The main source of information for young people is social networks, with videos less than a minute long. So, it’s not easy to get them to read geopolitical essays. But in between, there are comics! It allows them to dive into a subject without taking up too much time, and it’s visual,” emphasizes Dominique Leroux, bookseller and founder of Excalibulle, and one of the three organizers of the fourth edition of the Géopoli’bulles festival.
On Wednesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 26, 2026, comics and geopolitics will be in the spotlight in Brest. “Contrary to other festivals, we have the particularity of targeting young people,” specifies Laurence Debayle, documentarian at the Naval Instruction Center (CIN). “It allows them to awaken to reading – they are all already awakened -, to familiarize themselves with comics, and above all to raise awareness about what is happening around them.”
“Essential for understanding the world”
Wednesday will be dedicated to signing sessions with the invited authors, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Excalibulle bookstore. 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… “History is essential for understanding the current world,” emphasizes Fañch Durand, geopolitics professor at CIN. “And in comics, it goes down better!”
It allows [young people] to awaken to reading, to familiarize themselves with comics, and above all to raise awareness about what is happening around them
Young and slightly less young people will be able to make the connection between the comic “Le Crétin,” which recounts Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and the current occupant of the White House. “He too did astonishing things… He paved the way for Trump!” considers the bookseller.
“And to predict the future!”
But geopolitical comics also focus on the future. The introductory conference, organized at UBO on Wednesday, March 25, will feature the Franco-German Florence Gaub, a political scientist, futurist, and military strategist within the “defense” council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“Her work also involves imagining the future. She contributed to the graphic novel ‘Nato 2099,’ which shows how foresight is used to invent scenarios of threats and potential evolutions,” explains Fañch Durand. Namely, in a row: telepathic weapons, an AI in the role of NATO Secretary-General, a city floating on the ocean built thanks to the benefits drawn from the exploitation of fresh water from icebergs… “France also uses comic book authors for this. And the best scenarios are not published,” hints the geopolitics professor.
Practical Information
Conference by Florence Gaub in room B001 of the Segalen campus on Tuesday, March 24 between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. (free, open entry). On Wednesday, March 25, signings from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Excalibulles bookstore. On Thursday, March 26, at the Liberté cinema in Brest, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free entry, registration required: [email protected]
