Bries is a Belgian publishing house that focuses on the creative aspect of comic books. It was founded in 1999 by Ria Schulpen and is currently still going strong under her guiding hand.

It has launched the careers of international greats like Olivier Schrauwen, Pieter De Poortere, Brecht Vandenbroucke and Ephameron – artists who have seen their books published by the likes of Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics. Ever the champion of the innovative non-commercial artist, Bries opened its own gallery space in 2011, exhibiting talent from all over Europe, and curated a book fair called Klaxon, where art meets comics, in Antwerp, Belgium, on Saturday, May 9th.

With graphic novels becoming ever more popular and the public embracing more and more expressive means of communication, 2015 is turning out to be a very productive year for Bries, with some outstanding publications. Crossing Borders has been celebrating Bries with creator interviews, in-depth looks and reviews of their latest releases.

Read Week 1 – Wide Vercnocke and Week 2 – the Pollet brothers and Week 3 – Dominique Goblet and Kai Pfeiffer’s More if it Clicks and Week 4 – Klaxon Comics Festival Report

For the final part of our Bries month, I interviewed founder Ria Schulpen, whose eclectic vision is the main driving force behind the publishing house.

Broken Frontier: How did Bries get started?

Ria Schulpen: Bries started out as a comic book library in April 1984. A few years ago I got bit by the comic bug, and while I went through a few years of studying to be a translator, I realized I really wanted to do something with comic books.

In those days comic books weren’t available yet in the public library, so I founded a comic book library where you could borrow comic books for a small fee. It was supposed to be my main source of income but that didn’t work out, so I started working myself in a public library while the comic book library became my hobby.

Between 1995 and 1997 I came into contact with the small-press side of comic books, and this led to the first Bries comic book publication. In the meantime comic books became available in public libraries, so I refocused Bries on publishing small-press comics and distributing like-minded comics abroad.

So what do you look for when looking for artists for the Bries stable?

That’s a very easy question: originality in the drawing style and in the the story.

I regularly receive projects from artists through email or by post. I’m not really an active looker, but I do keep my eyes and ears peeled for potential projects. Sometimes I see something interesting in passing and I will contact the artists.

What is your personal vision on what makes a good comic book?

The ingredients would be a solid story faultlessly executed and effectively illustrated. But keep in mind that that means that I will necessarily publish it {laughs}.

That is also the mission statement of Bries: to enrich the comic book landscape with beautiful comics in terms of content, form and the actual physical object.

Publications by Bries sometimes tend to waggle the line about being comic books or art. Have you ever considered publishing art books?

As long as there’s a link to comics, I’m game. We have published books like that, such as Love/Pain and Found+Lost by Ephameron. For books that don’t have that link it is hard to find a good distribution channel as a comic book company. I’d rather concentrate on trying to put Bries more into the spotlight with more visibility.

How do you feel about the current popularity of the ‘graphic novel’?

The term ‘graphic novel’ was launched in the States in order to procure the comic book a solid place in bookshops, to make the comics salonfähig [socially acceptable]. It does have some validity, but it has been used incorrectly many times (and on purpose).

A graphic novel is a comic book with depth that features non-traditional storytelling, by which I mean the panel layout and non-linear storytelling and point of views of the story. These are all elements that can contribute to calling a comic book a graphic novel.

The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar, for example, does not qualify for the term graphic novel; A Contract with God by Eisner or Maus by Spiegelman do qualify.

It is also often seen as a quality label, which obviously it is not. Its popularity than has waned a bit with the general public because so many bad comic books labeled themselves as a graphic novel.

Bries has known its ups and downs but there seems to be more interest in the types of books you publish the last few years.

Our public is not that big, but it obviously does exist. The main problem is reaching the right audience. It has become a bit easier though, due to the attention of the media and the internet.

In recent years there has also been an influx of comics on the European market, and I think that there’s just too much. The comic book market can do with less and better – with more comic shops that carry better comics instead of more.

Let’s turn to Klaxon then – your very first self-organized comic festival. What led you to founding your own comic festival?

I have been walking around with this idea for over ten years, to organize a comic festival that embodied the vision I adhere to when talking comics. This was a try-out and I suspect that the next edition will be much more ambitious. [For a full Crossing Borders report on the Klaxon festival, click here.]

So what does the future hold for Bries, then?

2015 will see a new edition of Olivier Schrauwen’s The Madness of Beards and a smaller project that I can’t give away yet.

For 2016 we have an all-star roster planned: the second Snow album from Dieter VDO, Narwal by Wide Verknocke, Lukas by Lukas Verstraete, Maelstrom by Céline Hudréaux and new comics from Olivier Schrauwen and Brecht Vandenbroucke – and, of course, a new edition of the Klaxon festival.

The Bries Space will once more be host to a variety of exhibitions, and there will be a traveling Bries exhibition that can be adapted to a variety of localities and featured artists.

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