Ernie Chan

Ernesto Chan (July 27, 1940 – May 16, 2012), born and sometimes credited as Ernie Chua, was a Filipino-American comics artist, known for work published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including many Marvel issues of series featuring Conan the Barbarian. Chan also had a long tenure on Batman and Detective Comics. Other than his work on Batman, Chan primarily focused on non-superhero characters, staying mostly in the genres of horror, war, and sword and sorcery.

His legal name was originally recorded as Ernie Chua, because, as he said, there was "a typographical error on my birth certificate that I had to use until I had a chance to change it to 'Chan' when I got my [U.S.] citizenship in '76." He migrated to the United States in 1970 and became a citizen in 1976. He was credited as Ernie Chua in his early career, but later used Ernie Chan professionally.

Chan entered the American comics industry in 1972 with DC Comics as a penciler on horror/mystery titles such as Ghosts, House of Mystery, and The Unexpected. By 1974, he was working regularly for Marvel Comics on Conan the Barbarian, inking pencil art by John Buscema. He also inked the art of Buscema's brother Sal Buscema on The Incredible Hulk.

From 1975–1976, Chan worked exclusively for DC including the artwork for Claw the Unconquered which was written by David Michelinie. While working on the Detective Comics series, he drew the first appearances of Captain Stingaree in issue #460 (June 1976) and the Black Spider in #463 (Sept. 1976). Under the name Chua, he was DC Comics' primary cover artist from approximately 1975 to 1977.

With Marvel Chan also pencilled several issues of Conan and Doctor Strange, and worked on Kull the Destroyer in 1977 and Power Man and Iron Fist in the 1980s. From about 1978 onward, he worked almost exclusively for Marvel and focused on Conan, including the annuals, in the 1980s.

In the early 1990s he joined Sega, providing character design and art for video games such as Eternal Champions.

In 2002, he retired except for commissioned artwork. Chan returned to comics to draw writer Andrew Zar's adult-oriented webcomic The Vat #1 in 2009.

Chan was based in Oakland, California, and had three children; his daughter Cleo Caron Chan was born April 25, 1978. His daughter Kate Ann Chan was born on July 8, 1980. Ernie Chan died on May 16, 2012, after a nearly yearlong battle with cancer.

Ernie Chan received an Inkpot Award in 1980.

In 2024, Chan was posthumously inducted into the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame.