Billy Tan was born in Malaysia and moved to the United States when he was 18,[1] in 1989 to study business at the University of Kentucky.

He began working as a penciler for Image Comics in the 1990s.

[2] Tan became the regular artist of the Marvel Comics series Uncanny X-Men in 2006.

In 2008, he was invited to draw the New Avengers issues #41 and 43-44 that tied into the "Secret Invasion" storyline, before being offered to replace Leinil Francis Yu as the new regular artist on the title.

[3] Tan took over the flagship Green Lantern title as ongoing penciller beginning with issue #21.