SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Makers Club
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://reimenayee.com/
CITY: Melbourne
STATE:
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Malaysian
LAST VOLUME: SATA 394
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
EDUCATION:University of Melbourne, B.Sc.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Editor, writer, and illustrator. Cofounder of Unnamed (comic professionals collective); Hiveworks Comics, editor and executive admin; illustrator and designer for clients including Dropmix, Girls Make Games, Adventure Time, DFTBA’s Bizarre Beasts, and Penguin Workshop.
AWARDS:Eisner Award nomination for Best Digital Comic, 2018, and McDuffie Award finalist, 2019, both for The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya.
WRITINGS
Author of the web comics The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya (also see above), The World in Deeper Inspection, and Alexander, the Servant & the Water of Life.
Séance Tea Party has been optioned for adaptation as an animated film by OddBot.
SIDELIGHTS
A comics author and illustrator with profound storytelling flair, Reimena Yee is devoted to helping promote and nurture the graphic-fiction medium in Southeast Asia’s literary scene. She was born in the capital of Malaysia, describing herself to the Quiet Pond as “an urban owl … from the tropical, dusty city of Kuala Lumpur.” When her preteen years rolled around, she was reluctant to join her peers in making the leap to teenage interest in pop stars and romance, still preferring make-believe and innocent adventures. Through adolescence she was intent on pursuing a career path through science and academia, which led her to Australia. But not long after graduating from the University of Melbourne, Yee realized that writing, illustrating, and comics creation were what she found most fulfilling. She told M.L. Kejera in the Los Angeles Review of Books: “I do comics because this is where I am most eloquent, but … I see myself as one drop in an ocean of artists: musicians, illustrators, writers, people who make art as part of the human experience. I only have one life purpose, and that’s to share my joy for the world, its history, and our collective heritage. All of my comics have this as their driving force.” In terms of creative self-expression, Yee has what she described to Avery Kaplan in Comics Beat as a “floral goth” style: she experiments with makeup and dyed hair, has tattoos, and perceives her body “as something I craft over time, the same way I do with my art and stories.” Alongside her creative efforts, Yee has cofounded Unnamed, a comics collective devoted to sharing resources, promoting partnerships, and sponsoring workshops and panels in Southeast Asia.
Yee’s preferred illustration tools include a drawing tablet, an Apple pencil, an iPad Pro, and Photoshop. Concerning her favored topics, to the Quiet Pond she quipped, “I like to make pretty books about spooky things.” During her university years she was already working on her first hit web comic, following an amiable vampire named Zeynel in a fantasy-inflected Türkiye. Its popularity led to an Eisner Award nomination and the publication of the first print volume, The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya, in 2020. Concerning her deft treatment of historical Orentialism—the exoticization of cultures and peoples from the East—in this title, Yee told Kejera: “It helps that I am also the victim, subject, and stagehand of Orientalism. My lived experience consists of Westerners objectifying, romanticizing, or denigrating my race, culture, accent, and country based on their desires.” She further told Kejera—an author and comics journalist from Gambia—that they both “probably understand what it’s like to perform our nonwhiteness for the benefit of safety, survival, strategy, or avoiding inconvenience: code-switching, hiding parts of ourselves, exaggerating others.” Yee concluded that writing The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyaa “allowed me to explore most of this, and root it in an uncompromising lens of the ‘Oriental’ (myself, and main character Zeynel) turning the tables.”
Yee’s first middle-grade graphic novel is Séance Tea Party. Fond of witches, ghosts, and the joys of childhood, twelve-year-old Lora Xi grows disheartened as her friends all shift focus to video games, texting, boys, and parties. Consoling herself with a séance tea party in the attic, Lora is startled to summon a real ghost girl, Alexa, who proves a perfect friend. With Alexa’s encouragement, Lora starts engaging more with her friends and peers. Meanwhile Alexa, who lacks memories, looks into her past and just might reconnect with a long-lost friend of her own.
