The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye

Poignant, and makes one pause to reflect on history. A perfect balance of lightness and depth; a book which pages I kept turning. And it pushes the possibilities of the comics medium.

Beautiful artwork, great characters and the story of Singapore in the 2oth century through the eyes of a fictional artist. Well done and worth the read.

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.