Review by Ian Keogh

Both teacher Mr. Latouche and star pupil Leonie Gratin thought they’d solved the problem of Ducoboo constantly trying to copy answers as Your Answers or Your Life! ended. Unfortunately for them, there’s a higher power and creators Godi and Zidrou decided Ducoboo wouldn’t be held back a year.

So it is that a new school year follows the pattern of the old, with Ducoboo immediately sent to stand in the corner for forgetting his satchel, his imaginative excuse carrying no weight (much like his shoulder). There are some slight changes, though. Ducoboo has always communicated with the skeleton hanging in the class corner where he’s sent to stand, but in The Class Struggle Godi begins the more surreal strips of the skeleton sometimes accompanying Ducoboo, beginning with an arm wrestling contest. Also, while previously Mr. Latouche has been perpetually annoyed with Ducoboo’s ignorance, it’s now affecting his mental health. Zidrou’s illustrations bring out the madness. Of course, in the grand tradition of children’s material, he’s okay again by the next strip.

It’s more noticeable that in strips away from the classroom Zidrou’s adding surreal little visual asides, such as strange creatures and more eccentric looking people. As ever, the strips outside the classroom allow greater freedom of expression for Zidrou, and these tend to be more visually rewarding.

The centrepiece run of gags this time is Ducoboo, for a period at least deciding not to copy answers. It really messes with Leonie’s sense of self-worth. Other joys are Ducoboo and Leonie switching bodies, a great gag about Ducoboo finally being able to recite his times tables, and more toying with form as Ducoboo finds a new way to copy (sample art).

This time Godi ends the term early, and The Class Struggle finishes with an extended run of strips showing Leonie and Ducoboo on holiday. The running joke is Ducoboo’s so used to copying Leonie, he’s lost during the summer and has to follow her. There are a couple of good single page jokes among the dozen pages, and because it’s away from the classroom Zidrou shines, but whether lost in translation or just not particularly well conceived, too much of this section misses the target, The final page about Ducoboo taking his English exam especially lacks context.

If following the series in chronological order, skip back to Cinebook’s first English release King of the Dunces. Anyone else should proceed in an orderly fashion to Loveable Dunce.