I knew a little about Charlie Chaplin going into this book, and by a little I mean the bare minimum, that he was from the UK, and was a silent movie actor. Which is a pretty basic understanding to say the least. So, a book that would provide an overview of his life in a clear and understandable way was something that definitely piqued my interest.

I've not read any of the Stars of History series before, so had no idea what to expect going in, and at first I was a little surprised at how quickly the book moved. Sometimes the narrative would jump by months or years, but I never felt lost because of it, and it quickly became clear that if the book didn't move through events quickly it would have to be five times as long.

There were occassions where I wished more time could have been spent establishing some of the people who appeared in the narrative, and exactly who they were, as some people appeared one page, has an effect on Chaplin's life, then is gone by the next page. I know that it's because of the limits of the format, rather than an issue with the writing, but it did leave me feeling lacking at times.

However, the book covers a lot of ground, and manages to include a huge amount of events that happened during Chaplin's life, events that I had no idea about. I didn't know that he made as many films as he did, that he played a part in founding United Artists, that he was chased out of the US because of McCarthyism, or that he has multiple sexual encounters with underage girls.

Bernard Swysen doesn't hold back some of the less savoury aspects of Chaplin's life, he doesn't try to make him a saint or a villain, but simply allows the reader to make their own decisions based on the events as they were. It allows the reader to decide themselves how they think of him, whether they consider him a good person or not.

The book also made me want to learn more about the man, to go and find another biography about him, so that I can delve a little more into some of the details that the book is unable to cover in depth. I went into it not knowing anything about Chaplin, but came out fascinated by the man, eager to learn more, and feeling like I had a decent grasp of the broad strokes of his story, and all from a graphic novel that's only ninety pages long; I think that's pretty incredible.

‘The Stars of History: Charlie Chaplin’ follows Chaplin’s life from his music-hall beginnings in South London, through to movie stardom in America, McCarthy witch-hunts, to his death in 1977.

At first the pace of this seemed too fast, but you quickly get used to it as you realise that Chaplin’s life really was filled with that many twists and turns. I would have preferred if this had selected a few moments from Chaplin’s life to dwell on in greater depth, as moving as it does at such break-neck speed doesn’t allow the reader to feel the full emotional impact of such moments.

The book doesn’t shy away from problematic aspects of Chaplin - his workaholism, his demands as a director, and (most troublingly) relationships with underage women. Yet because of the pacing of the book, this is one of the many aspects of it that could be dealt with in greater depth if only the authors

I’m not too keen on the art style, although I must say that I enjoyed the subtle changes in Chaplin’s face over the years. The changes were barely noticeable, and done incredibly smoothly.

As a silent film fan myself, I thought I enjoyed seeing the inclusion of other filmmakers and stars of the period, including Stan Laurel, Gloria Swanson, and Edna Purviance.

I’d recommend this for those looking for an introduction to Chaplin, as it outlines most of the major achievements that hardcore Chaplin fans will probably already know.

While I knew bits of the history of Charlie Chaplin, such as that he helped found United Artists, and how he was locked out of the United States when he was older, I did not know all the details. I did however watch his most famous movies as part of a film festival, so it was quite cool to see what lead up to some of his greatest films, such as the Great Dictator and Modern Times.

However, with my knowledge, and my passing memory of all the affairs he had, it was still hard to get through all the references that were not given more than a passing footnote, or nothing at all.

However, as often happens, sometimes a graphic novel is a step to the next book to read about the person, as it just whetted your interest.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This biographic graphic novel explains the life of Charlie Chaplin and how he came to be this famous person we all know. I found it really interesting and, even though I knew the character, I learnt many things about the man behind. The drawings were quite nice but, as Charlie grows and ages through the pages, I was sometimes lost as to who is who. Moreover, there were some characters that did not get any descriptions, so it was a bit difficult to understand what role they were playing in the story. Therefore, that’s why I am not sure the drawing worked well with the narrative. Apart from the sometimes-unclear drawing, the narrative was really nice and easy to read. It gave me the desire to see more of his movies. This comic is part of a series of biographic graphic novel about famous people so maybe I’ll try to read the other ones too as it was quite a nice read. Overall, if you want to learn about Charlie Chaplin in a quick manner, this comic is for you.
3.5/5

I received this graphic novel in exchange of an honest review from Netgalley.
"Charlie Chaplin is no more, but the Tramp will live on forever, crossing generations like he crossed continents, with over Eighty films to his credits."

