The founders
Olivier Sulpice
Shareholder
A comics fan since he was a boy, Olivier Sulpice launched the graphics studio Bamboo in 1993 in Charney-les-Mâcon with Henri Jeanfaivre, a buddy from his military service.
In 1997, when he founded Bamboo Editions, who could have imagined that the little outfit tucked away in Burgundy would create a distinctive style in the world of French-language comics and rack up countless serial best sellers such as Teachers, Rugbymen, Little Mythomaniacs or Sisters. As he wrote his scripts, published his first albums, called booksellers, packed and mailed boxes of books and put his foot in the door of distributors, that, however, is exactly what Olivier had in mind.
Year after year, Bamboo has been building a rich list of diverse and family-oriented comics. The birth of such imprints as Grand Angle in 2001 (for teenagers and adults), Doki-Doki in 2006 (Mangas), Drakoo in 2018 (fantasy) and Les aventuriers d’ailleurs in 2023 (foreign comics) have by now confirmed his status as a general interest comics publisher of the first order.
In 2016, with the acquisition of a majority stake in Editions Audie, the publisher of the famous magazine Fluide glacial, Bamboo joined the very exclusive club of top French comics publishers, while retaining its close-knit, author-friendly culture, as evidenced by its 2019 decision to establish a 12% royalty across the board (and 15% after 40,000 copies sold). Such rates were until then the prerogative of best selling authors.
More than ever a general interest publisher, Bamboo is developping its trans-media activities (TV, movies, animation) and enjoys its status as an industry major while being mindful at all times of its core values : Respect, sincerity, curiosity…and pleasure !
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