La Cinquième Couche

La Cinquième Couche (French: [la sɛ̃kjɛm kuʃ]; lit. "the fifth layer"), also known as 5c, is a Belgian independent comics publisher based in Brussels. Founded in 1993 by students from the comics workshop of the Institut Saint-Luc, it operates since 1999 as a formal publishing house. It is currently directed by William Henne and Xavier Löwenthal. Its catalogue of over 110 titles, by some sixty authors from more than ten countries, is marked by a consistent tendency toward conceptual and experimental comics — works the press itself calls Conceptual Comics (la bande dessinée spéculative).

From the Wikipedia article “La Cinquième Couche”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Comics and manga publishers typically acquire through creator pitches, portfolio reviews at conventions, contests and agents. A pitch package normally includes a series synopsis, character designs and several finished sample pages. Many publishers post open-submission windows; outside them, unsolicited material may be discarded.