A Kirkus Reviews writer found Yee’s comics experience to be in full evidence in her middle-grade debut, as she “artfully balances complex character arcs and suspense while bringing a touch of fantasy and wonder.” The reviewer deemed the graphic novel “both comforting and wonderfully peculiar.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer deemed Séance Tea Party “a moving tale that emphasizes the importance of embracing one’s quirks—and finding friends who do the same.” In School Library Journal, Amanda Charles found the artwork “whimsical and engaging” and the narrative to have a “lively, liquid flow.” She praised Séance Tea Party as a “beautifully illustrated, bittersweet” tale perfect for anyone “grappling with the joy and sorrow of growing up … and moving on.”
My Aunt Is a Monster centers on eleven-year-old Safia Haziz, who is desolate when her parents die in a fire that burns down the family bookstore. She is sent to live with Aunt Whimsy, a famous adventurer of yesteryear who has become reclusive owing to a disfigurement—or so she tells Safia, who is blind. In fact, Aunt Whimsy was turned into a furry blue monster by a curse. When her archnemesis, the covetous Professor Doctor Cecilia Choi, announces an expedition to the hidden city where Aunt Whimsy was cursed, Whimsy, Safia, and hardy housekeeper Miss Cathryn seize the chance to set out on the journey of a lifetime.
In Booklist, Sarah Hunter observed that this book’s “saturated, jewel-toned color palette is dreamy,” making for “gorgeous artwork.” Hunter found that even as Yee “keeps her characters solidly grounded with realistic emotional turns,” the plot is energized by “lots of high jinks.” A Kirkus Reviews writer hailed My Aunt Is a Monster as “kindhearted and full of fun,” with Safia’s blindness not treated as an obstacle, but integrated with her “zest for life in realistic ways, such as through the technology and devices she uses.” The reviewer summed the graphic novel up as a “lighthearted romp … adorable and diverting.”
[OPEN NEW]
The Makers Club is a graphic novel with two stories in one book. In the first, Nadia and Priya are new students at their secondary school and are paired up to work on a science project. Nadia brings her artistic skills and Priya her coding skills, and the two work together to make a video game about climate change. The second story also involves a pair of students, Aqilah and Yong Qiang. In this case, however, the two are old friends who work together with their school’s librarian to make a makerspace for their fellow students. Tintin Pantoja, who has illustrated other graphic novels in the series, illustrated this one along with Melanie Ujimori.
Writing in School Library Journal, Annamarie Carlson praised this installment for its “cheery art” and “relatable characters.” She also noted that the “extensive” back matter includes material on video game design and an interview with a clothing designer. Carlson predicted the novel will be popular with students who are “passionate about STEM and friendship stories.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews called the novel “sweetly sincere feel-good stories exploring relationships and maker culture.” The reviewer praised the artwork as a “soothing rainbow-hued, pastel palette that matches the [stories’] easygoing feel.” They also pointed out that the two stories are presented in reverse chronological order. Jonathan Khan, in Booklist, called the novel “grounded” and “empowering” and praised the narratives as “meaningful” and “touching.” Khan also appreciated Yee’s “keen sense of realistic cultural diversity.”
[CLOSE NEW]
Yee told SATA: “I tell stories to share my love for the world: its histories, its cultures, and everything else. I hope to transform the reader positively in bringing to the forefront the kindness and wonder behind the small, quiet, mundane.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2022, Sarah Hunter, review of My Aunt Is a Monster, p. 43; July, 2024, Jonathan Khan, review of The Makers Club, pp. 53+.
Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2020, review of Séance Tea Party; July 15, 2022, review of My Aunt Is a Monster; July 1, 2024, review of the The Makers Club.
Publishers Weekly, July 13, 2020, review of Séance Tea Party, p. 78.
School Library Journal, August, 2020, Amanda Charles, review of Séance Tea Party, p. 76; July, 2024, Annamarie Carlson, review of The Makers Club, p. 67.
ONLINE
Asexual Artists, https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/ (August 29, 2018), Lauren Jankowski, author interview.
Comics Beat, https://www.comicsbeat.com/ (September 8, 2020), Avery Kaplan, “Interview: Reimena Yee on the Ghosts, Gutters, and Graveyards of Seance Tea Party.”
Difference Engine website, https://differenceengine.sg/ (August 27, 2018), author interview.
Los Angeles Review of Books, https://lareviewofbooks.org/ (October 8, 2022), M.L. Kejera, “To Read a Carpet: An Interview with Reimena Yee.”
