Collection: Tan Eng Huat Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Tan Eng Huat was born in 1974 in Teluk Intan, Malaysia,. He is relatively well known in the local comic scene, having been a regular with Gempak magazine since 1993, publishing books such as Genocide and Red Hunter under the pen name Kutu. Tan Eng Huat has been a featured artist for different comic companies such as Marvel and DC. He is most recognized for his work on the Punisher, Ghost Rider, Annihilators, and Deadpool comics. While at DC Comics he penciled and inked Batman Journey into Knight, Doom Patrol and JLA. Tan Eng Huat earned his first big break in 2001 when he met then DC group editor Andy Helfer at the World Manga Summit in Hong Kong. In an editorial at the end of Doom Patrol #1 (Tan’s first issue), Helfer recalled how he made friends with a “really nice guy from Malaysia named Tan” and hung out with him during the summit without ever knowing he could draw. When he eventually saw Tan’s artwork, Helfer was blown away. “This guy was good ... with great waiting in the wings,” Helfer wrote, calling Tan “the most original voice (artist) to be heard (seen) in American comics” at the time. Tan Eng Huat was named 'Best New Talent' in the National Comics Awards (NCA) 2002

Tan Eng Huat signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics to pencil the John Arcudi scripted Doom Patrol, which eventually earned him the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award at the 2002 Eisners (or Eisner Comic Industry Awards). After 22 issues of Doom Patrol, he went on to work on other DC books such as The Authority and Justice League Of America (for which he gained another Eisner nomination, for Best Penciller and Inker, in 2004). After working exclusively for DC Comics for a few years, Tan started to draw for Marvel as well, starting with 2006’s Ghost Rider, followed by Silver Surfer: In Thy Name, and Punisher in 2009, among others. His most recent Marvel contributions were the criminally underrated X-Men: Legacy (which starred Legion, the son of Professor X), and the current ongoing Deadly Hands. According to him, Deadly Hands is one of the hardest books he has ever worked on. “There is a lot of background, a lot of characters and a lot of fighting. The hardest part of doing a comic is the continuity, and ... I also have to keep the focus on the dialogue, who talks first.”

Tan Eng Huat is not the only Malaysian comic artist working for high-profile Western companies, of course. Among others, Billy Tan has been a staple in Marvel and DC in recent years, Sheldon Goh currently draws for Zenescope Entertainment, and Malaysian-born, Singapore-based graphic novelist Sonny Liew is well known for his quirky graphic novels and also for founding the Liquid City anthology. Tan is also part of Gilamon, a platform for creator owned projects that includes fellow Malaysian comic creators Lefty, Michael Chuah and Chin Sau Lim. Tan Eng Huat”s artwork is currently credited in 123 separate comic book issues.