Jack Chick Tracts
19/6/19
California born cartoonist and evangelical fundamentalist Christian Jack Chick (1924-2016) is famous for producing a number of 'Chick Tracts', small comic-books that are essentially sequential-panel morality plays meant to evangelise to the reader. Chick was a secretive individual who rarely gave interviews but his fundamentalism was at the fire-and-brimstone end of religious moralising. For instance, he was a was a believer in the King James Only movement, which posits that every English translation of the Bible more recent than 1611 promotes heresy or immorality and he believed the end-times was very very nigh.
The company Chick Publications, claim to have sold over 750 million tracts and they have been translated into 100 languages; including obscure native dialects and even Esperanto. There are several recurring themes in the tracts: virulent anti-catholicism and homophobia; a demonisation of Mormonism, Islam and other religions; and a fear of satanism coming from things like Dungeons and Dragons or literary fantasy. The comics also promote anti-evolution and anti-global warming tropes. They usually end with a suggested prayer for the reader to pray to accept Jesus and included with the prayer are directions for converting to Christianity. The tracts have been very popular with evangelists and missionaries due to the books' accessible format and are often handed out by evangelists.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Chick Publications as an active hate group and the company has faced criticism from Catholic, Muslim, Hindu and secular groups for spreading hatred and lies. Many of the tracts are available online and if you've a strong stomach you can go read them yourself. https://www.chick.com/products/category?type=tracts