The Life Interview with comic hero Wee Tian Beng

The first Singaporean comic artist to successfully break into the overseas market in the 1990s, Wee Tian Beng will publish the final volume of his popular series The Celestial Zone later this month

Singapore comic veteran Wee Tian Beng (above) is behind The Celestial Zone, whose characters (below) battle evil forces with their extraordinary powers.
Singapore comic veteran Wee Tian Beng (above) is behind The Celestial Zone, whose characters battle evil forces with their extraordinary powers. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO
Singapore comic veteran Wee Tian Beng (above) is behind The Celestial Zone, whose characters (below) battle evil forces with their extraordinary powers.
Singapore comic veteran Wee Tian Beng is behind The Celestial Zone, whose characters (above) battle evil forces with their extraordinary powers. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO
Comic artist Wee Tian Beng (left) with legendary Chinese writer Louis Cha, or Jin Yong, whose Return Of The Condor Heroes he illustrated in the late 1990s, at Cha's house. Wee (right), in his 20s, with his fellow aspiring comic artists (from left) Ta
My Life So Far: Comic artist Wee Tian Beng (left) with legendary Chinese writer Louis Cha, or Jin Yong, whose Return Of The Condor Heroes he illustrated in the late 1990s, at Cha's house. PHOTO: COURTESY OF WEE TIAN BENG
Comic artist Wee Tian Beng (left) with legendary Chinese writer Louis Cha, or Jin Yong, whose Return Of The Condor Heroes he illustrated in the late 1990s, at Cha's house. Wee (right), in his 20s, with his fellow aspiring comic artists (from left) Ta
My Life So Far: Wee (right), in his 20s, with his fellow aspiring comic artists (from left) Tan Boon Fong, Fok Kup Tong, Lai Swee Kim (seated) and Raymond Lau. PHOTO: COURTESY OF WEE TIAN BENG
Olivia Ho
Assistant Life Editor
Updated
May 07, 2018, 05:45 AM
Published
May 07, 2018, 05:00 AM
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After nearly two decades, Singapore comics veteran Wee Tian Beng has decided to bring his long-running The Celestial Zone (TCZ) series to a close later this month.

Having set numerous milestones for the local comic industry and sold five million comics, the 52-year-old is miles away from the early days of his career, when he was broke, getting two to four hours of sleep a day and running a makeshift comic studio out of his bedroom.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 07, 2018, with the headline The Life Interview with comic hero Wee Tian Beng. Subscribe

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