role in the comic book industry. It has helped establish it as an art form in its own right, capable of addressing all genres and themes.

The 2025 edition celebrated Spanish comics

For this 52nd edition, the Collective comics art team was there. While admiring the masterpieces on display remains tempting… our mission goes far beyond that! We was here to meet artists, discover new talent, and forge collaborations.

From the moment we arrived, the energy of the festival swept us away. The streets vibrated to the rhythm of the monumental frescoes, the stalls overflowed with fascinating works, and the surrounding excitement testified to the undiminished passion for comics.

The 2025 edition, held from January 30 to February 2, immersed visitors in the heart of Spanish comics under the slogan “Talented Vignettes.” Supported by the Spanish government, the festival celebrated an art form in constant renewal, balancing tradition and modernity.

The Spanish Pavilion, located in the city center, offered an immersion into the landmark works of Iberian comics. But what most interested us were the privileged discussions with key figures in the world of comics such as Belén Ortega, Jorge Fornés, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and many others. On the forecourt of the Town Hall, a captivating exhibition retraced the evolution of Spanish comics, highlighting its influences and its promising future.
The Angoulême Museum hosted “Graphic Constellation,” a vibrant exhibition dedicated to nine avant-garde Spanish female authors.
Meanwhile, the Youth Quarter invited younger visitors to discover fantastical worlds through comics such as “Hooky” by Míriam Bonastres, with the added bonus of interactive workshops and book signings.

Exhibitions, meetings and the magic of the Fauves

The Angoulême International Comics Festival (FIBD) awards ceremony has decided to award its Honorary Fauve to John Romita Jr. to celebrate the artist’s entire career!

One of the exhibitions that left the biggest impression on us was the Superman exhibition, and for good reason: the FIBD is partnering with Urban Comics and Warner Bros. to honor the first superhero.
The exhibition, installed at the Vaisseau Moebius, allows us to explore, understand, and retrace the stories of one of DC Comics‘ most iconic superheroes. Superman, the benevolent vigilante who represents the best in humanity.

The incredible scenography of this exhibition is designed by the Golem studio and offers us life-size reproductions of the emblematic locations of this universe. The immersion is fascinating and allows us to rub shoulders with the character’s emblematic locations. Whether it’s the Kent farm, the Daily Planet editorial office, Krypton or even the Fortress of Solitude, it’s all there. As you can see, this exhibition is a love letter to all the fans who have followed the adventures of this Earth vigilante.

Finally, the poster for this exhibition features the cover of one of Superman’s adventures, illustrated by Jorge Jimenez. This exhibition is on display until March 10, 2025.

For those who want to prolong the pleasure, we remind you that the character of Superman returns to the cinema on July 9, under the leadership of James Gunn, played by the young David Corenswet.

How can we not tell you about the Marvel: Superheroes and Co. exhibition?

One of the major assets of this exhibition is its diversity of original comic strip art.
This exhibition, curated by our friend Xavier Fournier, features over a hundred original comic strips, the oldest of which date back to the 1960s. These are organized by theme, promoting a total immersion in the Marvel universe. You can find original comic strips by Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr, John Byrne, Tim Sale, and even French artists Mr. Garcin and Geoffo!

What struck us when we entered a room was its dedicated universe. This exhibition plays on atmospheres, notably with the boards, but also with the furniture and the custom-made scenography. This place is a pretext to educate us on the social and political themes that run through the stories of these heroes. We remind you that our artist Kelly Williams recently illustrated many heroes from this universe and it is available here.

The other space that fascinated us was the one dedicated to the Spider-Man and his representation of a part of the suburbs of New York and its emblematic building staircases from the 1960s.

This exhibition, which will delight fans of the Marvel universe, is on display in Angoulême until May 4, 2025.

A fusion of comics, music and artistic performances

Beyond the awards, it was the festival’s unique atmosphere that made this edition memorable, with live drawing concerts where music and illustrations were created. Three performances made a lasting impression. Renowned comic book artist Jérémie Moreau drew live while the Oracle Sisters played captivating music. Writer and musician Gaël Faye told a touching story accompanied by guitarist Samuel Kamanzi, with live drawings by Sylvain Savoia. Finally, author Aude Mermilliod illustrated a scene while two jazz musicians, Vincent Peirani and Émile Parisien, improvised captivating music. All of this proves that comics are constantly evolving and can blend with music, literature, and other arts to create unique and fascinating shows!

A memorable festival

This festival reminded us that comics are an art form in their own right, deserving of support, protection, and promotion.
With Collective comics arts, we have chosen to defend the authenticity and fair compensation of artists, firmly opposing the invasion of images generated by artificial intelligence. This position resonated with many of the artists and collectors we met on site, who share our vision of a market where human creativity remains at the center of attention.

We leaved Angoulême with valuable contacts, new collaborations to come and a great motivation to continue developing Collective comics arts as a future reference platform for comic art enthusiasts and collectors !