Wow, coming from nothing then becoming something so legendary. He made himself by himself. Who doesn't know Charlie Chaplin?
I love his movies and they still made me laugh with my family. I wrote once a play based on his character The Tramp, it was for school and I made the teacher laugh then I got the best mark with my group. See, Charlie is still working.
I loved this book very much and it was pretty good, we have a nice biography of Chaplin in pictures. His life wasn't easy from start, he worked so had to achieve what he wanted and what was done to him at the end with all those accusations, it was really unkind. But whatever they did, he is a lengend and will remain a legend.

Through multiple panels and beautiful layouts, this book tells a rich and layered story of a popular figure. I appreciated both the depth of research that went into this book, as well as the detailed artistic work. Perfect for cinephiles and those who love a well-drawn visual text.

• The stars of history: Charlie Chaplin

So the comic book is about the life story of famous actor, musician, dancer and our one of the favorite most iconic Charlie Chaplin.

We all laughed once on the way charlie chaplin made jokes in black and white television and this story is about his life. We only knew about his performance. Very few of us knew about how he became what he is.

He came from a family where his dad was a drunkard and mother used to sing to pay her Bill's. As after a while his father and mother got separated her mother started working double triple jobs to make the ends meet which made his childhood very very struggling but on the other hand charlie never liked school but loved to perform for an audience

And some people saw the talent in his simple performances, he got rejections too but he never stopped trying

And this story is an inspiring novel for us to pick in this quarantine time to get motivated to do what we love.

So I recommend this graphic novel to anyone who wanna dive in some inspiration without any proper knowledge of starting or end cause that's what will hit you hard

Also last but not the least kudos to the graphic artist. You did good.

• Character development- 4☆
• Story Plot- 4☆
• Side characters- 2☆
• Flow of the story- 3☆
• Overall - 3.5☆

I realize now that the intended audience is not YA. Certainly a teen could/would read it if they were interested in Charlie Chaplin, but it's not the audience. It's actually quite dense with Chaplin's life and I don't know that the graphic style actually added anything to the story-- I would have actually preferred this in a narrative format. I expected more "recognition" of scenes of who I know Chaplin to be but those were not necessarily part of the artwork.

Nonetheless, it details very specifically, Chaplin's upbringing, discovering his talent, making it big, but then the treachery that precipitated his travels back to his home country of England. I think I followed most of it but man, what a life, what a story! But not in this format.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest actors of all time, so I jumped at the chance to read and review this book/graphic novel.

Great art, easy to follow, though sometimes the panels were a little small for all of the action taking place. The text was easy to read, which is always a plus for comics and graphic novels.

Overall, a great job and one I can't wait to share with all of my cinema loving friends.

I loved this graphic novel. The pictures were like art and something new to discover in each pictures every time you read it. The story was good also. And i learnt a lot about the amazing Charlie Chaplin.

Who doesn't like Charlie Chaplin? The man was a comic genius, born in London in 1889 and spent much of his early life living in poverty. An English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who became a world icon in the era of the silent movies. A career that spanned over 75 years and recognised with a knighthood. This PDF is a comic, full of humour offering a look at the legend of the silent screen. Started life living in poverty but in later life made his fortune in America.
This type of media is not really my bag but was entertaining all the same but left me wanting to read a more comprehensive look at the life of the legend Charlie Chaplin.


I would like to thank both Netgalley and Europe Comics for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.