congrats to Bi

lly Tan & Tan Eng Huat for getting big in American comic scene. i hope this will open the gate for more PeKOMIK (penggiat komik) to American comic scene like Philipine, European,Vietnam, Korea & Japan.

this text are taken from wizarduniverse.com: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/006470447.cfm

BILLY TAN

Upon hearing of their son’s plans to become an artist, Billy Tan’s parents had some extremely dubious career advice.“You would never be able to survive as an artist,” Tan, now drawing Uncanny X-Men, recalls them scolding. “Only when you die, that’s when you make money.”

The teenage Tan, eager to be both successful and breathing, obeyed their wishes to depart Malaysia and attend business school at the University of Kentucky. But downtime was spent taking art classes and compiling a portfolio, which he sent off during one of Top Cow’s talent searches in 1994. “I sent in a sample and they give me some comments through letters,” Tan says. “They let me try out with trading cards. I sent that in and they liked it, so they flew me in to San Diego. They were cool enough to keep me.”

A die-hard fan of Image, Tan’s days were spent inking in the company of luminaries like J. Scott Campbell, Travis Charest and his idol Marc Silvestri. “When I first picked up [Silvestri’s] Cyberforce, I had no idea comics could have such an artistic factor. His stuff was mind-blowing to me.”

The Image gigs—Tomb Raider, Codename: Strykeforce—were in short supply; Tan once spent an entire year painting a Tomb Raider cover, which wasn’t doing his bank account any favors. A friend facilitated a Marvel meet in 2004, which resulted in work on X-23 and Marvel Knights Spider Man. In 2006, Tan was granted the Holy Grail of illustration: a job on Uncanny X-Men with legendary scribe Chris Claremont. When the publisher called with the offer, Claremont was silently listening on the line. “I was sweating,” Tan laughs. “I was going, ‘That was Claremont on the phone. I think.’”

Uncanny editor Nick Lowe plucked Tan from a stack of possible recruits. “He’s one of the few artists who really makes characters look cool,” Lowe raves. “His characters are badass, plain and simple. They look like they can, and will, kick your ass. Some of the pages he’s finished have literally made my socks fly off.”

Tan’s dynamic style shines in fight sequences. “I think that’s my influence from the Hong Kong comics,” he says of the knuckle-ups. “Hong Kong comic fight scenes, the choreography is amazing. Very dynamic and aggressive in how they do it. It’s in your face.”

The 37-year-old artist’s alchemy has had fans returning to the X-books in droves, a fact that gives him a case of the warm fuzzies. “It’s really an honor when fans come up and say, ‘You made me come back to the book.’ That’s amazing. I try my best.”