2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

PETER LAWSexplores the workofthe shy cartoonist whoflooded theworld with visions of

Hell andtheoriesofdemonic conspiracy in an attempt to scare sinnersintoseeing the light

ILLUSTRATION

BY

QUINTON WINTER

32 FT389

W

hen Imentioned on

socialmedia that

Iwas writing an

articleabout the

latecartoonistJack

Chick, theresponsewas immediate.

Posts and messages pingedall day

from people saying they’dbeen

traumatisedbyhis work.Some felt

anger, somedisgust.Somecalled

him crueland said they’d hated

himsince childhood. Oneeven told

me thatshe and herfriends threw

an onlinepartywhen they heard

he’ddiedin2016.Othersguiltily

admitted thatwhiletheydespised

the man,theylovedhis ar tand even

collected it,sometimes in secret(my

owncollection stacks up atabout

120Chick works, so far).

Ever yone who’d seenhis work

seemed to have been‘affected’by

it,and perhapsthat’ snosurprise.

Chick’sart is an unforg ettable

paradeoft he grotesque, featuring

teenagershangingthemselves,

fathersraping theirdaughters and

meneatin gsevered fingers in the

rain.Yetitwasn’t the grislythemes

that reallyshookpeople, itwasthe

messages behindthem –coupled

with alevel of political incorrectness

that would makethe entireTwittersphere

explode.

Yousee, Chick wasadevoted Christian,

and hisChickTracts (smallreligiouscomic

books)weren’tonlyanti-gay, anti-evolution,

and prettymuch anti-everything,theywere

primarilydesignedtos ave us al lfromHell.

Onecommentatorcalled him “the most

widelyread theologian of all time”,and with

over900 million ChickTractsprinted sofar,

youcan seewhy. His mostpopular is called

This WasYourLife.It’sbeen translatedinto

120languages (Iownone in Zulu),spreading

aterri fying vision ofevangelicalconspiracy

theory acros sthe globe.Theworld,according

to Jack Chick, is infected with demonic

corruptionat all levels of society,politics and

(especially)religi on.

What madehis work even moreunsettling,

washowit cametomost people.Folks

didn’ tfind hi sart in galleries,read

hisstrips inanewspaper or find

histracts in the local comic book

store.Rather,Chick’ sworkseemed

to findthem,magicallyappearing

in the public placeswherethey

happenedtobe. People toldme

they’ dfoundChickTractstucked

in themagazines at the doctor’s

officeorwaitingforthem in apublic

toiletcubicle, perched on thepaper

dispenser.One manopened up a

brand-newheavy metalrecord to

findthat,unbeknownst to the store,

aChickTract had beenhidden

inside the sleeve.Manyotherswere

simplyhanded tractsdirect ly by

strangersint he stree t–likethe

hikerwho told meabout the time

he askedafriendlyold couplefor

direction sonapoorlymarkedtrail.

TheyslippedaChickTract into his

hand.Forwhat better direction

cantherebethan one which will

help youescape the fires ofHell, as

depicted vividly, and repeatedly, in

Chick’ swork? If youhaven’tfound a

Tractwaiting foryou yet, the Chick

faithfulmightsay the reason isacosmic one

–the Devil has beenactively keepin gthem

from you. Until now, of course.This article

mightbe your ownchance to see‘the light’.

Suchist he mystique thatsurrounds a

ChickTract’sjourney from pencil,toeye,to

soul. It’sseen as part ofadivinepublishing

visionthat hopesChick’s work will find

everybody in th eend.

GOOD NEWSANDBADNEWS

Youcan spotaChickTract instantly. At about

13x7cm, androughly20pages long, the

iconi clittlebooklets arejustatad smaller

thanabank note.That’saperfect si ze for

belie vers to carryinawallet or tuck into a

breast pocket, readyfor quickdeployment.

Thecovers have stark white text onasombre,

black backgroundonone side, andatwo-

toneillustration on theother.The pictures

THE TERRIFYING WORLD OF

JACK CHICK

ChickTractsare

the perfect size

forbelievers to

tuck into apocket

LEFT:Chicktracts all shareasimpleyet

memorabledesign.