Since the 2008 launch of Soleil Productions’ partnership with Marvel Comics, the French publisher has introduced American audiences to bestselling European sci-fi and fantasy comics like Sky Doll, an adult-oriented title about a female android by W.I.T.C.H. creator Barbara Canepa which was recently released as a trade paperback. Soleil has since added Ythaq: The Forsaken World and Ythaq: No Exit to its slate, two miniseries from a sci-fi epic by writer Christophe Arleston, whose Lanfeust property has moved over 5 million copies in Europe. PW Comics Week talked with Canepa, Arleston, and Soleil managing editor Olivier Jalabert about their experiences crossing the gulf between the American and European comics markets, and why they think the States are ready to make the leap.

PW Comics Week: Marvel Comics is best known for publishing superhero comics. Were you surprised when they expressed interest in your work?

Barbara Canepa: No, I think the time has come for comics to be less limited, and for the [American] comics market to become more international.

Olivier Jalabert: [Marvel editor-in-chief] Joe Quesada himself came to Angoulême [International Comics Festival] in 2005, and he was visiting different booths and publishers when he stopped at Soleil and said, “Wow, this is really great. It really looks like Marvel.” He actually said in a recent interview that if Marvel had been born in Europe, it would have become Soleil. [In Europe], Soleil is the number one genre publisher in its demographic, which is males between 15 and 30.

PWCW: What are the major differences that you see between the American and the French comic book markets?

BC: Although there are fewer people in France — 60 million people, compared to 300 million in the States — there are far more comics per household. There are comics in every household in France. In that regard, the French comics market is probably more similar to Japan. American comics culture, apart from superheroes, is mostly syndicated strips or illustrating.

Christophe Arleston: The American market is a very new experience for me. The print runs, and the number of copies that you need to sell to be successful are much smaller here than in France. Like Barbara says, there aren’t as many people [in France] but everyone has comics. Also, when I was walking around New York, I didn’t see that many regular bookshops either, and I was surprised; in Paris there are two or three times more bookshops.

PWCW: In the American direct market, a comic book could sell well under 50,000 and still be considered a success. How many copies would a periodical comic need to sell in France to be considered successful?

CA: 200,000 or 300,000 copies. And the bestselling comics like Asterix and Titeuf can go up to 2 million. There are many series that have sold between 300,000 and 500,000 copies.

PWCW: Barbara, your Sky Doll series was the first Soleil title to launch last May. What kind of responses have you gotten from American audiences?

BC: I’m very happy, because I never thought we would sell very many copies. I was not expecting such a positive response from the market, especially because Sky Doll isn’t a new comic; it was originally published quite a few years ago, so that was a big surprise.

PWCW: There is a lot of sexual and religious content in Sky Doll—were you concerned about how the American audience would respond?

BC: I thought that it might be misunderstood, but it wasn’t. There were some very interesting critiques and responses on [American] comics websites where they really understood what I was doing, especially after a second reading. After that, we joked that maybe we should have published it in America in the first place. [laughs]

PWCW: Was the critical response different in Europe?

BC: The response was actually better in America. It’s like I had written something especially for the U.S. market. I think it was actually closer to U.S. sensibilities, which makes sense, because so much of what shaped my sensibilities was American culture and movies. I actually worked for a long time at Disney as a character designer for new projects.

PWCW: How did you transition from working at Disney to working in comic books?

BC: That could take all day. [laughs] I ended up having some problems with Disney. We are actually in the middle of a trial with Disney, because we sued them over author’s rights concerning W.I.T.C.H… So after that, instead of selling vegetables at the market, I thought I should reorient my life and try comic books instead, where my work could be more sincere and uncensored. The closest country where I thought I would be able to do that was France, where I created Sky Doll. I had some success with that, and then again with Monster Allergy. It was really funny, because at the same time as we were in the middle of a suit against Disney, Disney called us and said they were interested in securing the animation rights to Monster Allergy.

PWCW: What did you say?

BC: Yes, of course! It’s funny, it was sort of Machiavellian. We only sold them the license for the comics, but not the rights for merchandise and animation. So the comic book was a Buena Vista product, but everything else including the movie was Warner [Bros], and Disney was very unhappy about that.

PWCW: How important is it to you to keep the rights to your comics?

OJ: There is actually a special law in Europe that protects authors. There two kinds of separate rights. If you are a creator you can sell your publishing rights, but not your droits moraux—your moral rights. You can’t sell those. In America, with Superman for instance, they would still need to get the creators’ permission to do a movie even if they have sold the publishing rights.

CA: I don’t know about Barbara, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m keeping all the rights to my comics. That’s quite exceptional, though.

BC: I do as well. After my experience with Disney, it’s important for me to protect myself.

PWCW: What are your goals moving forward in the American comics market?

BC: I have a lot of offers. Mark Osborne, the director of Kung Fu Panda, and is interested in doing something with me, maybe at Dreamworks. Neither [Sky Doll artist] Alessandre [Barbucci] or myself are fans of 3D animation, though. I would love to see it as a live action movie, somewhere between Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, and Monty Python.

CA: My goal is to be read in America. [laugh] And later, perhaps movies. That’s the main thing for me coming into the American market, because we don’t have a movie industry in France. My stories are spectacular and epic, so they would cost too much to film in France. But perhaps in America.