By Laudec & Cauvin
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-081-8
There is something disarming and utterly charming about Cedric, quite possibly because Cedric isn't a character packed full of attitude or contemporary slang, and he's not a cartoon child living an adult's life in a child's body. He's essentially rather ordinary, but that doesn't make him dull and uninteresting but instead he becomes relevant and easy to identify with. His problems, worries and triumphs are ones we can recognise and they work because we can see them through the eyes of the child we once were. Whereas Watterson and Schultz invested their characters with the angst of their readers, all Cedric is concerned with is Chen, the girl in his class he's in love with, getting his dinner on time, and owning a skateboard. Laudec's and Cauvin's triumph is to avoid making the strips overly sentimental, but humorous, poignant and well observed.
Laudec's artwork, both gorgeously clean and wonderfully coloured, is a real joy to take in. I really enjoyed how he was able to draw Cedric's Grandpa, pretending to snooze to avoid lending Cedric money, over many panels and yet keep each one different and interesting. When Photoshopping and copy and pasting are becoming increasingly common in strips it was good to see it done properly and with such skill.
Many of the strips are touching without falling into the trap of taking it into sickly cute territory, and there's a particular story towards the back, about how Grandpa met Cedric's Grandma, which does this very well. Like with many of the tales, Cedric's reaction is that of a small child – he's baffled by the adult's behaviour, and this feels like an honest reaction. If it needs a punchline from an adult perspective then Cauvin allows the adults to deliver it rather than put words into Cedric's mouth that he wouldn't use.
If you've not yet Cedric then it's worth the experience because of the creators different approach. It has a delightfully refreshing sense of humour and approach to the genre – certainly one for all ages.
And if you liked that: A fourth volume is coming soon
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