Jack T. Chick
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Jack Thomas Chick (April 13, 1924 – October 23, 2016) was an American
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "
Chick tract Chick tracts are short evangelical gospel tracts, originally created by American publisher and religious cartoonist Jack Chick in the 1960s. His company Chick Publications has continued to print these tracts, in addition to those by new writer ...
s". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morality plays. Many of his tracts accused
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
,
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
, and many other groups of murder and conspiracies. His comics have been described by Robert Ito, in ''
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
'' magazine, as "equal parts hate literature and fire-and-brimstone
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...
izing". Chick's views have been spread mostly through the tracts and, more recently, online. His company, Chick Publications, says it has sold over 750 million tracts, comics tracts and comic books, videos, books, and posters designed to promote
Evangelical Protestantism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...
from a Christian fundamentalist perspective. They have been translated into more than 100 languages. Chick was an
Independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse af ...
who followed a premillennial
dispensationalist Dispensationalism is a system that was formalized in its entirety by John Nelson Darby. Dispensationalism maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with humanity in different ways. Dispensationali ...
view of the End Times. He was a believer in the
King James Only movement The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of Conservative Anabaptist, Conservativ ...
, which posits that every English translation of the Bible more recent than 1611 promotes heresy or immorality.


Biography

Chick was born in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, and later moved with his family to
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...
. There Chick was active in the high school drama club. According to Chick, he was not religious in high school. After graduation, he continued his drama education at the Pasadena Playhouse School of Theater on a two-year scholarship. In February 1943, during World War II, Chick was drafted as a private into the U.S. Army. He served for three years in the
Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, serving in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
, Australia, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, and Japan working in
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
. Although he did not see combat, "almost all" of the fellow servicemen he befriended were killed in action, and many of them engaged in activities such as visiting brothels. Chick credited his time overseas for inspiring him to translate his tracts into many different languages and said that he had "a special burden for missions and missionaries". After the war, he returned to the Pasadena Playhouse, where he met his future wife while working on a production there. Lola Lynn Priddle (1926–1998), a Canadian immigrant, came from a very religious family, and Chick has said that she was "instrumental in his
salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
". Priddle and her parents introduced Chick to the
Charles E. Fuller Charles Fuller (1939–2022) was an American playwright and writer. Charles Fuller may also refer to: *Charles Fuller (footballer) (1919–2004), English footballer *Charles E. Fuller (Baptist minister) (1887–1968), American Christian clergyman ...
radio show ''The Old-Fashioned Revival Hour'', and Chick said that he was
converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
while listening to an episode of this show. Chick and Priddle married in 1948. They had one child, a daughter named Carol, who died in 2001 from surgery complications. In February 1998, Priddle died. The widower Chick remarried, to an Asian woman whose name has been variously reported as Susie and Susy. In a 2005 issue of his company's newsletter, ''Battle Cry'', Chick reported that he had a life-threatening health emergency sometime between 2003 and 2005. He said, "My flu turned into pneumonia, my blood sugar dropped to 20 (I am diabetic)... I was going into a coma. My wife called 911 and while they were on the way, I had a heart attack. A day or so later I had to undergo a triple bypass." Chick had limited personal contact with the public; he gave only one known professional interview after 1975. The lack of available public information about him created some speculation that he was a pen name for unnamed authors. Chick died in his sleep at age 92. His body was discovered on the evening of October 23, 2016, in his home at Alhambra, California. The interment was private.


Career

From 1953 to 1955, Chick drew a single-panel cartoon, whose text was written by P. S. Clayton, titled ''Times Have Changed?'' It thematically resembled the '' B.C.'' comic strip and '' The Flintstones'' animated cartoon, but predated both. These were syndicated by the Mirror Enterprises Co. in Los Angeles area newspapers. After converting to Christianity, Chick wanted to evangelize others, but he was too shy to talk to people directly about religion. Chick heard from missionary Bob Hammond, who had broadcast in Asia on the
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
, that the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
had gained significant influence among ordinary Chinese in the 1950s through the distribution of small comic books. Chick also began working with a prison ministry and created a flip chart of illustrations to use with his presentation. He hit upon the idea of creating witnessing tracts, which could be given to people directly or indirectly. While working for the AstroScience Corporation (a maker of tape recorders and avionics for the U.S. government) in
El Monte, California } El Monte (Spanish for "The Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically ...
, he self-published his first tract, ''Why No Revival?'' in 1960. He paid for it with a loan from his credit union. He published his second tract, ''A Demon's Nightmare'', in 1962. He decided to create more tracts and began "using his kitchen table as an office and art studio". Christian bookstores were reluctant to accept the tracts, but they were popular among missionaries and churches. He officially established Chick Publications in 1970 in
Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...
. Initially, Chick wrote and illustrated all of the comics himself, but in 1972 he hired another artist to illustrate many of the tracts. Fred Carter illustrated tracts anonymously until 1980, when he was identified in an issue of Chick's newsletter ''Battle Cry''. Carter also painted the oil paintings seen in '' The Light of the World'', a film Chick produced that related the Christian gospel.


