{"id":28470,"date":"2023-08-16T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28470"},"modified":"2023-08-15T16:08:47","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T16:08:47","slug":"cedric-volume-3-what-got-into-him-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/08\/16\/cedric-volume-3-what-got-into-him-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cedric volume 3: What Got Into Him?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Laudec & Cauvin<\/strong> with colours by Leonardo<\/strong> & translated by Erica Jeffrey<\/strong> (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-84918-081-8 (Album PB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Raoul Cauvin (26 September 1938-19 August 2021) was one of Europe\u2019s most successful comics scripters. Born in Antoing, Belgium in 1938, by 1960 he was working in the animation department of publishing giant Dupuis after studying Lithography. Happily, he quickly discovered his true calling was writing funny stories and began a glittering, prolific career at Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With Salverius, he conceived the astounding successful Bluecoats<\/strong>, and dozens more award-winning series like Sammy, Cupidon, Les Femmes en Blanc, Pauvre, Lampil Boulouloum et Guiliguili<\/em>, and Agent 212<\/em>: cumulatively comprising well over 240 separate albums.<\/p>\n

His collaborator on superbly witty kid-friendly family strip C\u00e9dric <\/em><\/strong>was Italian-born, Belgium-raised Tony de Luca, who studied electro-mechanics and toiled as an industrial draughtsman before making his own break into bandes dessin\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Following fanzine efforts in the late 1970s as \u201cLaudec\u201d, he landed soap-style strip Les Contes de Cure-la-Flute <\/em>at Le Journal de Spirou <\/em><\/strong>in 1979. He traded that for a brace of war-time serials (L\u2019an 40 <\/em>in 1983 and March Noir et Bottes \u00c3 Clous <\/em>in 1985) whilst working his way around the comic\u2019s other strips. In 1987, he joined Cauvin on the first C\u00e9dric <\/em><\/strong>shorts. From then on it was child\u2019s play\u2026<\/p>\n

We have Dennis the Menace<\/strong> (the Americans have their own too, but he\u2019s not the same) whilst the French-speaking world has C\u00e9dric<\/em><\/strong>: an adorable, lovesick rapscallion with a heart of gold and an irresistible penchant for mischief. He\u2019s also afflicted with raging amour\u2026<\/p>\n

Collected albums – 34 thus far – of variable-length strips (ranging from a \u00bd page to half a dozen) began appearing in 1989, and the lad remains amongst the most popular and best-selling in Europe, as is the animated TV show spun off from the strip.<\/p>\n

\u2026 A little Word to the Wise: this is not a strip afraid to suspend silly yoks in deference to a little suspense or even near-heartbreak. The bonny boy is crushingly smitten with\u00a0Chen<\/em>: a Chinese girl newly arrived in class and so very far out of his league, leading to frequent and painful confrontations and miscommunications.<\/p>\n

Harking back to 2011 and first continentally released in 1992 as C\u00e9dric<\/em><\/strong> 5: Quelle mouche le pique?<\/strong><\/em> – this third Cinebook translation opens with \u2018A Pebble in the Shoe\u2019<\/em>: a moving and uplifting generational collaboration as Grandpa tells his daughter\u2019s son stories of a dearly-departed wife that has the eavesdropping household (and you, too, if you have any shred of heart or soul) in emotional tatters\u2026<\/p>\n

We return to big laughs as a dose of unwelcome homework results in \u2018A Big Fat Zero\u2019 <\/em>whilst \u2018A Lousy Story\u2019 <\/em>details the pros and cons of a school nit epidemic before pester power is deployed to secure an addition to the household in \u2018Man\u2019s Best Friend\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The crusty elder statesman of the family learns a painful lesson as \u2018Grandpa Takes a Turn\u2019 <\/em>sees the creaky reactionary suckered into chaperoning a school dance, after which little Cedric has a beguiling and potentially life-altering experience when his adored Chen marches through town in the uniform of \u2018The Majorettes\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Grandpa and Cedric unite to shame Dad into purchasing \u2018The Board that Skates\u2019 <\/em>but it\u2019s every man for himself when the kid comes cadging cash in \u2018You Wouldn\u2019t Have a 20?\u2019, <\/em>whilst \u2018Out of Sight, Out of Mind\u2019 <\/em>playfully shows that although the boy\u2019s love for Chen is all-abiding and true, it isn\u2019t necessarily reciprocated\u2026<\/p>\n

When Chen\u2019s mother accidentally prangs Dad\u2019s car, Cedric goes violently berserk until the families have demonstrably agreed d\u00e9tente and rapprochement is reached via \u2018An Amicable Arrangement\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0before the pesky pup accidentally boosts his hard-pressed papa\u2019s earning potential through inadvertent confidence trickery in \u2018Business is Business\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Jealousy\u2019 <\/em>rears its ugly head when Chen begins ballet classes and literally jumps into the arms of Cedric\u2019s bitterly despised romantic rival The Right Honourable Alphonse Andre Jones-Tarrington-Dupree<\/em> – with catastrophic repercussions for all concerned – whilst \u2018Short of Breath\u2019 <\/em>sees the whole family play a mean but hilarious trick involving Dad\u2019s birthday cake\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Solemn Communion\u2019 <\/em>wastes a much-needed opportunity to salve Cedric\u2019s already-tarnished soul when the boy\u2019s first Catholic sacrament ceremony devolves into a drunken debacle for the attending adults, after which we come full circle as amorous memories are tickled and \u2018The Quarrel\u2019 <\/em>resumes after Cedric inquires how Mum and Dad got together. Happily, everything returns to bittersweet tears when the old man is asked for more reminiscences of Grandma Germaine<\/em> in moving finale \u2018Remember, Gramps\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Rapid-paced, warmly witty, and not afraid to explore sentiment or loss, the exploits of this painfully keen, bemusingly besotted rascal are a charming example of how all little boys are just the same and infinitely unique. Cedric<\/strong> is a superb family strip perfect for youngsters and old folk alike\u2026
\n\u00a9 Dupuis 1992 by Cauvin & Laudec. All rights reserved. English translation \u00a9 2011 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laudec & Cauvin with colours by Leonardo & translated by Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-84918-081-8 (Album PB\/Digital edition) Raoul Cauvin (26 September 1938-19 August 2021) was one of Europe\u2019s most successful comics scripters. Born in Antoing, Belgium in 1938, by 1960 he was working in the animation department of publishing giant Dupuis after studying … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Cedric volume 3: What Got Into Him?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[113,63,125,97,296],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-european-classics","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages","category-school-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7pc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28470"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28473,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28470\/revisions\/28473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}