Ernie Chan was born Ernie Chua due to what he called "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."[3] He migrated to the United States in 1970 and became a citizen in 1976.[4] For a number of years, he worked under the name Ernie Chua but he was later credited as Ernie Chan.[5][6] He studied with John Buscema and worked with him as the inker on Conan during the 1970s. He also inked the art of Buscema's brother Sal on The Incredible Hulk.
Chan 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 in the 1980s.[6]
In 2002, he retired except for commissioned artwork[4] but returned to comics to draw writer Andrew Zar's adult-oriented webcomicThe Vat #1 in 2009.[12]
Personal life
Chan was based in Oakland, California, and had three children;[13] his daughter Cleo Caron Chan was born April 25, 1978. His daughter Kate Anne Chan was born on July 8, 1980. [14] Ernie Chan died on May 16, 2012, after a nearly yearlong battle with cancer.[2]
Conan the Barbarian #87, Annual #9–11 (full art); #26–36, 40–43, 70–86, 88–118, 131, 134, 142, 144, 147–153, 156–157, 168, 175, 177–178, 181–185, 187–190, 249–250, 252, 254, 275 (inks over John Buscema, Howard Chaykin, Gil Kane and Mike Doherty, 1973–1993)
^McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 163. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. David Michelinie's pen and Ernie Chan's pencils and inks provided the magic for this fantasy series that introduced Claw the Unconquered, a barbaric outlander with a deformed claw-like right hand.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "1970s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 123. ISBN978-1465424563. The swashbuckling villain Captain Stingaree...debuted in this volume by writers Bob Rozakis and future Batman movie producer Michael Uslan. Drawn by Ernie Chan, this story saw Stingaree launch a campaign against Batman.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Manning "1970s" in Dougall, p. 123: "The Black Spider made his way to Gotham City in this story's lead tale by writer Gerry Conway and artist Ernie Chan."