Quiet Pond, https://thequietpond.com/ (September 9, 2020), “An Interview with Reimena Yee, Author of Séance Tea Party: On Making Comics, Ghosts, & Growing Up.”
Reimena Yee website, https://reimenayee.com (January 1, 2025).
About
Short bio:
Reimena is a strange and fancy graphic novelist, illustrator and designer originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and currently based in Melbourne, Australia. She is also the curator behind the Comics Devices Library and the co-founder and co-organiser of UNNAMED and the Cartoonist Cooperative.
Long bio:
Reimena Yee is a strange and fancy graphic novelist, illustrator, designer and comics outreach lead. Hailing from the dusty Malaysian metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, she is now based in Melbourne, Australia. She is greatly interested in the world, its histories and its cultures — a passion that once brought her down the road to a STEM career for half her life, before leaving to communicate her love of the world instead through art and story.
She is the author-illustrator of the gothic comics, The World in Deeper Inspection, the Eisner and Mcduffie-nominated The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya, the bildungsroman Séance Tea Party, the whimsical adventure-comedy My Aunt is a Monster, and the latest retelling of the life and legends of Alexander the Great. She also writes The Makers Club series, co-created with Tintin Pantoja.
As illustrator and designer, she brings the whimsical and poppy for clients like Dropmix, Girls Make Games, Adventure Time, DFTBA’s Bizarre Beasts, and Penguin Workshop among many others.
Elsewhere, Reimena is dedicated to comics outreach, documenting her creative process, and creating resources for fellow comics creators. She is the co-founder of UNNAMED, a regional grassroots collective for the comics ecosystem in Southeast Asia, and the Cartoonist Coop, a society for cartoonists across the world. She is the curator and taxonomist behind The Creator’s Guide of Comics Devices, and author of many free resources on her blog. She works part-time as lead data admin and manager and executive admin at Hiveworks Comics.
Media Kit
For use in media publications.
General Media Kit (link)
Contains author photos, selected illustrations and pages and a list of preferred questions/topics.
I've also prepared media kit folders for each book, which contains selected pages, concept art, promotional material and a specialised question list. Please email me to obtain the media kit for the book you need.
Selected Interviews & Articles
To Read a Carpet, LA Review of Books, 2022
Creating her own world, The Sun Daily (Malaysia), 2021
Eisner-nominated Malaysian artist Reimena Yee blurs the line between history and fantasy, The Malay Mail, 2020
Malaysian comics creator Reimena Yee weaves her own path to the future, The Star (Malaysia), 2020
An Interview with Reimena Yee, Author of Séance Tea Party; On Making Comics, Ghosts, & Growing Up, The Quiet Pond book blog, 2020
REIMENA YEE on the ghosts, gutters, and graveyards of SÉANCE TEA PARTY, The Beat, 2020
Artists You Should Know: Reimena Yee blends culture and history into rich emotional tapestries, The Beat, March 2018
The ‘Other’ Vampire, Farrago Magazine, August 2016
More Interviews
Reimena Yee
Author-illustrator of
The World in Deeper Inspection
The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya
2018 Eisner Award Nominee
2019 McDuffie Award Finalist
ALA List of Best Graphic Novels for Adults 2020
Angoulême Sélection Jeunesse 2024
Seance Tea Party
The A.V Club Best Comics of 2020
A Junior Library Guild Selection
ALA List of Best Graphic Novels for Children 2021
My Aunt is a Monster
Comic Arts Awards Australia Silver Ledger 2023
Alexander, The Servant & The Water of Life
The A.V Club Best Comics of 2021
Outstanding Artist Ignatz Awards Winner 2022
Comic Arts Awards Australia Nominee 2022
Licensing, Interviews and Such
Are you available for...
An interview: Yes, over email and via podcast. Please peruse the media kits above to prepare.
A panel, workshop or author appearance: Depends on my schedule and the timing of the event (I am based outside of the US). Please ask over email. I may require compensation for travel, materials and time.
A portfolio review: Yes, but I require financial compensation.
Can you answer my questions for an assignment?
I am sorry but I really don't have time nowadays to help with assignments. Fortunately I've done a few interviews (under the Media Kit section above) and I'm very open about my process in this FAQ (scroll down further), my blog and my Resources page.
How do I contact you?
