The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
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''The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' is a
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 ...
by Sonny Liew published in 2015 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 ...
and 2016 by Pantheon Books. It tells the story of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, a fictional cartoonist, from his early days in colonial life to the present day, while showcasing extracts of his comics depicting allegories of political situations of the time. The comic features a mixture of black and white sketches depicting Singapore's early history contrasted with color comics depicting the present, with several comics within the novel telling their own story. The book was awarded 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 ...
following its publication in 2016. The book soon gained widespread critical acclaim internationally and was given several awards, including three
Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
in 2017.


Plot summary

The novel initially starts with an introduction of the titular character Charlie Chan Hock Chye as an old man talking to an interviewer before transitioning to his childhood, where he is seen working in his family's shop in
post-war Singapore Singapore was a British colony for 144 years, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945 during the Pacific War. When the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, at the end of World War II, Singa ...
. It then shows Charlie Chan's first comic "Ah Huat's Giant Robot" which features a robot that can only understand Chinese. The book then cuts between the life of Charlie and excerpts from his comics, explaining that he was educated in an English school through the generosity of one of his family's shops' customers. This pattern of cuts between comics and his life continues throughout the rest of the novel as the comic steadily changes from one about a Giant Robot to an allegory for Singapore's quest for independence from British Colonial rule, featuring animals and sci-fi epics allegorizing Singapore as a city under the rule of aliens with
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
as a lawyer who speaks the language of the aliens. Charlie begins a partnership with a fellow young comic artist who eventually breaks up with him due to financial stress, after 8 years and numerous comics, including a superhero tale about a
night soil Night soil is a historically used euphemism for human excreta collected from cesspools, privies, pail closets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed from the immediate area, usually at night, by workers em ...
man bitten by a cockroach and becoming Roachman, a parody of Spider-Man. Nearing the end, a comic depicting the actions the Singapore government undertook to take control of the press is depicted via a comic depicting Singapore as Sinkapor Inks, a company with Lee Kuan Yew as a ruthless boss with the press as a company newsletter. Finally, a what-if section depicts Singapore if the
Barisan Sosialis Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. ...
had won, ending in an alternate version of Singapore with a similar economic development as that of the present.


Controversy

A grant of S$8,000 was initially given for the creation of the novel by the National Arts Council, but was revoked on 29 May 2015, ahead of the 30 May official book launch at
Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain operated by , founded in 1927, with its first store located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Its name translates to "Bookstore of Kii Province". The company has its headquarters in Meguro, Tokyo. One of the company's ...
Singapore Bookstore due to "sensitive content" which sparked controversy. A spokesperson for the NAC responded in a newspaper forum that the graphic novel "potentially undermines the authority of legitimacy of the Government and its public institutions and thus breaches our funding guidelines".
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 ...
founder Edmund Wee had returned the S$6,400 and printed stickers to cover up the National Arts Council logo in the printed books. The withdrawal of the government grant, however, created much publicity for the book and the 1,000 initial prints of the book sold out quickly upon its launch. The second print of books without the NAC logo was back in bookstores from 19 June 2015 onwards.


International release

The book was published by American publisher Pantheon Books in March 2016 and released internationally. The book had appeared on international bestseller lists compiled by
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
and
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
. Besides winning the Singapore Literature Prize in 2016, it also won the Book of the Year accolade at the Singapore Book Awards in 2016. It was also awarded the Pingprisen for Best International Comic in 2017. In 21 July 2017, Sonny Liew, the author of the book, won three
Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
for Best Writer/Artist, Best Publication Design and Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia in the 29th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards held at the Comic-Con International,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. He was also nominated for three other Eisner Awards for Best Letterer, Best Colorist, and Best Graphic Album—New.


Awards

*Winner of 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 ...
2016 *''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller *''
Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
'' Book of the Year 2016 *
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
Graphic Novel Pick for 2016 *''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' Best Graphic Novel of 2016 *''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' Best Books of 2016 *''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' Best Book of 2016 *'' South China Morning Post'' Top 10 Asian books of 2016 *''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' Best Comics of 2016 *
Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
Top 100 Comics of 2016 *
Mental Floss ''Mental Floss'' (stylized as ''mental_floss'') is an online magazine and its related American digital, print, and e-commerce media company focused on millennials. It is owned by Minute Media and based in New York City, United States. mentalfloss ...
Most Interesting Graphic Novel of 2016 *2017 Pingprisen Bedste Internationale Tegneserte *2017 Eisner Award Winner for Best Writer/Artist *2017 Eisner Award Winner for Best Publication Design *2017 Eisner Award Winner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, The 2016 graphic novels Singaporean fiction Singaporean comics titles Comics about comics Metafictional comics Pantheon Books graphic novels