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Manga Artist Wee Tian Beng
Wee Tian Beng is the original writer and lead Manga artist of The Celestial Zone Series.
In 1993, with his original story Astronotics, Tian Beng became the first full-time Singaporean Manga artist to break into the Taiwanese and Hong Kong market.
In 1994, he was invited to create adaptations of the works of famous writers Ni Kuang and Louis Cha, namely The Adventures of Wisely and The Return of the Condor Heroes respectively. In 1997, Tian Beng received the Asian Manga Prestigious Award at the Asian Manga Summit held in Seoul, South Korea.
It was in 1999 that he began working on the Chinese and English editions of The Celestial Zone Series, the most important work of his career as a Manga artist. Celestial Zone was eventually distributed in Asia, Europe, U.S. and Australia.
In 2001, he started TCZ Studio Pte Ltd.
In 2003, he created The Celestial Zone Series II, the first full-length coloured Manga series in Singapore. It ran to a total of 40 volumes.
To date, Tian Beng has created more than 100 volumes of Manga works.This is an unmatched achievement in local Manga history.
By this time, there would also be 50 Celestial Zone collectibles launched.
Amongst these, Celestial Zone has been published in Taiwan tradition Chinese version, French and Spanish, and has entered the domain of digital media in the form of cell phone comics, screen wallpapers and digital games.
In addition, Tian Beng is also a frequent participant in animation and comics events both here and overseas, including the 1st Shanghai Animation and Comics Fair (2003), Sichuan Television Festival cum Animation and Comics Fair (2005), Asian Manga Summit (1997 in Seoul, South Korea; 1999 in Hsin-chu, Taiwan), World Manga Summit (2000 in Hong Kong, China; 2002 in Yokohama, Japan), and World Comics Conference (2004 in Beijing, China; 2005 in Bucheon, South Korea).
Locally, Tian Beng has been invited for talks at various learning institutions including The Raffles Institute, Nan Chiau High, Institute of Technical Education, and Creative Technology etc.
His local appearances includes arts programme on Channel U, Yi Yi Gu Xing (าปาีนยะะ) hosted by local celebrity host Ms Kit Chan, and Flair Affair on Arts Central, etc.
In 2006, The Celestial Zone Art Exhibition is held in conjunction with Singapore Art and Suntec City Convention Centre.
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