Chuck Billy (Chico Bento in the original Brazilian version) is the main character of Chuck Billy 'n' Folks. He sometimes appears as a recurring character in Monica's Gang.
Personality[]
Chuck Billy is a country boy (caipira). He loves fishing and taking care of his animals. But he is sometimes lazy and never gets good grades at school, despite his teacher's efforts. His best friends include Zeke, Rosie Lee, Benny and Taka.
History[]
Chuck Billy was created back in 1961, inspired on Mauricio's real life grandfather's brother, whose stories were told by his grandmother, who would inspire a character from the same universe: Granny Mae, described as Chuck's grandmother. He first came to the public in 1961, in a short comic strip with two other characters, his friends Benny and Taka.
Description[]
Chuck's real original name is Francisco Bento, based on Mauricio's paternal grandfather, Chico being a common nickname for boys with that first name. He is a stereotypical Brazilian caipira (country person), who walks barefoot, always with a straw hat and lives in a fictional countryside town called Zucchini Village. He goes fishing, steals guavas and swims in the local river in his free time.
Different from other Mauricio's characters, Chuck Billy attends school, and some of his strips are even set in the local school, even though he is not a good student at all. He makes every kind of mistake a student can, such as being late for school, getting bad grades and not paying attention to class - though he also attains some success every once in a while.
Because the set is the Brazilian countryside, where there's Nature aplenty, many of Chuck Billy's stories are taken on the subject of environmental awareness and Brazilian folklore. The sacis are recurring characters, nearly always against the humans, as are popular folk creatures such as the werewolf, the Headless Mule and the Boitatá.
Gallery[]
Name Origin[]
Chuck Billy probably earned his English name from the word "hillbilly".
Trivia[]
- Due to not wearing shoes, Chuck is one of the barefooted characters in Monica's Gang to not have slipper-like feet.
- Despite mentioned in the series plot, Chuck doesn't really appear in many Monica's Gang comics.