Sonny Liew (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysia-born comic artist/illustrator based in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. He is best known for '' The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' (2015), the first

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

to win the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

for fiction.

Early life and education

Born in

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Se ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Liew attended school at

Victoria School Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip t ...

and

Victoria Junior College , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , streetaddress = 20 Marine Vista, 449035 , country = Singapore , coordinates = , type = Government , gender ...

in Singapore. He went on to read philosophy at

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in UK and studied illustration at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

in 2001.

Career

His first foray into comic illustration was with Singaporean tabloid paper ''

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper in tabloid form. It was originally published as a "noon paper", but since 2016 has been published daily as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. History First launched on 26 July 1988, ...

'' in 1995, contributing a comic strip titled ''Frankie and Poo''. A compilation of the strips was published by Times Publishing in 1996. Shortly after his graduation from Rhode Island Liew got his first break into the American comics industry when

Shelly Bond Shelly Bond ( born Roeberg) is an American comic book editor, known for her two decades at DC Comics' Vertigo (DC Comics) imprint, for which she was executive editor from 2013 to 2016. Career Bond began working in the comics industry as an edito ...

signed him on for

Vertigo Comics Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug us ...

' ''My Faith in Frankie'' together with Mike Carey and

Marc Hempel Marc Hempel (born May 25, 1957) is an American cartoonist/comics artist best known for his work on '' The Sandman'' with Neil Gaiman. Biography Writer and artist Marc Hempel grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and now lives in Baltimo ...

. His work has appeared in the

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

Anthologies edited by Kazu Kibuishi, and he has served as editor of the Eisner-nominated Southeast Asian comics anthology ''Liquid City'' from Image Comics. In 2011, he was nominated for an Eisner award in the pencilling/inking category for his work on SLG and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's ''Wonderland'', written by Tommy Kovac.Other titles include

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

' ''

Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...

'' adaptation, First Second Books' "The Shadow Hero" with Gene Luen Yang, An origin story for the obscure Golden-Age comic book hero The Green Turtle, who is thought to be the first Asian-American superhero and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' "Doctor Fate" with

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

. He is also the creator of ''Malinky Robot'', a

Xeric Award The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fou ...

recipient in 2004 and winner of the “Prix de la Meilleure BD” (Comic Album of the Year) at the

Utopiales Utopiales is an annual international science fiction festival held in Nantes, France, probably the largest European event for the field. It covers science fiction and fantasy literature, film, fine arts, comics, role-playing games, and animati ...

International SF Festival in Nantes in 2009. He was a recipient of Singapore's Young Artist Award in 2010.

''The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye''

'' The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' was first published and released by

Epigram Books Epigram Books is an independent publishing company in Singapore. It publishes works of Singapore-based writers, poets and playwrights. History Epigram was originally set up in 1991 by Edmund Wee as a design agency. Epigram began the publish ...

in 2015. It charts the life and career of a fictional comic book artist, the eponymous Charlie Chan Hock Chye, and by weaving together fact and fiction, and different genres, tells the story of the formative years of Singapore's modern history and the history of comics. Shortly before the book's release in Singapore, the National Arts Council withdrew its grant of $8,000 for the title, citing "sensitive content" and its potential to "undermine the authority and legitimacy" of the government. The comic became the best-selling local fiction title that year. ''The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' was published in the United States by Pantheon Books in 2016 and went on to make bestseller lists at Amazon and The New York Times, which was unprecedented for a Singaporean graphic novel. Besides winning the Singapore Literature Prize, it also won the Book of the Year accolade at the Singapore Book Awards in 2016. It was awarded the Pingprisen for Best International Comic in 2017. At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Sonny Liew and ''The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' won three Eisner Awards—Best Writer/Artist, Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia, and Best Publication Design. It was also nominated for three other Eisner Awards—Best Letterer, Best Colorist, and Best Graphic Album - New.

List of selected works

''Godshaper #1'' (2017,

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

) *Variant Cover Artist ''Shadow Hero Comics #1'' (2017,

Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that serves American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,200 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, where it was founded, and is mainly located in North ...