I only respond to media and professional correspondence by email: reimenayee @ gmail
Who is your agent?
Jen Linnan of Linnan Literary Management.
Questions about licensing...
An illustration: If you'd like to license a drawing or illustration (which is NOT commissioned work by a third party client), please email me for permission and rates by stating your intended usage.
This includes intending to use already-made artwork for tattoos, but by courtesy. See this post for my specific stance on tattoos.
I'll be opening a storefront for clipart and stock illustrations in the near future.
A graphic novel/comic for translation and foreign rights: If you're a publisher or editor from another country and would like to publish my work for your local market, please email me, my agent and/or my original publisher to negotiate a deal.
A graphic novel/comic for media adaptation: If you'd like to adapt my work into another medium, please email me and my agent to obtain permission and negotiate a deal.
NFTs & Blockchains
I'm NOT INTERESTED in joining any NFT-related project. Or any speculative art market for that matter, even if it's cash. All offers will be blocked and deleted.
Any of my art found on a blockchain marketplace is unauthorised, stolen, fake and a scam by disreputable persons. None of those NFTs are original, none of the proceeds go to me, and none of those NFTs will have any value at any point in the future as they are not authorised and never will be. You better invest your tokens on something else. Alternatively, if you genuinely like my art, you can cash out your tokens and support me by buying my books or my Ko-fi.
Craft, Art and Process
What are your tools?
Photoshop CS6, Huion H610 Pro tablet, Huion Kamvas Pro 13, Macbook Pro 2012
iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Procreate, Astropad
Scrivener, Airtable, Notion.so, Goodnotes
Sketchbook, notebook, mechanical pencils (black and red leads)
What is your process?
The process changes slightly depending on the work I'm doing, but generally, once I have a concept/story for an illustration or a comic page, I sketch out the composition or page layout via thumbnails (on a piece of paper or an iPad Pro). For illustrations, I usually have several thumbnails from which I pick the best one, and for comics, I only have one thumbnail per page. The stages are more straightforward after that. I do a fully realised sketch in the actual dimensions of the work so I can correct any issues with placement and fine details, then immediately jump into the rendering.
With my own comics, there is a writing stage before all this drawing. Please read The Onion Method: How I Outline a Story, and The Onion Method: How I Art Direct a Graphic Novel.
My Resources page contains links to Twitter threads where I've documented every stage of my comics creation process for each book, alongside selected blog posts where I talk more generally and deeply about how I come up with ideas, bring an illustration to life, write stories, and exist as a creative.
Where can I find out more about your craft and your creative process?
My blog is the place for it.
Influences
What are your early influences?
Neil Gaiman, particularly The Graveyard Book; Dave Mckean's comic experiments; The illustrations of Chris Riddell; Hanna is Not a Boy's Name, by Tess Stone; Neopets; Frakenfran, by Katsuhisa Kigitsu; The Rabbi's Cat, by Joann Sfar
What are your influences now? How do they inspire you to make the art you do?
I'm inspired by the world and all that contains within. I love history and art history, and the things people have made with their hands across civilisations. I love science, because it teaches me how the world works, and that there is so much to pursue and be fascinated by, whether it's the small or big things. This scholarly interest in existence, of being a person interested in their surroundings, is what influences me to look deeper, to learn about how and why we live, to break and reshape the way we see our past, present and future. All the work that I make is an expression of this pursuit.
What authors/books/media are your inspiration?
Comics:
Through the Woods (and other webcomics), by Emily Carroll
Beauty, by Hubert and Kerascoet
Wandering Island, by Kenji Tsuruta
Books:
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres
The House at the Edge of Night, by Catherine Banner
Anything written by Alexander McCall Smith
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Andrew George translation
The Odyssey, Emily Wilson translation
The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
Film:
Amelie, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The Fall, Tarsim Singh
The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet
Prince of Egypt, Dreamworks
Most of the Studio Ghibli catalogue
Whisper of the Heart
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Pushing Daisies
Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, by Satoshi Kon
Satyricon, Federico Fellini
The thoughts and craft of Ursula K. LeGuin
All of Josh Groban's music, 20 years and going!
YEE, Reimena. The Makers Club. illus. by Tintin Pantoja & Melanie Ujimori. 224p. Andrews McMeel. Aug. 2024. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781524889760.
