Written by: Ollie Kaplan
A new manga hitting French shelves is putting drag culture center stage. Lights, Drag, Action!, released on June 10, 2026, from publisher Akata Editions, follows Aloïs, a closeted gay teenager living with his mother in the Paris suburbs who dreams of one day becoming a celebrated drag queen.
The story comes from Kam Hugh, the stage name of French drag performer Camille Chailan, who rose to prominence through Season 1 of Drag Race France and Drag Race France All Stars. Revealed during the first season, Kam Hugh established herself as the show’s “fashion queen” and has since built an international following. Despite not winning either season, she became the most-followed contestant in the French franchise’s history, with over 221,000 Instagram followers.
Kam Hugh’s also known for being openly passionate about manga and pop culture, something she didn’t hide during her run on All Stars. And her love of manga led to her most unexpected project to date: she’s the writer behind Lights, Drag, Action!, a French-Japanese manga published by Akata, which is illustrated by Japanese mangaka Narumi Shigematsu.
Shigematsu is already known to French readers for her work on manga stories, like Running Girl, À nos fleurs éternelles, and Babel. Shigematsu has an unusual career path of her own, as she studied traditional bookbinding in France before returning to Japan to become a manga artist. Her work frequently explores themes of transformation and self-awareness across genres from science fiction to historical and sports narratives.
The story follows a closeted gay teenager in the Paris suburbs who dreams of becoming a drag queen, drawing loosely on the world Kam Hugh herself has built her career in. Read the official description below (translated from French to English):
Aloïs lives alone with his mother in the suburbs of Paris. Since he discovered the world of drag, he has become a fan of this unique art and even hopes one day to become a drag queen! But things are not so simple when you are a gay teenager still in the closet… The new year promises to be particularly stimulating, between the arrival of a new student who does not leave Aloïs indifferent, but also and especially the show of Haus of Starz (his favorite drag queen group!), which will exceptionally take place in the suburban town where he lives… What if on this occasion, Aloïs finally dared to start?
Announced in October 2025 as a fully original Franco-Japanese title, the manga’s first volume launched on June 10, 2026, priced at €8.50, following a preorder campaign with exclusive bonuses. It marks one of the more high-profile intersections yet between France’s drag scene and the manga industry, blending queer coming-of-age narrative with the visual language of shōjo manga.
Hopefully, Lights, Drag, Action! will get an English-language adaptation soon—because it’s exactly the type of story I’ve been waiting for.
Source: X (formerly known as Twitter), TikTok