) *Artist. With Gene Luen Yang (Writer). ''Revolutionaries #1'' (2017, IDW Publishing) *Variant Cover Artist ''GI Joe Vol.8 #1'' (2016, IDW Publishing) *Variant Cover Artist ''Transformers Lost Light #1'' (2016, IDW Publishing) *Variant Cover Artist ''Optimus Prime #1'' (2016, IDW Publishing) *Variant Cover Artist ''M.A.S.K. Mobile Armored Strike Kommand #1'' (2016, IDW Publishing) *Variant Cover Artist ''Doctor Fate Vol 4 #1-12, #15-16'' (2015-2016,

) *Artist. With

(Writer). ''The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' (2015,

; 2016 Pantheon Books) *Creator, writer, artist. ''Jim Henson's Storyteller: Witches'' (2015,

Archaia Entertainment Archaia Entertainment, LLC, commonly known as Archaia (formerly known as Archaia Studios Press), is an imprint of American comic book and graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios. Archaia Entertainment, LLC was originally an American comic book pu ...

) *Cover Artist ''Americatown #1'' (2015,

) *Variant Cover Artist ''Hacktivist #1'' (2015,

) *Variant Cover Artist ''Abigail and the Snowman #1'' (2014,

) *Variant Cover Artist ''Warm Nights Deathless Days: The Life of Georgette Chen'' (2014,

National Gallery Singapore ms, Galeri Kebangsaan Singapura ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கலைக்கூடம் , logo = National_Gallery_Singapore_logo.svg , image = Interior_of_the_National_Gallery_Singapore.jpg , caption = Interior of ...

) *Creator, writer, artist ''The Shadow Hero'' (2014, First Second Books) *Artist. With Gene Luen Yang (Writer). ''Malinky Robot: Collected Stories & Other Bits'' (2011, Image Comics) *Artist, Writer ''Vertigo Resurrected: My Faith in Frankie'' (2011, DC

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

) *Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer),

(Inker). ''Sense and Sensibility'' (2010,

) *Artist. With Nancy Butler (Writer). ''Au Pays des Merveilles'' (2010, Bao) *Artist, Co-Creator. With Tommy Kovac (Writer). ''Le Tour du monde en bande dessinée vol 2'' (2009, Delcourt) *Artist, Writer ''Pride and Prejudice'' (2009,

) *Cover Artist ''Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #50'' (2009,

) *Artist. With Roger Landridge (Writer). ''Wonderland'' (2009,

Disney Press Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...

) *Artist, Co-Creator ''Malinky Robot'' (French Edition) (2009, Bao) *Artist, Writer ''Liquid City'' (Vol. 1, 2, 3) (2008-2014, Image Comics) *Editor, Artist, Writer ''Wonderland'' (2006-7,

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jh ...

) *Artist, Co-Creator . With Tommy Kovac (Writer). ''Re-Gifters'' (2007, DC Minx) *Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer),

(Inker). ''

'' (Vol. 2, 5, 8) (2005–11, Image Comics/Villard) *Artist, Writer ''Malinky Robot: Bicycle'' (2005,

) *Artist, Writer ''My Faith in Frankie'' (2004, DC

) *Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer),

(Inker). ''Malinky Robot: Stinky Fish Blues'' (2002, Self-Published under Red Robot Productions) *Artist, Writer ''Marvel Universe Millennial Visions'' (2002,

) *Pin-up Artist ''Frankie & Poo: What is love (Incomplete and abridged)'' (1996, Times Books International) *Artist, Writer

References

External links

Official siteBlog site''Flight'' official siteSlave Labor Graphics official site''Liquid City'' official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liew, Sonny Comic strip cartoonists Malaysian comics artists Singaporean comics artists 1974 births Living people Eisner Award winners Eisner Award winners for Best Writer/Artist Eisner Award winners for Best Publication Design Victoria School, Singapore alumni Malaysian people of Chinese descent Victoria Junior College alumni Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Malaysian emigrants to Singapore