The main source of information for young people is social media, with videos less than a minute long. So, it’s not easy to get them to read geopolitical essays. But in between, there is comic books! It allows you to dive into a subject without taking up too much time, and it’s visual,” emphasizes Dominique Leroux, a bookseller and founder of Excalibulle, one of the three organizers of the fourth edition of the Géopolibulles festival.
On Wednesday, March 25, and Thursday, March 26, 2026, comic books and geopolitics will once again be in the spotlight in Brest. “Unlike other festivals, we have the particularity of addressing young people,” specifies Laurence Debayle, a documentarian at the Naval Training Center (CIN). “It allows them to awaken to reading – they are all already awake – to familiarize them with comic books, and above all to raise awareness about what is happening around them.”
Wednesday will be dedicated to author signings at the Excalibulle bookstore from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The next day, at the Liberté cinema, 800 people including 600 students are expected for a day of conferences on the atomic bomb, Korea, witnesses of major historical events. “Understanding history is essential to understand the current world,” emphasizes Fañch Durand, a geopolitics professor at CIN. “And in comic books, it’s better!”
Young and not so young will thus be able to make the connection between the comic book “Le Crétin,” which retraces the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and the current White House occupant. “He was also doing crazy things. He paved the way for Trump!” considers the bookseller.
“But geopolitical comic books also focus on the future. The introductory conference, organized at UBO on Wednesday, March 25, will feature Franco-German Florence Gaub, a political scientist, futurist, and military strategist within the NATO defense council,” explains Fañch Durand. “Her work is also about imagining the future. She participated in the graphic novel ‘Nato 2099,’ which shows how foresight is used to invent scenarios of threats and potential developments.”
“France also uses comic book authors for this. And the best scenarios are not published,” says the geopolitics professor.
Practical information: Conference by Florence Gaub in room B001 of the Segalen fac on Tuesday, March 24 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (free, open entry). Wednesday, March 25, author signings from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Excalibulles bookstore. Thursday, March 26, at the Liberté cinema in Brest, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free entry, registration required: email protected.
