Sonny Liew
Liew Gene Sien (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean comic artist and illustrator. He is best known for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015).
Sonny Liew

Teoh Yi Chie · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Sonny Liew
- Born
- 26 September 1974
- Birthplace
- Seremban, Malaysia
- Education
- Victoria School Victoria Junior College Clare College, Cambridge Rhode Island School of Design
- Known for
- Comic artist
- Nationality
- Malaysia
- Occupation
- comics artist · illustrator · photographer · comics writer
- Honours
- Xeric Award · Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Liew Gene Sien (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean comic artist and illustrator. He is best known for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015).
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q7562062 · wikipedia · Sonny Liew
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Sonny Liew • Born — 26 September 1974 • Birthplace — Seremban, Malaysia • Education — Victoria School Victoria Junior College Clare College, Cambridge Rhode Island School of Design • Known for — Comic artist • Notable Works — The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015) • Website — https: www.sonnyliew.com Sonny Liew Gene Sien (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean comic artist and illustrator. He is best known for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015).
Early life and education
Early life and education
Born in Seremban, Malaysia, Liew soon moved to Singapore and attended school at Victoria School and Victoria Junior College. He read philosophy at Clare College, Cambridge, in the UK and studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001.
Career
Career
His first foray into comic illustration was with Singaporean tabloid paper The New Paper in 1995, contributing a comic strip titled Frankie and Poo. A compilation of the strips was published by Times Publishing in 1996. Shortly after his graduation from Rhode Island, Shelly Bond signed him on for Vertigo Comics' My Faith in Frankie together with Mike Carey and Marc Hempel. His work has appeared in the Flight Anthologies edited by Kazu Kibuishi, and he served as editor of the Eisner-nominated Southeast Asian comics anthology Liquid City from Image Comics. In 2011, he was nominated for an Eisner award in the pencilling/inking category for his work on SLG and Disney's Wonderland, written by Tommy Kovac. Other titles include Marvel Comics' Sense and Sensibility adaptation, First Second Books' The Shadow Hero with Gene Luen Yang, an origin story for the obscure Golden-Age comic book hero The Green Turtle, who is thought to be the first Asian-American superhero and DC Comics' "Doctor Fate" with Paul Levitz. He is also the creator of Malinky Robot, a Xeric Award recipient in 2004 and winner of the “Prix de la Meilleure BD” (Comic Album of the Year) at the Utopiales International SF Festival in Nantes in 2009. He was a recipient of Singapore's Young Artist Award in 2010.
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was first published and released by Epigram Books in 2015. It charts the life and career of a fictional comic book artist, the eponymous Charlie Chan Hock Chye, and by weaving together fact and fiction, and different genres, tells the story of the formative years of Singapore's modern history and the history of comics. Shortly before the book's release in Singapore, the National Arts Council withdrew its grant of $8,000 for the title, citing "sensitive content" and its potential to "undermine the authority and legitimacy" of the government. The comic became the best-selling local fiction title that year. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was published in the United States by Pantheon Books in 2016 and went on to make bestseller lists at Amazon and The New York Times, which was unprecedented for a Singaporean graphic novel. Besides winning the Singapore Literature Prize, it also won the Book of the Year accolade at the Singapore Book Awards in 2016. It was awarded the Pingprisen for Best International Comic in 2017. At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Sonny Liew and The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye won three Eisner Awards—Best Writer/Artist, Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia, and Best Publication Design. It was also nominated for three other Eisner Awards—Best Letterer, Best Colorist, and Best Graphic Album - New.
Identity
Identity
Eternity Girl / Magdalene Visaggio, Sonny Liew and Chris Chuckry. Recorded as comics artist, illustrator, photographer and comics writer.

Malaysian comics artist Sonny Liew at the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention 2014.
Weepygoon (Pang Peow Yeong).
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1974
Sonny Liew born at Seremban.
2018
Eternity Girl / Magdalene Visaggio, Sonny Liew and Chris Chuckry. is dated [2018] and held by Wellcome Collection.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.S'pore Literature prize goes to graphic novel for first time. The Straits Times. 15 July 2016.
- 2.Lunch With Sumiko: The art of Sonny Liew. The Straits Times. 12 February 2017.
- 3.Khouri, Andy. LIQUID CITY: Image Anthology Spotlights S.E. Asia. Comic Book Resources. 26 December 2008.
- 4.Yang, Gene Luen. The Shadow Hero. First Second. 15 July 2014.
- 5.Rédaction, La. Les 10es Utopiales cherchent des Mondes Meilleurs. Wartmag. 3 November 2009.
- 6.Nanda, Akshita. Young and arty. Straits Times. May 2018.
- 7.NAC withdraws grant for graphic novel publisher due to "sensitive content". TODAYonline.
- 8.NAC pulled grant from comic as it 'potentially undermines the authority of the Government'. The Straits Times. 3 June 2015.
- 9.Graphic novel 'undermines Govt's authority': NAC.
- 10.Sonny Liew novel in 3rd print run. The Straits Times. 26 June 2015.
- 11.Jian Xuan, Lee. Fictional graphic novel The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye makes bestseller lists on Amazon and New York Times. The Straits Times. 18 March 2016.
- 12.Singapore Book Awards: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye wins Book of the Year.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 14
- Artist. With Paul Levitz (Writer).
- Creator, writer, artist.
- Creator, writer, artist
- Artist. With Gene Luen Yang (Writer).
- Artist, Writer
- Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer), Marc Hempel (Inker).
- Artist. With Nancy Butler (Writer).
- Artist, Writer
- Artist, Co-Creator
- Editor, Artist, Writer
- Artist, Co-Creator . With Tommy Kovac (Writer).
- Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer), Marc Hempel (Inker).
- Artist, Writer
- Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer), Marc Hempel (Inker).
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q7562062: Sonny LiewWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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