Overview
Oxymore is a French comics publishing house founded in 2023 by Mourad Boudjellal, the entrepreneur and publisher who had previously created Soleil in 1989.
The new company marks his return to comics publishing after several years largely devoted to other activities.
Oxymore was developed within the publishing environment of the Madrigall group, which includes Gallimard, Flammarion and Casterman. The project was notably supported by Antoine Gallimard, while distribution and circulation were organized through the group’s existing structures.
From the beginning, the publisher presented itself as a deliberately diverse house.
Its catalog does not rely on a single genre or readership. Fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, westerns, graphic novels, children’s books and more experimental projects coexist within several editorial collections.
This diversity is reflected in the name itself.
Oxymore was conceived as a publishing structure capable of bringing together projects that might appear very different while giving each of them a clear visual and editorial identity.
The company also reconnects Mourad Boudjellal with several creators and editors who had previously worked within Soleil.
Among the most visible examples are Barbara Canepa and Clotilde Vu, historically associated with the collections Métamorphose and Noctambule.
When these collections ceased to continue at Soleil, they found a new home at Oxymore.
This transfer gave the young publisher an immediate connection to an existing editorial heritage.
Métamorphose retains an identity centered on highly visual works, fantasy, imagination and carefully crafted book design.
Noctambule continues to provide space for graphic novels, personal stories, historical subjects and works aimed primarily at an adult readership.
Other collections broaden the catalog further.
Magica develops universes centered on magic, fantasy and younger audiences, while P’tite Luciole is oriented more directly toward children and illustrated stories.
Alongside these collections, Oxymore also develops large-scale genre series.
Writer and editor Jean-Luc Istin plays an important role in this side of the catalog.
Series such as West Fantasy, Titans, Empires and La Confrérie des Tempêtes are built around shared concepts that allow several writers and artists to explore the same universe through different characters or stories.
This approach recalls some of the large concept-series models developed in French comics publishing, while allowing each album to maintain its own creative team and narrative focus.
West Fantasy combines western imagery with heroic fantasy.
Titans revisits mythological conflicts between gods and Titans through several independent protagonists.
Empires moves toward darker military fantasy, while La Confrérie des Tempêtes combines piracy, adventure and magic.
These series give Oxymore a strong presence in genre comics, but they represent only one part of its identity.
The catalog also includes crime and thriller works such as Autopsie, youth and family series such as Sacha et Tomcrouz, fantasy titles like Au chant des grenouilles, and more singular graphic works.
Oxymore therefore operates simultaneously as a publisher of long-running series, creator-driven albums and books for younger readers.
This breadth is one of the main characteristics of the company only a few years after its creation.
By 2026, Oxymore has already developed a substantial catalog and continues to publish new volumes in established series while launching new properties.
The publisher remains closely associated with French-language comics, but its projects can also circulate internationally through translation and licensing.
History
2023 — Mourad Boudjellal returns to comics publishing
Oxymore was created in 2023 by Mourad Boudjellal.
His name was already strongly connected to French comics.
In 1989, he founded Soleil, which grew into one of the major French comics publishers, particularly in fantasy and genre series.
After eventually leaving that company and spending several years outside day-to-day comics publishing, Boudjellal announced in early 2023 that he was launching a new publishing house.
The project was developed with the support of Madrigall and Antoine Gallimard.
Oxymore established offices in both Paris and Toulon, reflecting both its integration into the Parisian publishing environment and Boudjellal’s long-standing connection to southern France.
The first books were scheduled for the second half of 2023.
From the outset, the publisher announced an intentionally broad editorial program rather than a single specialized line.
2023 — Métamorphose and Noctambule find a new home
One of the first major developments concerned Métamorphose and Noctambule.
Both collections had previously existed at Soleil and had established recognizable identities.
Métamorphose was closely associated with Barbara Canepa, while Noctambule had developed around graphic novels and creator-driven projects.
After changes at Soleil brought their continuation there to an end, the teams behind the collections joined Oxymore.
This gave the new publishing house an unusual starting point.
Instead of building every part of its identity from zero, Oxymore was able to combine new projects with editorial lines already known to creators and readers.
Titles such as Les Royaumes muets and new works developed through Métamorphose helped establish the publisher’s visual ambitions from its first year.
2024 — Expansion into large concept series
The catalog expanded significantly in 2024.
Oxymore began developing several fantasy and adventure series built around broad shared concepts.
West Fantasy, created around a concept by Jean-Luc Istin and Bertrand Benoît, mixes the iconography of the American West with orcs, magic and other fantasy elements.
The series is structured so that different albums can focus on different characters while remaining within the same universe.
Titans follows a similar anthology-like principle around mythology and conflicts between gods and Titans.
Empires explores military dark fantasy through legendary companies and different protagonists.
These projects establish a recognizable branch of the Oxymore catalog: accessible genre series with strong visual concepts, several creative teams and a clear identity from one album to the next.
The publisher simultaneously continues projects aimed at very different audiences.
Children’s titles, thrillers, fantasy tales and graphic novels appear alongside these larger series.