Gr 4-6--Readers are introduced to a group of friends who find joy in creating new things. In the first of two stories, Nadia and Priya--new students at Pangolin Secondary School--team up to make a video game about climate change. In the second story, Aquilah and Yong Qiang take center stage as they help the school librarian form a makerspace. Pantoja's cheery art fits the mold of many school-centered graphic novels, with the addition of vibrant facial expressions reminiscent of manga artwork. While the combination of relatable characters and the demand for realistic graphic novels will make this an easy book to recommend, the transition between the two stories is jarring, particularly with the second story chronologically taking place before the first. The setting is never made clear, though references to Malaysia and the Philippines in the glossary imply that this story takes place in Southeast Asia. The book features a diverse cast with varying skin tones, faith backgrounds, and abilities. Extensive back matter featuring video game design processes and an interview with a clothing designer will help draw connections between the story and real makerspace activities for young readers. VERDICT This graphic novel will be popular in libraries with makerspaces as well as with kids who are passionate about STEM and friendship stories. --Annamarie Carlson
KEY: * Excellent in relation to other titles on the same subject or in the same genre | Tr Hardcover trade binding | Board Board book | pap. Paperback | BL Bilingual | SP Spanish
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Carlson, Annamarie. "YEE, Reimena. The Makers Club." School Library Journal, vol. 70, no. 7, July 2024, p. 67. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A806586524/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0fca0be0. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
Yee, Reimena THE MAKERS CLUB Andrews McMeel Publishing (Children's None) $14.99 8, 6 ISBN: 9781524889753
Two sets of friends navigate challenging life circumstances while attending Pangolin Secondary School, where their resilience and creativity are put to the test.
When nervous new student Nadia Tan is assigned to work with classmate Priya Kumar on a science project, Nadia is hopeful that they can win the first-place cash prize to help her financially struggling family. Meanwhile, reserved Priya shuts the world out due to her parents' constant fighting. A year and a half earlier, Aqilah Zuraidi and Fu Yong Qiang reconnected after spending years apart. Yong Qiang is learning to accept that life is different now that he's a wheelchair user, and creative overachieving hijabi Aqilah faces the stress of trying to do too much. The varied layouts of the pages, which include the use of open panels, panel breaks, and design elements that enhance characters' expression of emotions, provide substantial visual detail for readers to pore over. The two stories in this graphic novel, presented in reverse chronological order, are colored in a soothing, rainbow-hued, pastel palette that matches the easygoing feel. Despite the potential for heaviness given some of the serious content, the gray-shaded scenes that are fraught with conflict quickly make way for happy resolutions. The ethnically diverse cast reflects a vibrant Southeast Asian setting, and an interview with adaptive-wear designer Claudia Poh offers fascinating insights into work that considers the needs of different users.
Sweetly sincere feel-good stories exploring relationships and maker culture. (glossary, about the characters, behind the scenes) (Graphic fiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Yee, Reimena: THE MAKERS CLUB." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A799332890/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a79d6de8. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
The Makers Club.
By Reimena Yee. Art by Tintin Pantoja and Reimena Yee.
Aug. 2024. 224p. Andrews McMeel, $22.99
(9781524889760). Gr. 4-8. 741.5.
Composed of two stories, this follows classmates Nadia, Priya, Aqilah, and Yong Qiang through their creative projects in secondary school. The first story focuses on Nadia, an artist, and Priya, a gamer, girls from different backgrounds who are teamed up for a school science project about climate change. They decide to make a game, but their different approaches and motivations lead to conflict. Gradually, they each learn to value each other's talents and eventually form a solid friendship. The second story centers on Aqilah and Yong Qiang; while the teens are dealing with personal issues, they're pouring their energy into helping the school librarian build a makerspace for students. Tensions take a toll on their friendship, but it comes back stronger as they resolve their differences. These meaningful, touching stories about collaboration, creativity, and growth are vibrantly drawn with bold colors and a deep understanding of how to communicate emotion, as well as a keen sense of realistic cultural diversity. Libraries serving middle school students, especially those active in their own makerspaces, will appreciate this grounded, empowering story.--Jonathan Khan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Khan, Jonathan. "The Makers Club." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 21, July 2024, pp. 53+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804615901/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=13618653. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.