Billy Tan was born in Penange, Malaysia. After graduating from the local high school in 1989, he went abroad to the United States to get his degree at the University of Kentucky. He was reintroduced to American comics during the study, and put together a portfolio. He did his first comics work for Top Cow Productions. Among his credits are titles like 'Codename: Stryke Force', '21', 'Tales of Witchblade', 'Spirit of the Tao', 'Tomb Raider', 'Inferno' and 'Witchblade Obakemono'. Over at Marvel, he had a regular run on 'X-23' with Craig Kyle and 'Marvel Knights Spider-Man'. Besides drawing comics, he also freelances in illustration, design and storyboards.