Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: comcis, entertainment, franch, taxes

How Taxes Can Kill A French Comic Book

Published Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:16:08 -0500

Last updated Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:29:19 -0500

The French publishing commission has decided that both Lanfeust and L'Immanquable, two of the few remaining french comic magazines, do not count as "journals" or newspapers.

As in, they don't have enough of an educational content and as a result have to pay higher taxes on sales, on advertising pages sold, a higher postage for subscriptions, etc.

This is not the the first time this kind of thing has happened. Their famous ancestor, Pilote, once the mightiest comics magazine in the Western World, faced the same thing in 1978. The solution was the same: Reduce the amount of comics pages and put more written articles, something the Lanfuest has just done. And now it is L'Immanquable's turn to get the same threat from the authorities.

Currently, both magazines offer over a hundred pages of comics every month for an decent price, 7.50 Euros. Lanfeust has even able to do the trick of publishing MORE comics pages than its page count , by doubling up two pages onto one, because if its size.

But finding an acceptable page and price point for the customer is not easy. And with the new ruling, the new issue of L'Immanquable has editor Frédéric Bosser stating that the book will be cancelled in two months if they can't find a solution…

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