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4.52 AVERAGE
4.52 AVERAGE
Phew! This is an essential read. The politics of post colonial Singapore spanning the life of brilliant comic artist Charlie Chan Hock Chye masterfully presented by Sonny Liew. I feel educated on a subject I barely knew anything about & I feel sad about all the artists whose work we'll never get to see. Impactful, to say the least.
Holy moses, this is a staggering work of meta-fiction. It took me several days to get through and I'm sure I didn't even get half of what it was doing.
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
This was intricately layered visual storytelling — political satire, history, allegory, meta commentary, reflections on the role of art in society. The narrative voice of the fictional Charlie Chan makes the book feel like an incredible labour of love, weaving the personal story of an artist into the history of a nation.
This is unlike anything I've ever read before. Liew has created a work that combines faux biography, a glimpse into Singapore's history, and an examination and love letter to the making of comics. What's most impressive about this work is: a) how convincing it is as a graphic biography, and b) how many art styles Liew employs to create this verisimilitude (ie. Charlie's art and comic excerpts). Liew demonstrates a flexibility that I've never witnessed in other comic work and it's fantastic. The only downside, for me, was that while some sections showed obvious mastery of the comics form, they weren't particularly my cup of tea. I'm thinking mostly of the comic excerpts that read and look like old school Silver Age comics that are commentary on Singapore's political climate.
I'm not sure this would fare well with people who are new comic readers, but this is great for veterans who are looking for something new and refreshing. Highly recommended.
I'm not sure this would fare well with people who are new comic readers, but this is great for veterans who are looking for something new and refreshing. Highly recommended.
More 3.5 stars than 4, but felt like the eponymous character Charlie's idealism was really this book's winning formula. He's an endearing character, but his Bildungsroman really came out in the form of Charlie Chan's art.
I enjoyed the art - Sonny Liew is clearly a very gifted artist because he was able to appropriate different genres of comic books into this one graphic novel. However, I sometimes felt like Liew was desperate to show off his entire repertoire rather than portioning it out with real authorial intention and development of purpose.
I enjoyed the art - Sonny Liew is clearly a very gifted artist because he was able to appropriate different genres of comic books into this one graphic novel. However, I sometimes felt like Liew was desperate to show off his entire repertoire rather than portioning it out with real authorial intention and development of purpose.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book presents a biography of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, a Singaporean comic book artist. It weaves together comic strips, news clippings, text explanations, and Sonny Liew's own comic depictions to tell a deep and detailed history of Charlie and Singapore. It's an amazingly well put together biography.
Here's the kicker though. Charlie Chan Hock Chye is entirely fictitious. This is something that I did not know until after I had finished the book. Sonny Liew has managed to create an entirely fictitious comic book artist, complete with a life time of art including multi-page comic strips, unfinished comic strips, rough sketches of people in Charlie's life, and even oil portraits. The vast array of artifacts that Liew has created gives an astounding depth and history to Charlie. It truly showcases what can be done with the graphic novel/comic book medium.
Here's the kicker though. Charlie Chan Hock Chye is entirely fictitious. This is something that I did not know until after I had finished the book. Sonny Liew has managed to create an entirely fictitious comic book artist, complete with a life time of art including multi-page comic strips, unfinished comic strips, rough sketches of people in Charlie's life, and even oil portraits. The vast array of artifacts that Liew has created gives an astounding depth and history to Charlie. It truly showcases what can be done with the graphic novel/comic book medium.
Excellent both for the art, and for the look at the history of Singapore, something with which I am not familiar. Definitely made me want to read up more on the history of Singapore.
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Que historia. Un refrescante paseo visual, del cómic como motor artístico. De la sociedad de una micronación con un poder económico tremendo y que se formó bajo un control despótico y dictatorial de años. Un paseo por la historia y la sociedad alrededor de una figura entrañable y desengañada, cínica y tierna. Sin duda, de lo mejor que he leído en el 2021. Un tesoro del cómic a la altura de un primer ejemplar de "El Robot Gigante de Ah Huat".
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Just as a heads up, Chan Hock Chye is not a real person. He is narrative devices Sonny Liew is using to tell the story of Singapore through, much like Pale Fire's framing devices. The history of the country however is very real.