Line #16 Trivia/ChickTracts


1	* BannedInChina: The tracts are, in fact, banned in China.[[note]]There still exist both Traditional and Simplified Chinese translations of a few of the tracts, however. The Chinese translations were either from before the tracts were banned in China, or made for Hong Kong and Taiwan but not mainland China.[[/note]] Also, a couple was found guilty of deliberately mailing certain anti-Islamic tracts to Muslims in Singapore, and convicted of sedition; the bookstore which had imported the Chick tracts for distribution was also dealt with. Some of his tracts have also been banned in Canada as hate literature.
2	** Poe's Law notwithstanding, the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Chick Publications as a [[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2011/11/02/pastor-apologizes-hate-filled-halloween-hand-out hate group]] due to their anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-pretty-much-everything-that-isn’t-Chick’s-exact-brand-of-Fundamentalist-Christianity views.
3	* CreatorBacklash: The company, as well as most likely Jack Chick himself, have banned a few Tracts over the years. The most infamous being the incestuous-pedophile-forgiven-by-Jesus strip [[http://www.angelfire.com/on/3angels/lisa.html "Lisa."]] Another being anti-homosexuality [[http://www.enterthejabberwock.com/?p=465 "Wounded Children,"]] most likely because, while it's stated in the Tract that being gay is the work of Satan, there's nothing in the Tract saying it's necessarily wrong either (unless you're Christian), as well as Satan actually being portrayed more positively than most likely intended, as he's apparently the only being who accepts David for who he is, who's not already gay himself, and actually tries to help him cope with life as a gay person in the 70s-90s, when the Tract takes place. Also regretted are those written during a time when Chick was convinced [[FailedFutureForecast Soviet Russia would start World War III]] by invading Israel under orders of UsefulNotes/{{the pope}}: [[http://www.angelfire.com/on/3angels/ivan.html "Ivan the Terrible"]] and [[http://www.angelfire.com/on/3angels/macho.html "Macho"]].
4	* CreatorBreakdown: Chick suffered a stroke after finishing "[[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0014/0014_01.asp Where's Rabbi Waxman?]]" in 1996. He also had a heart attack circa 2004, which [[WriteWhatYouKnow probably inspired]] this [[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1034/1034_01.asp tract]]. In his later years his artwork seems less polished and his writing tended to be slightly LighterAndSofter.
5	* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode:
6	** Judging from the number of times that characters in [[{{Metafiction}} other Chick tracts]] read and are moved by it, Chick seems to view "Somebody Loves Me" as his favorite.
7	** He obviously liked "This was Your Life!", based on the number of times he subjected it to CulturalTranslation.
8	* FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy: As [[https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2016/10/jack-chicks-unhappy-halloween/ explained here]], the various tracts that purport to reveal the true evil origins of Halloween (it was the night {{druid}}s went around sacrificing people!) are, at best, based on outdated theories, and at worst, complete fiction. Chick appears to have gotten this Druid/Halloween material from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(conspiracy_theorist) John Todd]], who later served a prison sentence and died in a psychiatric hospital.
9	* FollowTheLeader: Chick took a dim view of pop culture in his tracts, but he was also savvy enough to jump on a trend's bandwagon from time to time, most famously with his anti-TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons tract "Dark Dungeons". "Bewitched?" opens with a TakeThat to the [[Series/{{Bewitched}} title show]] (though, oddly, earlier editions [[http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2016/10/the-unsavory-jack-chickdark-shadows.html had Satan]] watching ''Series/DarkShadows'' instead). "Boo!" is a SlasherMovie takeoff. "The Nervous Witch" seems to have been inspired by ''[[Series/Charmed1998 Charmed]]'', with a character even saying "'''''Charmed''''', I'm sure," but he also shoehorned in a couple awkward references to Franchise/HarryPotter. "First Bite", with its teen vampire character, appears to be a riff on ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', with caricatures of characters from other places as well.
10	* HeAlsoDid: Long before he converted and became a fundamentalist, Chick drew for a single-panel comic strip called ''Times Have Changed?'', which was similar to ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' or ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'', [[OlderThanTheyThink but predated both.]] [[HilariousInHindsight Ironic given the latter's stint as a Christian comic.]]
11	* OutlivedItsCreator: David W. Daniels has taken over the creation of the tracts after Chick's death. His work seems more theologically mainstream and aimed at younger readers.
12	* ReclusiveArtist: Chick courted some publicity early in his career (including appearances on evangelical TV shows), but after 1975 stayed out of the spotlight, allegedly because of his shyness and fears for his safety (though not having to answer for the many flaws in his work was a nice side-benefit).
13	* RecycledScript: The "[[QuestioningTitle Spellbound?]]" issue of Chick's full-color ''Crusaders'' comics from 1978 (dissected [[http://www.boolean-union.com/Chick/Comics/Spellbound/Spellbound.htm here]]) first laid out the theory that trick-or-treating is descended from a horrific door-to-door sacrifice ritual carried out by {{druid}}s on Samhain. A theory that has no [[FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy basis in fact]]. Nevertheless, Chick regurgitated it for many of his later Halloween tracts, even copying some of the artwork (including one panel of a druid carrying an Egyptian ankh for no obvious reason). You can also see the roots of classic tracts like "Angels?" (the depiction of TheNewRockAndRoll as being a literal invention of Satan) and "Dark Dungeons" (the hooded figures in a CandlelitRitual around a floor pentagram, a blonde Debbie-ish teen renouncing the occult) in "Spellbound?".
14	* ReferencedBy: The phrase [[https://images.genius.com/a29bfd69f2cd7d99be2822d5ac00c6cd.904x519x1.jpg "God told me to skin you alive"]], from “Why No Revival”, was adopted by both Music/DeadKennedys, who open "I Kill Children" by saying that quote, and their artist, who titled a collage (better known as the cover of Music/GreenDay's ''Music/{{Insomniac}}'') after it.
15	* SimilarlyNamedWorks: Chick's ''Dark Dungeons'' (about how D&D is '''''[[EmphasizeEverything EEEVIL]]''''') has nothing to do with Red Hook's ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' (a Lovecraftian horror Roguelike RPG).

Context Trivia / ChickTracts