Fun profile of Jack Chick, the guy behind those ubiquitous Chick’s Tract micro-comics which promise fire and brimstone for unbelievers (as defined by Chick).
The format is inviting—so small, so handy, mostly pictures. The first panel immediately plunges you into the action, as a paramedic huddles over Bobby, a teen who just overdosed on speed (we know this because the paramedic tells the crowd “HE OVERDOSED ON SPEED!”). “Wow! What a drag!” thinks one bystander. An elderly man preaches the gospel to a kid and is mocked and beaten by a man in a leisure suit. The bully drives off with the kid; their car is immediately hit by a speeding train. “YAAAAAA!” they scream. In the next panel they’re in the Inferno.
[…] With more than 500 million copies of his 142 books in print, including translations in more than 100 languages, Chick is the world’s most published living author. Even if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve probably seen his works, handed out on subways and campuses or left behind in diners and bus stations. His international fan base includes missionaries, academics, and clergymen as well as a legion of collectors who meticulously analyze every tract and newsletter he releases. Last year his 35-employee company made nearly $3 million in sales, mostly to churches, youth groups, and evangelically inclined individuals. His books have been displayed at the Smithsonian, parodied in National Lampoon, and praised by underground comic artists like Daniel Clowes and Robert Crumb.
The most disturbing bit of information, though? He lives in the same town as my parents …
(via BoingBoing)
What’s really funny to me is that Robert Ito has the same name as the actor who was Quincy’s Japanese-American assistant in the old late-seventies/early-eighties series Quincy, M.E.. I’m sure they are not related. 😉
Y’know, I noticed that. And I’d guess you’re correct — but I don’t know …
(I always liked his character.)
Road trip!
Don’t tell your parents where all their toilet paper went.
Hell, my folks are both active in the local Catholic Church — they’d probably be willing to buy TP for the cause, after reading some of Jack’s anti-Catholic screeds.
>He lives in the same town as my parents …
Not at all surprised. It’s definitely the most conservative town I’ve ever lived in. We didn’t even have a video arcade there back in our day.
Dave check this out. How many of your fellow games committed suicide?
Ahhh…
Thanks Rich, Now I know who this guy is. The evil that is Chick!