Jack Chick facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jack Chick
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| Born |
Jack Thomas Chick
April 13, 1924 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Died | October 23, 2016 (aged 92) Alhambra, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Publisher, comic book creator, writer, evangelist |
| Known for | Chick tracts |
| Spouse(s) |
Lola Lynn Priddle
(m. 1948; died 1998)Susie a.k.a. Susy Chick |
| Children | 1 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/ |
U.S. Army |
| Rank | Private |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Jack Thomas Chick (born April 13, 1924 – died October 23, 2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher. He was most famous for his Christian comic books, known as "Chick tracts." These comics shared his strong Christian beliefs through stories.
Chick's comics often presented his views on different groups. His company, Chick Publications, has sold over 750 million comics and books. These materials promote a type of Christianity called Evangelical Protestantism. His comics have been translated into more than 100 languages.
Jack Chick was an Independent Baptist. He believed in a specific view of the End Times. He also believed that only the 1611 King James Bible translation was truly correct.
Contents
Jack Chick's Early Life
Jack Chick was born in Boyle Heights, a part of Los Angeles. Later, his family moved to Alhambra, California. In high school, Chick was active in the drama club. He said he was not religious during his school years. After finishing high school, he studied drama at the Pasadena Playhouse School of Theater. He even received a scholarship for two years.
In February 1943, during World War II, Chick joined the U.S. Army. He served for three years in the Pacific theater. He worked in cryptography (secret codes) in places like New Guinea, Australia, the Philippines, and Japan. Chick said his time overseas made him want to translate his comics into many languages. He felt a special desire to help missionaries.
After the war, he went back to the Pasadena Playhouse. There, he met Lola Lynn Priddle (1926–1998), who would become his wife. Lola was from Canada and came from a very religious family. Chick said she helped him become a Christian. Lola and her parents introduced him to a radio show called The Old-Fashioned Revival Hour. Chick said he became a Christian while listening to this show.
Chick and Lola married in 1948. They had one daughter, Carol, who passed away in 2001. Lola died in February 1998. Later, Jack Chick married again to a woman named Susie or Susy.
In 2005, Chick shared that he had a serious health problem. He said he got pneumonia, his blood sugar dropped very low, and he had a heart attack. He then had to have heart surgery.
Jack Chick did not often talk to the public. He gave only one known interview after 1975. He passed away in his sleep at age 92 on October 23, 2016. His burial was private.
Jack Chick's Career in Comics
From 1953 to 1955, Jack Chick drew a cartoon called Times Have Changed?. Another person wrote the words for it. This cartoon was similar to later comic strips like B.C. and The Flintstones. Newspapers in the Los Angeles area published these cartoons.
After he became a Christian, Chick wanted to share his faith with others. However, he was too shy to talk to people directly about religion. He heard from a missionary that the Chinese Communist Party used small comic books to spread their ideas in the 1950s. Chick also worked with a prison ministry. He created a flip chart with drawings to use in his talks. This gave him the idea to create small comic books, or "tracts," that people could easily share.
While working for a company that made tape recorders, he published his first tract in 1960. It was called Why No Revival? He used a loan from his credit union to pay for it. In 1962, he published his second tract, A Demon's Nightmare. He decided to make more comics and started working from his kitchen table. Christian bookstores were not eager to sell his tracts at first. But missionaries and churches found them very useful.
Chick Publications and Their Comics
He officially started Chick Publications in 1970. At first, Chick wrote and drew all the comics himself. In 1972, he hired another artist, Fred Carter, to illustrate many of the tracts. Carter's work was not credited until 1980. Carter also painted the pictures for The Light of the World, a Christian film Chick produced.
Chick Publications has released over twenty-three full-color "Chick comics." Most of these were published between 1974 and 1985. The first eleven comics are part of the Crusader comics series. These stories follow two Christians and discuss topics like the occult (magic), Bible prophecy, and the theory of evolution.
Chick Publications also gives out "Chick tracts." These are small comic books with religious messages. Many of these can be read on the company's website. The most popular Chick tract is "This Was Your Life!" It has been translated into about 100 languages. Many other tracts are available in languages like Arabic, German, Spanish, and Tagalog. Some of Chick's tracts have even been translated into less common languages.
Controversies and Criticisms
Six of Jack Chick's comics feature a person named Alberto Rivera. Rivera was an activist who spoke against the Catholic Church. He claimed he was once a Jesuit priest before becoming a Fundamentalist Protestant. Rivera was the source for many of the conspiracy theories about the Vatican and the Jesuits that Jack Chick shared.
Some groups, like Catholic Answers, have strongly criticized Chick's views on the Catholic Church. They have called his statements "bizarre" and asked for his comics to be corrected. In the early 1980s, some Christian bookstores stopped selling his tracts because of his strong views. Chick said he was against the Roman Catholic Church as an organization, but not against individual Catholics. On his website, he said he published his theories because he "loves Catholics and wants them to be saved."
After Jack Chick passed away, a book about his life was published in 2017. It is called You Don't Know Jack: The Authorized Biography of Christian Cartoonist Jack T. Chick. This book includes some photos of Chick that had not been seen before.
Images for kids
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Jack Chick, a cartoonist and publisher.
See also
In Spanish: Jack Chick para niños
