FT389 39have claimedtobeabastion of light,but he
seemedfarmorecreatively inspiredwhen
depictingevil. Perhaps,that’s because he’d
seenthe powers of darkness close at hand...
AHEAVENLYWAR
Sinc eChick sawthe worldasaclash
between cosmicgoodand evil, it’ sno
surprisetofind that he viewedhis own
work as abattle. He calledhis office‘The
WarRoom’ because,as David Danielstold
me,“spiritua lwarfar etakes place there.”
Subsequently, Chick waskeen topresent
Christianityasamuscula r, battle-ready
solutionto th eworld ’s ills. It’sseenmost
clearly inTheSissy?,inwhichagrufftrucker
calle dDukeisconvinced that anyturn-the-
other-cheekChristia nmustbe“agutless
idiot”. Until,that is,ahunk yChristianman
describes howtrulyhardcorethe crucifixion
was(“Itcut hismuscles and bloodvessels to
shreds!”).Atotally rippedJesus is shown on
the cross,and Dukeconverts right there in
theTruck Stop –because “Jesus had more
gutsthan anyman thateverlived... andI
love himfor that!”
Chickdidn’tsee believersasweaklings:
theywerewarriors, headinginto spiritual
battle, and naturallythe warbrought
personaldanger too. He wroteTheLast
Call(one of his earliertracts) in his lunch
and coffee breaksatworkand kept the
manuscript in his car;when thevehicle burst
intoflames, he sawitasaspiritual attack.
Yetthe Lordhad hi sback. When the firewas
put out,hefound that God had “preserved
thatbook”–and through the insurance, he
even “reupholsteredmy carfor me.”Chick
wasrumoured tohave feared assassination.
In time,aless dramatic,but no less tragic
spiritualbattle came closer to home.
His wife Lola had sufferedill health
formanyyears. She diedin1999 while
paramedics tried torevive her on thedining
room floor–perhaps thevery sameroom
where he andhis ‘HoneyGirl’ had created
Jack’s first ever tracts,alifetime earlier.Yet
it washis daughter,Carol, who fellvictim
to th everyevils Chickhad warnedoff or
so long.In th eauthorisedbiography, it’s
reve aledthatCarol Chick wasturnedonto
witchcraft at highschool, wasmarri ed twice,
had anabortion,and became addicted to
chemicalcocktails which turned her into a
wheelchair bound‘wrec k’.She eventually
diedin2001, beforeshe turned 50.The pages
of aChickTract ha dtragicallyspilled over
intohis ownfamilylife, yetthe sh yartist
withthe macho heartwasn’t about to give
up the battle.Hekept writing and designing
tracts up until his deathonSunday23
October 2016–narrowly missing thechance
to do battle with one last Hallowe’en. He
wassurroundedby hisfello wworkers,who
releasedasocia lmedia statement.The
companyvowedtocarry on hi smission:
“Ourpromisetoyou –Nothingchanges;The
Method,TheVision,ThePurpose.”
ChickPublications still thrivestoday, with
newartists takingup the legacy. And with
amassivebackcatalogue of Chick’s work,
thereseems no sign that ChickTractswill
stop appearing.TOUGHLOVE
Considering that ChickTractshave been
spotted prettymuch ev erywhere, it ’s ironic
thatduringhis life their creatorwasrarely
spotted anywhere. He became something
of arecluseand anotoriousrefuse rof
interviews. Pictures of himwere hardto
comebyuntil his death, when his successors
started sharingtheirs.
His reluctancetobeintervi ewed is no
surprisetome; looking at hiscareer–and
his many,manytracts–we find aman who
wanted tobe in control. It’swhy whentalk
arose of turning hisCrusaderscomi cs into a
TV show,herefused.Isuspect it’s also why
the tractsnever ca rriedpaid advertising.In
aworld filled with demonicconspiraciesat
the highest level, ho wcould Chickensure
thathis messagewasn’t compromisedby
relying on outside agencies? Hefoundthe
answerbyf ocusing on littlebooksofs tapled
paper sheets that seemed ephemeral;yet
the art andideas theycontained hadarare
powerthat stillfascinates peopletoday,
regardless oftheir beliefs.The folksatChick
Publications attributethe poweroft hese
tracts to the HolySpirit,moving through the
pencil ofaman whosimply wanted to save
us from theforces of darkness.They’dsay his
motivationwas lo ve,not hate.
Yetfor others,ChickTractscan onlyever
be expressions of prejudice,paranoia and
acruellackof lo ve.For so me,who took a
seatinacoffe eshopand foundabooklet of
terrorwaitin gfor them, the meremention
of hi snamebrings achill.One atheist told
me that, thanks toJack Chic k, he remains a
“mildlyparanoidadult”.Now that Chickis
gone, perhapswe’ll ne verknowwhat reallydrove him–love,intolerance or somethingin
between.Unless of coursewe getour an swer
at th eend of li fe, whenwe tumbleinto
hellfiretodiscoverthat the paranoidworld
of Jack Chic kwasn’tsoparanoid after all.
As the demonsstart tearin gout our tongues,
we might hearhis voice echoing from the
distant fieldsofHeaven, saying: “Itdidn’t
have to be thisway. Isent youmytracts,but
youjustdidn’tlisten .”ASPECIAL MESSAGETOFT
READERS,DIRECT FROMCHICK
PUBLICATIONS
Iasked DavidDaniels, headofChick
Publications,ifhehad anyspecialmessage
to pass on toForteanTimesreaders. Here’s
whathesaid:
“Thi slife is temporary. One slipand it’s
all over. What matters most is eternity.And
placingyour faith in the shed blood of the
LordJesus Christto payfor your sinsist he
doortot he best thereisineternity.And
consider whomyouare serving.AsJack
wouldsay:“If youare not serving the Lord
Jesus Christ,you ar eserving the loser.”God
blessyouall as youconsider thesethings.–
David”To read ChickTracts, visit http://www.chick.com to
viewmostint heir entirety forfree.Youcan
alsoorder aselectionpackfor areasonable
price.Orofc ourse,you canwait forone to
appearunderyourcar’swindscreen wiper...Tractartworkand text ©JackTChick LLC,
http://www.chick.com. Usedby permission.
CoverofYou Don’t Know Jack ©2017by
DavidW. Daniels, http://www.chick.com. Usedby
permission.✒PETERLAWSis an ordainedminister with
afascination for the macabre,anauthor,
journalist, film critic,public speaker and FT
regular.Heisthe creator of the Matt Hunter
novel series,the latest of which,Possessed,
will be published inFebruary.HTTPS://CHICK.COM/PRODUCTS/TRACT?STK=1ABOVE:Comparedto Chick’sdepictionsof evil,
his Godisabitfaceless tosaytheleast.BELOW:
The Sissy?seesaburlytruckerfindingJesus and
becomingahardcore Christianwarrior.