Sonny Liew suffered a decent setback in the days leading up to the launch of his graphic novel, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, when he got snubbed by the National Arts Council at the last minute. After all, it pulled an $8,000 publication grant on grounds of “sensitive content” involving political critique and confrontational tones in his book.
Two years since that dismissal, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye has gone on to score widespread critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations. It had to undergo multiple reprints because it kept selling out, and it made it to the top of bestseller lists both here and abroad.
Liew has reached even greater heights recently. In the 2017 Eisner Awards — essentially the Oscars of the comic-book world — Liew is dominating the list with a total of six nominations, including Best Graphic Album, Best Writer/Artist, Best Publication Design and more. You can check out the whole list here.
The Singaporean artist’s achievement is made all the better by the fact that The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is up against some pretty fierce competition. The likes of Tom Gauld’s Mooncop, Dave McKean’s Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, and Box Brown’s Tetris: The Games People Play have all similarly garnered widespread praise for their incredible story and artwork.
But while his competition may focus on emotional, personal themes, Liew manages to paint an unflinching, at-times brutal look into a whole country’s past and culture — and all through his clever framing device of fictional Singaporean cartoonist Charlie Chan. Not to mention the various homages to the artistic styles of other graphic novels — who’d think that a reimagined TV interview with leftwing political leader Lim Chin Siong would fit in perfectly in the aesthetic of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns?
Winners of this year’s Eisner Awards will be announced in July during Comic-Con in San Diego.
Reader Interactions