2024-2025 — Building several editorial identities
As the catalog grows, Oxymore increasingly structures itself through distinct collections.
Métamorphose continues its emphasis on imaginative and visually ambitious works.
Noctambule remains more closely associated with graphic novels and adult-oriented storytelling.
Magica develops magical and fantasy worlds, while P’tite Luciole strengthens the publisher’s presence in children’s books.
This organization allows Oxymore to avoid presenting every book under a single aesthetic.
A dark fantasy album does not need to follow the same codes as a children’s story or an intimate graphic novel.
The collections act as editorial landmarks while preserving the overall Oxymore identity.
By 2025, the publisher had already released dozens of titles and brought together creators including Barbara Canepa, Jean-Luc Istin, Nicolas Jarry, Christophe Bec, Aurélie Neyret, Riff Reb’s and many others.
Since 2025 — Consolidating the catalog
After its rapid launch phase, Oxymore begins to consolidate the worlds introduced during its first years.
Series such as West Fantasy, Au chant des grenouilles, Autopsie and La Confrérie des Tempêtes continue with new volumes.
Completed projects such as Titans and Empires can also be collected in complete editions.
At the same time, new titles continue to appear.
The catalog expands through fantasy, thrillers, westerns, youth books, literary adaptations and graphic novels rather than concentrating exclusively on the series that established the company.
In 2026, Oxymore therefore remains a very young publishing house, but one with an unusually broad catalog for its age.
Its development combines Mourad Boudjellal’s long experience in comics publishing with editors and creators coming from several different traditions of French-language comics.
What sets it apart
A new publisher built by an experienced comics figure
Oxymore is a young company, but its founder is not new to publishing.
Mourad Boudjellal had already spent decades building Soleil before creating Oxymore.
This background gives the company a different profile from a publishing house launched by a team entering the market for the first time.
The publisher can rely on established relationships with writers, artists, editors, distributors and licensors while still presenting itself as a new structure.
Oxymore therefore combines the flexibility of a recently created house with experience inherited from several decades of French comics publishing.
Bringing established collections into a new structure
The presence of Métamorphose and Noctambule is another unusual characteristic.
These collections existed before Oxymore itself.
Their move to the new publisher allowed the company to preserve editorial identities and relationships with creators rather than abandoning them after their previous publishing home changed direction.
Oxymore therefore acts partly as a new beginning and partly as a continuation.
This balance between continuity and renewal is particularly visible in Métamorphose, where the visual identity and editorial sensibility remain recognizable despite the change of publisher.
Large shared universes without forcing every series into the same format
A significant part of the fantasy catalog is built around concept series.
Rather than following a single protagonist across every album, projects such as Titans, Empires or West Fantasy can change characters and creative teams while maintaining a common world or central idea.
This method allows the publisher to release several complementary stories without requiring every reader to follow one continuous narrative.
It also gives different artists and writers room to interpret the same universe in their own way.
The model is especially suited to fantasy, where a world can be explored through several regions, factions and periods.
Strong visual identities for each collection
Oxymore gives considerable importance to the presentation of its books.
Cover design, typography and collection identity are used to make series immediately recognizable both in bookstores and in digital catalogs.
This is particularly visible in fantasy series, where several albums created by different teams must still appear to belong to the same project.
The approach is also central to Métamorphose, where illustration and book design are an important part of the editorial proposition.
The publisher therefore treats the physical identity of the album as part of the work itself rather than simply as packaging.
A deliberately broad definition of comics publishing
Oxymore does not restrict itself to one audience.
Its catalog can move from children’s books to adult graphic novels, from western fantasy to thrillers, from literary adaptations to supernatural adventure.
This diversity is not accidental.
It is one of the founding principles of the publishing house.
The result is a catalog in which a large commercial fantasy series can coexist with a highly personal one-shot or a book for young children.
The editorial coherence comes less from a single genre than from the desire to give each project a clearly defined identity.
Good to know
- Oxymore was founded in France in 2023 by Mourad Boudjellal, founder of Soleil.
- The publishing house was launched with the support of Antoine Gallimard and the Madrigall group.
- The legal company operating under the Éditions Oxymore trade name was created in February 2023 and remains active.
- Oxymore has operations in Paris and Toulon.
- The publisher should not be confused with the earlier Éditions de l’Oxymore, a separate French publishing house active from 1999 to 2006.
- Its catalog includes the collections Métamorphose, Noctambule, Magica and P’tite Luciole.
- Barbara Canepa and Clotilde Vu brought Métamorphose and Noctambule into the new publishing structure after their previous period at Soleil.
- Jean-Luc Istin is one of the important creative and editorial figures associated with Oxymore’s fantasy catalog.
- Major series include West Fantasy, Titans, Empires, La Confrérie des Tempêtes, Au chant des grenouilles, Autopsie and Sacha et Tomcrouz.
- Oxymore publishes fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, westerns, graphic novels, literary adaptations and children’s books.
- In 2026, the publisher continues to release new volumes across several of these series and collections.