The French webtoon is no longer just a list of popular titles on a platform. In 2024, this vertical scrolling digital comic format has reached a structural milestone in France, with publishers building genuine editorial chains that span from native digital to printed books, and cultural institutions beginning to take an interest.
French webtoon and print publishing: the game-changing editorial chain
The most significant trend in webtoons in France in 2024 does not concern a title or a genre. It is about the transformation of webtoons into a fully-fledged editorial product, capable of circulating across multiple formats.
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The phenomenon of “printoonized” titles (webtoons reformatted for print publishing) has accelerated. Series designed for vertical scrolling on smartphones are now being adapted into physical volumes, with a layout redesign that raises technical and artistic questions. Cutting a continuous vertical flow into double pages requires rethinking narrative rhythm, transitions, and sometimes framing.
This shift from digital to print reflects an economic reality: the book remains the most reliable monetization channel for French publishers. Advertising revenue and digital subscriptions do not always suffice to fund production. Print offers a second commercial life to series that have proven their audience online. You can regularly find news about French webtoons on Rennes Blog to follow these editorial developments month after month.
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Institutional legitimization of webtoons in France
The webtoon has long been perceived as a sub-genre of comics, caught between manga and Franco-Belgian BD. This perception is evolving, driven by institutional signals.
The Cité internationale de la bande dessinée (Angoulême) has gradually integrated the format into its reflections and programming. This recognition has not yet translated into dedicated awards comparable to those of traditional comics, but it marks a change in perspective. The webtoon enters the realm of legitimate comics, not just that of digital entertainment.
For French authors, this legitimization opens up concrete prospects:
- Access to creation residencies and grants historically reserved for printed comics
- Visibility at festivals and fairs that structure an author’s career in France
- The possibility to negotiate print publishing contracts from the conception of a project, rather than afterward
The available data does not allow for conclusions about the real extent of this movement. There are a few cases, but generalization remains to be confirmed.
Romance, action, fantasy: the genres dominating French webtoons
The global webtoon market is segmented by genre, and France follows the broad lines of this distribution while adding its nuances. Romance remains the dominant genre on French platforms, driven by a predominantly female and young audience.
Action and fantasy occupy the second place, often in formats similar to Korean adventure mangas (isekai, cultivation, time travel). The rankings on Webtoon.com in French confirm this: the highest-ranked titles in 2024 mix romance, fantasy, and action, with series like “The Return of the Hwasan Clan” or “The Patron of Villains.”
In contrast, original French creations struggle to compete in visibility with Korean translations. The majority of the most-read series in France remain translations. French creators publish more on alternative platforms or through independent publishers, which limits their exposure compared to Korean giants.
Webtoon platform and economic model: what hinders French production
The economic model of webtoons relies on two pillars: subscription and advertising. Globally, the market is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2023 to $6.5 billion by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 17.5%. These global figures mask significant regional disparities.
In France, reading webtoons primarily occurs on smartphones, which aligns with the global trend. The problem lies upstream: the remuneration of authors.
Producing a webtoon requires a considerable amount of work. A weekly colored episode represents several days of work for an illustrator, not to mention the script and coloring. On dominant platforms, remuneration relies on a “coins” system (virtual currency) whose conversion into real income remains opaque for many creators.
French publishers entering the webtoon space adopt varied approaches:
- Some finance production upfront, like for a classic comic album, with a contract including print rights
- Others operate on a digital revenue-sharing model, which is riskier for the author
- Some hybrid structures offer a modest advance supplemented by a percentage of digital and print sales
Field feedback on this point varies: some authors describe viable conditions, while others speak of precariousness comparable to that of French manga in the 2010s.
Digital comic reading in France: webtoons versus manga
The webtoon does not progress in a vacuum. It advances on ground already occupied by manga, which represents a massive share of comic book sales in France. The coexistence of these two formats deserves to be observed without shortcuts.
The webtoon audience and the manga audience largely overlap, especially among 15-25 year-olds. Many readers consume both formats, sometimes the same series (some are published as webtoons and then adapted into manga, or vice versa).
The structural difference lies in the distribution channel. Manga goes through bookstores and large cultural retailers. Webtoons go through screens. This distinction has consequences for discoverability: a French webtoon must compete against recommendation algorithms calibrated for high-budget Korean series, while a French manga at least benefits from physical shelf space.
The boom in digital comic reading in France in 2024 benefits both formats, but the webtoon captures an audience that does not frequent bookstores. This is where its growth potential lies, and also its fragility: an audience gained through digital can disappear as quickly as it arrived if the supply of original content stagnates.