Chick Publications

Chick Publications released over twenty-three full-color "Chick comics" since its founding. They are full-size comic books, and most were first published between 1974 and 1985. The first eleven form the ''Crusader comics'' series, which follows the stories of two fundamentalist Christians and addresses topics such as the
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
,
Bible prophecy Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from G ...
, and the
theory of evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...
. Chick Publications also distributes "Chick tracts", small comic tracts with religious messages. Most of these can be viewed in their entirety on the company's website. The most popular Chick tract was "This Was Your Life!". It has been translated into around 100 languages, and many other tracts are available in widely spoken languages such as
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, German, Spanish, and Tagalog. Several of Chick's tracts have been translated into less widely-spoken languages as Blue Hmong,
Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California, ...
, Ngiemboon, Tshiluba, and the constructed language of
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
.
Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...
n author
Kerr Cuhulain Kerr Cuhulain is the pen name of Canadian Wiccan and retired Detective Constable Charles Ennis. A former child abuse investigator, he is the author of several articles on child abuse investigation that appeared in '' Law & Order Magazine''. A ...
has described Chick and his theories as being " anti-feminist" and "anti-
Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
", noted that a Chick Publications comic book was the source of a
Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
police detective's presentation on the history of
Satanism Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few hi ...
given in 1989, and describes him as "easily the least reputable source of reliable information on religious groups". Six of Jack Chick's comics feature Alberto Rivera specifically: ''Alberto'', ''Double Cross'', ''The Godfathers'', ''The Force'', ''Four Horsemen'', and ''The Prophet''. Rivera was an anti-Catholic religious activist who claimed to have been a Jesuit priest before becoming a Fundamentalist
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. Rivera was the source of many of the conspiracy theories about the Vatican and the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
espoused by Jack Chick. '' Catholic Answers'' has called Chick "savagely anti-Catholic", describes Chick's statements about the Catholic Church as "bizarre" and "often grotesque in their arguments", and calls for the tracts to be pulled from the market and corrected. In the early 1980s, Chick's stance on Catholicism led some Christian bookstores to stop stocking his tracts, and he withdrew from the
Christian Booksellers Association CBA (formerly known as the Christian Booksellers Association), subtitled "The Association for Christian Retail since 1950", is a trade association that was established in 1950. History The association was first organized by 219 Christian booksto ...
after the association considered expelling him. ''
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' described Chick as an example of "the world of ordinary, nonlearned evangelicals", for whom "atavistic anti-Catholicism remains as colorful and unmistakable as ever". Michael Ian Borer, a sociology professor of
Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
at the time, showed Chick's strong anti-Catholic themes in a 2007
American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...
presentation and in a
peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
article the next year in ''
Religion and American Culture ''Religion and American Culture'' is a biannual academic journal published by University of California Press on behalf of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture (Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis). The journa ...
''. Chick responded to these accusations by saying that he was opposed to the Roman Catholic Church as a sociopolitical organization, but not to its individual members. On his "Roman Catholicism FAQ", Chick said he began publishing his theories about the Roman Catholic Church because "he loves Catholics and wants them to be saved through faith in Jesus". In the wake of Jack Chick's death, a biography, ''You Don't Know Jack: The Authorized Biography of Christian Cartoonist Jack T. Chick'' by David W. Daniels, was published by Chick Publications in 2017. The book contains a number of previously unpublished photographs of Chick.


References


Citations


Sources

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External links


Chick Publications website

''God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick''archive
2008 documentary film about Jack Chick and Chick Publications)

Includes tracts discontinued and removed by Chick Publications.

by William A. Donohue (Catalyst, October 1996) (Internet Archive) Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights—an overview of the Chick Tracts.

nbsp;– A rebuttal to Chick Publications's statements about Masonry

an interview with Jack Chick

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chick, Jack 1924 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers 20th-century Baptists 21st-century Baptists American cartoonists American Christian Zionists American comics artists American comics writers American conspiracy theorists American critics of Islam American evangelicals United States Army personnel of World War II Anti-Masonry Artists from Los Angeles Baptists from California Christian conspiracy theorists American Christian creationists Christian fundamentalists Comic book publishers (people) Critics of the Catholic Church Christian critics of Islam King James Only movement Male critics of feminism Military personnel from California People from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles People from the San Gabriel Valley Premillennialism United States Army soldiers Writers from Los Angeles Converts to Christianity Christian comics creators