Chiang graduated from Harvard College, with a joint degree in English Literature and Visual Arts.^[2]

Chiang illustrated the series Green Arrow/Black Canary, under writer Judd Winick, from issues 1 - 7, although he continued to supply cover art until issue #15.

Chiang wrote an 8-part Dr. Thirteen back-up story, "Architecture & Mortality", in Tales of the Unexpected with writer Brian Azzarello.

In September 2011, DC Comics launched a new Wonder Woman series as part of its line-wide New 52 title relaunch, with Chiang as artist on the title, reuniting him with his previous collaborator Brian Azzarello. The first issue of the series was released in September 2011.^[3]

In July 2012, as part of the San Diego Comic-Con, Chiang was one of six artists who, along with DC co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, participated in the production of "Heroic Proportions", an episode of the Syfy reality television competition series Face Off, in which special effects were tasked to create a new superhero, with Chiang and the other DC artists on hand to help them develop their ideas. The winning entry's character, Infernal Core by Anthony Kosar, was featured in Justice League Dark #16 (March 2013),^[4][5] which was published January 30, 2013.^[6] The episode premiered on January 22, 2013, as the second episode of the fourth season.^[7]

In 2015, Cliff began working on writer Brian K. Vaughan's creator-owned series for Image Comics, Paper Girls, for which Chiang won the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker.^[8]

In 2021, Chiang joined the Rewriting Extinction campaign to fight the climate and biodiversity crisis through comics. He teamed up with Brian Azzarello and contributed the art and lettering to the story "Oh No" which was released in the book The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World on 28 October 2021 by DK.^[9]

Chiang lives in Brooklyn, New York.^[2]

Interior comic work includes:

• The Big Book of... (anthology, Paradox Press):
  • "Little Red Cap" (with Jonathan Vankin, in The Big Book of Grimm, 1999)
  • "The Decade of Evel" (with Jonathan Vankin, in The Big Book of the 70s, 2000)
• Flinch #11: "Emergent" (with John Rozum, anthology, Vertigo, 2000)
• Vertigo Secret Files & Origins: Swamp Thing: "Bitter Fruit" (with Brian K. Vaughan, co-feature, Vertigo, 2000)
• Golden Age Secret Files: "The Dawn of the Golden Age" (with John Ostrander, co-feature, DC Comics, 2001)
• Martian Manhunter vol. 3 #35: "In My Life, Part Three" (with John Ostrander and Eduardo Barreto, DC Comics, 2001)
• Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War: "Inspiration!" (with Phil Jimenez and Jamal Igle, one-shot, DC Comics, 2001)
• Detective Comics (DC Comics):
  • Josie Mac (with Judd Winick, co-feature):
    • "Lost Voices" (in #763-772, 2001–2002)
    • "Trading Up" (in #784, 2003)
  • "Victims" (with Shane McCarthy, in #815-816, 2006)
• Grendel: Red, White and Black #4: "Evidence of the Devil" (with Matt Wagner, anthology, Maverick, 2002)
• Batman: The Golden Streets of Gotham (with Jen Van Meter and Tommy Lee Edwards, graphic novel, DC Comics, 2003)
• Beware the Creeper #1-5 (with Jason Hall, Vertigo, 2003)
• Human Target vol. 2 #6-10, 14–16, 19-21 (with Peter Milligan, Vertigo, 2004–2005)
• Nightwing vol. 2 #111, 113 (with Devin Grayson, DC Comics, 2005)
• Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #1-3: "Dead Again" (with Will Pfeifer, DC Comics, 2006)
• Tales of the Unexpected vol. 2 #1-8: "Dr. Thirteen" (with Brian Azzarello, co-feature, DC Comics, 2006–2007)
• Green Arrow/Black Canary #1-4, 6 (with Judd Winick, DC Comics, 2007–2008)
• Countdown to Final Crisis #4: "The Origin of Ra's Al Ghul" (with Scott Beatty, co-feature, DC Comics, 2008)
• Supergirl vol. 5 #50: "A Hero's Journey" (with Helen Slater and Jake Black, co-feature, DC Comics, 2010)
• The Brave and the Bold vol. 3 #33: "Ladies' Night" (with J. Michael Straczynski, DC Comics, 2010)
• Neil Young's Greendale (with Joshua Dysart, graphic novel, Vertigo, 2010)
• Zatanna vol. 2 #8-10 (with Paul Dini, DC Comics, 2011)
• DMZ #57: "Collective Punishment: Amina, Mother of One" (with Brian Wood, Vertigo, 2011)
• Wonder Woman vol. 4 #1-4, 7–8, 11–12, 0, 15–16, 18, 20–23, 27–29, 32-35 (with Brian Azzarello, DC Comics, 2011–2014)
• The Witching Hour: "Mars to Stay" (with Brett Lewis, anthology one-shot, Vertigo, 2013)
• Batman: Black and White vol. 2 #6: "Clay" (script and art, anthology, DC Comics, 2014)
• Thought Bubble Anthology #4: "Morning on Europa" (script and art, Image, 2014)
• Secret Origins vol. 3 #6: "The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman!" (co-scripting with Brian Azzarello, art by Goran Sudžuka, DC Comics, 2014)
• Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream: "Little Nemo in Slumberland" (script and art, anthology graphic novel, Locust Moon, 2014)
• Paper Girls #1-30 (with Brian K. Vaughan, Image, 2015–2019)
• Mine!: "Fright of the Morning Dread!" (with Brian Azzarello, anthology graphic novel, ComicMix, 2017)
• Where We Live: "Biography of a Bullet" (with Scott Bryan Wilson, anthology graphic novel, Image, 2018)

Covers only edit

• Cliff Chiang at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Cliff Chiang's website
• April 2007 Interview at The Outhouse
• December 2006 Interview at Newsarama.com