Brive-la-Gaillarde (AFP) – From Charles de Gaulle to Emmanuel Macron, HugoDécrypte meets all the presidents of the Fifth Republic in the comic strip “At the Élysée”, with the ambition of making politics less boring as the presidential election approaches.
Published on: 08/11/2026 - 10:32 Modified on: 08/11/2026 - 11:35
“Comics really have the power to speak to all generations, from young people to grandparents,” says Hugo Travers who, with his media HugoDécrypte, seeks to reconcile generation Z with information.
Ten years after launching his YouTube channel, Hugo Travers decided in 2025 to publish each year a comic book devoted to a theme linked to current events, in collaboration with Allary editions.
After a first album on Russia, which sold 100,000 copies according to the publisher, "the idea of making one on French politics was easily imposed in view of the 2027 election", explains the 29-year-old journalist to AFP on the sidelines of the Brive Book Fair.
“At the Élysée” is a collective work created with Antoine Angé, alias Kokopello, on the drawing, Thomas Cadène on the script and the historian Jean Garrigues as historical advisor.
As in his videos, HugoDécrypte puts himself on stage in the album: he goes through 60 years of history in dialogue with presidents, prime ministers and other public figures. “I come across as the curious guy, a little naive, who asks them questions that anyone could ask them.”
"Our approach was not at first obvious" because "many young people don't follow politics. They find it boring and say they don't understand much," he says. Hence the importance of pedagogy to differentiate between different schools of thought or to link the attitudes of power to the upheavals of opinion.
“unhappiness” of young people
This is how the album opens with a scene of a social demonstration on the Place de la République in Paris, as a nod to the news of recent weeks. “We had not imagined the high school movement,” assures the designer Kokopello.
For more than a month, the HugoDécrypte team has been meeting protesters for the videos posted on social networks and the documentary series "En tension" broadcast on France 5.
“Beyond the demands linked to education, this movement testifies to a very deep malaise among young people, linked to the environment, politics, AI..., which explains why it lasts over time”, estimates Hugo Travers.
As a result, “I have the impression that the participation of young people will be greater in the next presidential election than in 2022”.
Unlike certain YouTubers, HugoDécrypte is careful not to take a position and claims neutrality in accordance with “journalism and its rules”, specifies the Sciences-Po graduate.
The HugoDécrypte team employs 45 people, around fifteen of whom have press cards.
With around 25 million cumulative subscribers across different media and more than a billion views per month, the small business is profitable, thanks in particular to advertising and partnerships with brands.
And yet, it has refused from the start to use subscriptions. “Simply because I have always wanted our work to be accessible to as many people as possible, especially young people, who do not always have the means to pay for a subscription,” explains Hugo Travers.
© 2026 AFP
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