Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Ernie "Chua's" Batman

Greetings, Groove-opihiles! More Batman love from Ol' Groove, but this time from a different perspective. Ernie Chan grew to become one of the top inkers of the Groovy Age, but he was a pretty far-out all-around artist in his own right. His work on Claw the Unconquered and various Batman strips proved that. What Young Groove really dug was the truckload of Batman covers Ernie did (under the alias "Ernie Chua") for Batman and Detective Comics during a 1975-76 streak. His work was powerful, slick, and sometimes downright iconic. Check out a few of my faves and see for yourself!








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8 comments:

  1. Rip JaggerMarch 22, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    Wow Groove! I was just thinking it might be a good idea to feature Chua/Chan cover gallery. His time at DC as their go-to guy for covers is woefully ignored.

    Rip Off

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  2. BobMarch 22, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    Wow -- I remember the rat-cover giving me the heebie jeebies when I was a kid -- and it still does!

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  3. joe ackermanMarch 22, 2011 at 7:42 PM

    top drawer!

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  4. AnonymousMarch 23, 2011 at 2:54 AM

    He certainly seemed to like ladies in floor-length dresses...

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  5. AnonymousMarch 23, 2011 at 7:22 AM

    Yeah, in hindsight, I like a few of his covers better than I realized...too bad the interior stories of that era were garbage by any standard

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  6. LegbaMarch 25, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    Ernie Chan was also the semi-regular inker for the Incredible Hulk around '77-'78. Issues 212 and 223 are a couple of fine examples, with Chan inking over Rich Buckler (under his Ron Validar alias). I wish Chan had inked more interiors on the Hulk; his inks made Sal Buscema's pencils look better than just about anyone in that era.

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  7. woowoo jonesJune 14, 2013 at 8:02 PM

    Chua did some nice work on Batman. However, he & David V. Reed's Batman from the 70's never really meshed. Reed was writing "James Bond in a cape", while Chua was drawing "Conan in a bat-suit". His covers however, were great! A talented, talented man.

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  8. TrotterwinJuly 6, 2014 at 3:45 AM

    I have the printing plates (one for each of the 4 colors) for the cover of Batman No. 276 shown above. Does anyone have an idea of their value? I have had them since 1981, and have never seen anyone selling plates, nor their value.

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