""[A] hugely ambitious, stylistically acrobatic work... a mercurial delight." —The New York Times
“A fascinating look at a cartoonist’s growth over time and how his creative output reflects the culture around him, and Liew tells Chan’s story in a way that only comic books can…. A beautifully multidimensional portrait of the cartoonist... The color palettes, the paper quality, the incorporation of photographs and sketches, they all combine with the text to provide a complex view of Charlie Chan Hock Chye that has a strong sense of history behind it.” —The A.V. Club
“Brilliantly inventive….Charlie is mild but steel-spined, observant and proud; with masterful economy of detail—an arched eyebrow here, his head at a resigned angle there—Mr. Liew crafts him into a fully realised character.” —The Economist
“Liew keeps us fully awake to his intellectual ambition and political potency by unveiling a parade of shifting visual aesthetics—with nods to such comics legends as Winsor McCay.” —The Washington Post
“A stunning tour de force masterpiece of imagined and real history as Liew recreates the entire career of the titular cartoonist via art and photos to explore the history of both comics and Singapore.” —Publishers Weekly, “The Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2016”
“An early candidate for the various best-of lists for 2016, this superlative achievement from Liew tells the story not only of Singaporean artist and comics creator Charlie Chan Hock Chye, but of Singapore itself..... Make no mistake: this multilayered book is a masterpiece.” —Publishers Weekly, *starred review*
"Riotously funny, heartbreakingly beautiful, fizzing with provocative ideas, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye breathes life and intimacy into the multi-layered history of Malaysia and Singapore. Sonny Liew has produced a true masterpiece." —Tash Aw, author of The Harmony Silk Factory and Five Star Billionaire
“A joy to read. Sonny Liew masterfully weaves the history of Singapore with the history of comics into something you've never experienced before.” —Gene Luen Yang, creator of American Born Chinese and Boxers & Saints
“Unique and unprecedented... a masterpiece... This book is a joyous, beautiful, million-faceted thing – a celebration of the comic book medium, a technical masterclass, a thrill ride, a Bildungsroman and an unflinching retrospective of the post-war-into-modern era. I love it, and I'm in awe of it.” —Mike Carey, author of Lucifer, The Unwritten and The Girl with All the Gifts
“With the complex spices of Singapore’s history and politics… the incredibly talented Sonny Liew tells the story of an artist you’ve probably never heard of… but before it’s over, you’ll know him like a lifelong friend.” —Paul Levitz, author of 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking and Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel
“Prepare to be swept away by a history of Singapore as you’ve never seen before. Sonny Liew delivers a brilliant and fiercely perceptive appraisal of this remarkable island-state.” —Paul Gravett, author of Comics Art and 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die
“Liew incorporates a dizzying range of styles and influences.... The combination of a powerful message, artistic virtuosity, and a fascinating framing device make for an un-put-downable read. This relentlessly engaging work stretches the boundaries of the graphic novel medium and is highly recommended for fans of political satire, Chris Ware, or Art Spiegelman.” —Library Journal, *starred review*
“[An] impressive tour de force….it’s exhilarating to discover a talent as brilliant as Liew shows himself to be with this virtuosic triumph.” —Booklist *starred review*
“A collector’s item….can be read and enjoyed on many levels….knowledge of the true story is almost incidental to the pleasures to be gained from this fictional biography.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
“Easily one of the greatest books of the year….This multilayered, beautifully executed work is like no history book you’ve ever seen. It will leave you speechless….While Charlie Chan Hock Chye may be Singapore’s greatest comics artist, Sonny Liew is on his way to becoming the greatest in the world.” —Cedar Rapids Gazette
“A tour de force artistic performance….This may be the book that truly makes him a star in the U.S.” —Mental Floss
“In The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, author and illustrator Sonny Liew masterfully juxtaposes history and fiction..... This genre-bending graphic novel follows the story of fictional cartoonist Charlie, now in his 70s, and his art, beautifully rendered in contrasting styles to add to the realism, intertwined with the history of Singapore.” —BookPage
“A surprising revelation of a master storyteller who manages to turn a controversial and largely buried story into a personal reflection on art and freedom of the press.” —Shelf Awareness
“It’s going to be incredibly difficult to beat this book. I’m already penciling it in for my best original graphic novel of the year.” —Comic Bastards
“A meta-fiction masterpiece.” —Pod Sequentialism, meltcomics.com
“Liew’s book is remarkable, a meta-history of Malaysia as told through the biography of ‘Singapore’s greatest comics artist,’ the fictional, but entirely credible, Charlie Chan Hock Chye…. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s just dazzling.” —Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, an intricate tapestry of comic art and political comment, is a stunning achievement that should well and truly propel [Sonny Liew] into the global premier league of cartoonists.” —BrokenFrontier.com
“To the uninitiated, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye… is an ideal and riveting introduction to comics culture; to vintage Singaporeans, a nostalgic jolt and aching reminder of a way of life gone forever and to the politically conscious, a novel and controversial interpretation of Singapore’s history. Sonny’s archival work is a marvel of meticulousness and his captions and footnotes were very well-written showing a masterly command of the language and uncanny understanding of the issues.” —Sonny Yap, author of Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore’s Ruling Political Party
“The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye isn’t ‘the Singapore story’ but it’s a Singapore story, a comics story, that’s real and affecting and beautiful.” —Women Write About Comics
“The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye does not simply counterpoise other histories to a dominant national narrative, but rather asks questions about the historical memorialization of decolonization and storytelling in a postcolony such as Singapore…. [It] reaffirms the placing of individual experience within the construction of larger, collective national narratives.... The artist does not stand outside history, but is woven into its fabric." —Philip Holden (Journal of Postcolonial Writing)
“A dense and dizzying tour of 20th-century Singaporean history.” —Boing Boing
“An incredibly meta meditation on the meaning of history, the role of biography, and the way our stories—our own personal narratives—shape the world around us.” —BFM
“Part graphic novel, part art book, part narrative essay, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Malaysian-born, Eisner-Award-nominated comics artist and illustrator Sonny Liew is a look at Singapore unlike any other before. By reflecting on the life and work of a comic creator whose career spanned half a century, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye comments wryly on Singapore′s past and present while honoring comics as a storytelling medium.” —The Malay Mail
“One of the most visually arresting and thematically remarkable books published this year . . . A landmark work in Singapore comics history.” —Akshita Nanda, The Straits Times
“One of [the best], if not the best, comic books in the past five years . . . [A] labor of love and a triumph of storytelling that transcends any medium . . . A must-read.” —Amir Hafizi, Malaysian Reserve
"Only rarely can a book inspire such delight and joy as this... gorgeous and rewarding, adding up to one of 2016’s most important graphic novels. It’s perfect." —Toronto Metro News
“[E]ngaging and educational…. Liew reaches back to a time of overwhelming cultural and political change in the small island nation, and in his transcendent graphic novel, Sonny Liew has revealed the ability of comics to blur the lines between fact and fiction, snd to transport readers between eras and cultures.” —BookPage