Indroduction

Jack T. Chick (b. 1924) is the creator of the "Chick Tracts" series of witnessing comic books, still in use by numerous Evangelical Christian groups in the United States and abroad. Almost everyone in the United States has come in contact with one of these pint-sized comic books at one point or another, but few bother to actually open them and read, let alone analyze the stories, characters, artwork, and dialogue that reflects more and more the personal views of Jack Chick than the Evangelical movement of the early 21st century. Even so, despite the archaic culture references, Chick Tracts remain a staple of the Fundamentalist Christian evangelical mission, and are especially popular with Evangelical groups who wish to minister to younger audiences, say on college and university campuses.

For those of you who have never seen one, a Chick Tract is a rectangular, bookmark-sized comic book. The tracts begin innocently enough usually with cryptic titles such as "The Bully" and "How to Get Rich," though some have more direct titles such as "Sin City" and "Why is Mary Crying?" which reveal more about the content inside. The books are usually 10-20 pages of comic books, with a Bible message at the end, and a prayer the reader can say at the conclusion to accept Christ and be saved. Since the first tracts were published in the 1960's, Chick Tracts have become a household name in the Evangelical community and a lucrative business for those dealing in the salvation of others.

In the years following the success of Chick Tracts, Chick founded his own publishing company to mass produce and distribute tracts all over the world. The publishing company currently prints and distributes tracts in 100 languages, and is constantly publishing newsletters under the heading "Battle Cry" to provide information to those new to the Evangelical fold.

But do these hundreds of tracts, numerous news letters, and condemnations of "sinners" truly serve any purpose, other than to question the sanity and intelligence of their creator? One need not read between the lines of Chick's comics to see the pen and ink representation of a reclusive, insecure man, so twisted by his beliefs that he relies on publication to legitimize his King James Movement beliefs, not to the world, but to himself. One only wonders what the future holds for Mr. Chick when St. Peter tells him "This Was Your Life" and shows him the intolerance, falsehoods, and ignorance he has brought into the world of Evangelism. As Mr. Chick resides in seclusion, declines most interviews, and has never been photographed in public, one only has his artwork to go by to build up a portrait of the artist, so to speak. It is not a flattering one.

I make no claims to be a theological scholar, but to me, the messages contained inside almost all Chick Tracts are fundamentally flawed, outdated, and in some cases, flat out wrong. It seems to me that if publication and distribution of these tracts is to be continued, a thorough analysis of each is required on a spiritual, literary, and last but not least factual level. In the months ahead, I will analyze each of Mr. Chick's works, deconstructing the characters, storylines, and spiritual messages with the eventual goal of creating a psychological persona of Jack T. Chick. I expect that Mr. Chick's inner demons are perhaps a bit more tangible than the cartoons on the page.