As a teenager, Claire Low spent most of her time drawing, doodling and sketching. Naturally, she incurred her mother’s classic Asian Parent wrath: “You’re going to starve if you end up an artist! Go practise your math!”
But Low paid her well-meaning mum little heed. The Singaporean decided to study graphic design at university, and after graduating in 2021, got a job as a comic book artist at local comics publisher Difference Engine.
Some of the company’s work includes the local superhero series Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma, and the comic anthology Sound, which features artists and writers from Southeast Asia.
“As a comic book artist, I work on each panel and page to effectively deliver the narrative and the characters’ journey,” Low said.
The 28-year-old is also Difference Engine’s design lead and creates art on Instagram under her username comatomato.
“I think of ways to aesthetically and visually package a whole story,” she said. She looks at cover design, chooses fonts that best express the narrative, and selects the colour palettes that tie in with the publicity or launch campaigns.
“It’s a lot of work that’s both big picture and detail-oriented,” she said.
Low and her colleagues also collaborate frequently with comic artists and authors across the region – including Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines – to bring Southeast-Asian stories to life through the visual art form.
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Unlike many comic book artists she knows, Low didn’t read many when she was growing up. Marvel references would fly over her head, and she was never particularly drawn to American superheroes like Superman or Spider-Man.
