The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye

Meet Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Now in his early 70s, Chan has been making comics in his native Singapore since 1954, when he was a boy of 16. As he looks back on his career over five decades, we see his stories unfold before us in a dazzling array of art styles and forms, their development mirroring the evolution in the political and social landscape of his homeland and of the comic book medium itself. With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Sonny Liew has drawn together a myriad of genres to create a thoroughly ingenious and engaging work, where the line between truth and construct may sometimes be blurred, but where the story told is always enthralling, bringing us on a uniquely moving, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the show more life of an artist and the history of a nation. show less

This meticulously crafted graphic novel is set during the tumultuous history of Singapore following World War II. Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a young comic book artist whose illustrations and perspective bring Singapore’s history to life. As a Singaporephile (watch videos of my 2017 trip here) I was intrigued to learn more about about a figure I had never heard of. And there’s a good reason why I had never heard of him: because Charlie Chan Hock Chye isn’t a real person. I was astounded by the level of work, love and research that Sonny Liew put into this book. This is easily one of the most ambitious and detailed graphic novels that I have ever read. It became an instant favorite!

Nothing short of a staggering work of genius.
Sonny Liew has graduated in my eyes from "pretty great artist" (based on his work in Flight, The Shadow Hero, and Doctor Fate) to "one of the masters," as per the page from this book about an artist's dream review.

(Disclaimer: while I tagged this book as NonFiction Comics, the historical mingles with fiction throughout. Kind of a "Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao" situation.)

A very interesting biography of a Singaporean comics artist who refused to compromise his political views in his art and suffered economically as a result. His work encompasses the history of the Singaporean state, inconvenient warts, exiled opposition politicians and all -- often presented in a humorous and irreverent manga-like style.

3.5

This was an excellent book, both in content and execution; I'd never heard of the writer/artist before and Sonny Liew (who does art for some American comics) showed me why I should.

Rated “Indifferent" in our old book database.