Book: The Cartoon Life of Chuck Clayton by Alex Simmons with illustrations by Fernando Ruiz, ink by Al Nickerson, color by Gleen Whitmore and letters by Patrick Owsley, Phil Felix and Ellen Leonforte
Cover by Fernando Ruiz and Bob Smith with color by Rosario "Tito" Peña
Edition: Paperback
Description:
Archie's friend, Chuck Clayton, is Riverdale High's biggest comic book fan. He's also one of its most enthusiastic artist, with a huge imagination and an even larger heart. So when he get the opportunity to teach some younger kids about cartooning, he jumps at the chance. But has he dived in over his head? Join him for a wild ride where life imitates art, and the other way around. The world's about to see that anything is possible in..."The Cartoon Life of Chuck Clayton"!
Rating: 5 stars
Review:
The Cartoon Life of Chuck Clayton was a fun read. This four part story follows as Riverdale high school student Charles "Chuck" Clayton getting an opportunity to teach a class about creating comic books at Penny Pond Elementary School's after school program.
Chuck's first day of teaching didn't go well at all, with the students not listening to him along with him not being able to capture their attention, it quickly turned into chaos. He also didn't have a lesson plan and he was using a lot of technical jargon that the kids didn't understand which his mother (who is a teacher) and his father (who is a coach) pointed out to him. Chuck's reason for not having a lesson plan was that he wanted to make the class fun for his students. But how fun can the class be if he's not prepared?
Taking their advice, his second day of teaching went much better even though there was an issue with a student. I like that Chuck was able to turn things around and the kids were getting a real opportunity to learn how to make comics. He was even able to change a snobby art teacher's view on comic books.
Chuck did such a fantastic job with the students that it led to another chance for him to teach children about the art of making comic books, this time at a community center. Teaching went a lot smoother the second time. However, he did notice that one of his students, a girl named Lori, would be excited about her story and characters until her grandfather arrived to take her home. Chuck found out something really cool and interesting about Lori's grandfather that just might put a new perspective on creating comic books.
Chuck was doing so well with teaching these classes that he got a third opportunity. He was going to help a middle school history teacher with a class assignment on ancient Greece. The teacher Amelia Scribe wanted him to help the students use art to enhance or bring their assignment to life. Seems like an interesting project, but there's a problem. History is Chuck's worst subject and he was having a difficult time making the class fun for the students. But a comment from his girlfriend Nancy Woods had Chuck seeing history and how to teach the class in a new light. However, there is a chance that his old history teacher Mr. Olman may put an end to Chuck's unorthodox teaching if he feels the students are not learning properly.
The final part of this story had Chuck trying to figure out how he could help Michael, one of his students from the elementary school, who had gotten in trouble. Michael had been caught spray painting on a building and as part of his punishment his parents took him out of the after school program. Chuck felt bad for Mikey but there was nothing he could do to get his student re-enrolled. However, going to Mikey's house to pick up some sketches may have led Chuck to finding out the reason as to why Mikey had spray painted on a building.
I really enjoyed reading this, it's well-written and coupled with classic Archie Comics artwork. Although the focus on this book was on Chuck, there were a few cameos from Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie and other characters featured throughout. I like that the story perfectly showed why Chuck Clayton is such a great character. I love that he has a big interest and love of comic books and creating them and that he got several chances to help kids learn how to create their own comics.
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