Sadly word is that Ernie Chan (Chua) has passed away. Ironically alongside Tony DeZuniga who died last week, Chan was another of the great Filipino artists who made a tremendous impact on Bronze Age comics.
Chan's inks over John Buscema's lusty pencils on Conan added a heft and gravity to the storytelling. Chan was really effective when he penciled and inked his own work.
My strongest memory of Chan, was when he was DC's go-to cover artist for a time. Like Gil Kane at Marvel, DC seemed to want to have a consistent look to the artwork on its covers and Ernie Chan got the nod drawing scores of covers for the company in the mid 70's.
Chan has remained busy and has done quite well on the fan circuit with lots of commission work around for us all to enjoy. Rest in peace Mr.Chan.
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Hi Rip,
ReplyDeleteLove the blog but spotted what looks like an unfortunate typo in this entry. You say: "Chan was nearly effective when he pencilled and inked his own work" - I'm guessing you meant "Chan was nearly AS effective when he pencilled and inked his own work."...?
Chan's 70s DC covers were always a treat, weren't they?
- Krusty
Thanks for the catch. I edit this puppy in public, so I'm constantly finding little things like that. Consider it fixed.
ReplyDeleteChan was an effective cover artist, despite some awkward figure work at times, they still popped.
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My drawing table was across from Ernie's when I worked on a movie on which he was an illustrator. Every now and then I'd ask Ernie if he minded when I stood behind him while he drew. He was very kind about it. I clearly remember seeing just a very few, faint rough lines indicating his composition. Then the drawing would begin, black prismacolor pencil on a 14x17 marker paper. Fully formed drawings, not sketches. This was stuff you could hang on the walls. I'd watch amazed and smiling like a little kid then head back to my own drawing board to scratch out a few storyboard frames.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful talent and,from my experience, a very nice man.
Fantastic memory. Thanks for sharing this insight into a great talent. It's clear the great ones see the world differently than we do, and this just proves it.
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