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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
A really cool book both visually and from a story telling perspective. I have to be honest and I fully believed the narrative that a modern-day fan (Sonny Liew) of an unheralded historic artist (Chan Hock Chye) worked to showcase his art and show how pertinent it had been to the history of singapore. The whole time I was reading it I was aware of the talent but was saying to myself that of course he had never been successful as he had undertaken such complex and adult-themes in comic form aimed at kids and teenagers and along comes Liew and shows him how to do have something to say and make it popular. Thinking that I had fully enjoyed the book and the lessons I had learned on the history of Singapore.
Only afterwards did I learn that there was another layer, that Hock Chye was made up and was simply an alias for Liew to tell the story he wanted to. His mimicry of all the classical drawing styles was superb, to the point that I never suspected.
Bravo sir! Well played, you achieved your aim admirably. The four stars is simply because much of the history is hard to follow, with old socialist organizers as heroes that often times have secondary stand ins in the comics.
Only afterwards did I learn that there was another layer, that Hock Chye was made up and was simply an alias for Liew to tell the story he wanted to. His mimicry of all the classical drawing styles was superb, to the point that I never suspected.
Bravo sir! Well played, you achieved your aim admirably. The four stars is simply because much of the history is hard to follow, with old socialist organizers as heroes that often times have secondary stand ins in the comics.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
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!
I feel like this book entered my life at the perfect time. Thoughtful, humanistic telling of the story of expression, social and racial dynamics of multi-cultural, multi-colonized Singapore. The struggle of outspoken people (and individuals) to stand up to dominating totalitarianism.
Made more powerful through the images, not just in style but in graphic design to layout, presentation and of course amazing sequential art.
And finally diving into the mind of Charlie Chan also gives a glimpse of into an artists strategy in conveying meaningful commentary in sly or sometimes overt ways in work, especially work with social and political commentary. Which is quite relevant these days.
Made more powerful through the images, not just in style but in graphic design to layout, presentation and of course amazing sequential art.
And finally diving into the mind of Charlie Chan also gives a glimpse of into an artists strategy in conveying meaningful commentary in sly or sometimes overt ways in work, especially work with social and political commentary. Which is quite relevant these days.
I prefer to see this as a history of comics through the lens of the history of Singapore, rather than the other way round, but perhaps only because I'm a lot more familiar with the history (and counter-histories?) of Singapore. But the book does both equally well. I particularly enjoyed the representation of historical figures as animals in a Sang Kancil tale and a night soil man as local superhero Roachman. Those who are interested in or familiar with Singapore and Malaya's history would enjoy the retelling of it in different graphic/comic forms.
This was definitely a lot of new info for me and a history I was completely unfamiliar with, but this format was really difficult for me to parse. I couldn't figure out what was new and what was original a lot of the time.
A fascinating way to learn Singapore's history and politics. Comic artist Sonny Liew interviews fellow comic artist Charlie Chan Hock Chye about his whole life and career making political cartoons. Liew illustrates the interview and shows Chye's comic pages as they enter the timeframe. Liew adds context annotations around the margins, and notes from Chye about his own work– which lets readers unfamiliar with Singapore's history follow the messages in the strips.
Beautiful art and complex history– Singapore is an interesting experiment even in dry history recounting. Illustrated here in graphic form (and with time-specific political commentary), it comes alive as a dynamic and controversial scene.
Beautiful art and complex history– Singapore is an interesting experiment even in dry history recounting. Illustrated here in graphic form (and with time-specific political commentary), it comes alive as a dynamic and controversial scene.
This was kind of nuts. An incredible oeuvre and a tour de force. The fictional biography of hypothetical Singaporean artist Charlie Chan becomes a lens through which Malay cartoonist Sonny Lieu is able to explore the history and development of post-war Singapore in a truly unique manner- a series of period comic homages. Liew's artistry and storytelling prowess is on full display-- he executes picture-perfect parodies of every art style from pulp science-fiction to Pogo to Little Nemo, MAD magazine and Frank Miller. The story itself is heartbreaking, and fundamentally intertwined with the emotional loss of a national identity has been suppressed. I don't think any dry account of Singaporean politics could ever have made me empathize with their history quite like this novel. This is a dense masterwork worth returning to again and again.
Also I just realized that I read a uncorrected proof edition of the book and the published edition is in FULL COLOR. Now I'm definitely going to have to read it again.
Also I just realized that I read a uncorrected proof edition of the book and the published edition is in FULL COLOR. Now I'm definitely going to have to read it again.
So many emotions come to me when reading this book: a longing for Charlie Chan to be a real person, gratitude that sonny liew is, awe at the ambitious scope of the book, nostalgia for a past I didn't live through, hope that more such voices may be heard surrounding Singapores stories. It's the book I wish I could have written. An intricate and multi layered masterpiece.
Good if fractured object-level story-telling about Singapore's (and Malaysia's) history, excellent meta-textual story about style, metaphor, and storytelling.