Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

  |  

Friday, September 3, 2010

Religion / Books / Nerd Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Jack Chick (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Posted by on Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 3:58 PM

Screen_shot_2010-09-03_at_3.16.31_PM.png
The Imp was a great magazine (or zine, I guess, depending on your definition of those two words) about comics. Author Daniel Raeburn only did four issues of The Imp, and they are all available for free download as PDFs now. Just visit Raeburn's site and click on the links. The issues about Dan Clowes and Chris Ware were both amazing, and I didn't even know that he produced a fourth issue, about saucy Mexican historietas.

But the issue of The Imp that I am most excited about everyone reading is issue #2: The Jack Chick issue. This is hardcore literary analysis of evangelical comics artist Jack Chick's body of work; calling him the Pynchon of evangelicals" is just the beginning.

Raeburn digs into the tracts, calling them "spiritual porn." He provides an alphabetical concordance to all of Chick's tracts, and he even closes the book with a map of the route that Chick takes to pick up his mail. It will probably answer any Jack Chick-related question you ever had. And it's free!

 

Comments (6) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Estey 1
My favorite thing about that issue *SPOILER ALERT (I guess)* was coming away with the same weird ... respect? ... Raeburn ended up sort of having for Chick. Dude's a lunatic but he "meant it, man!" If you collect the pamphlets, enjoy debating their weirdnesses, whatever, do not ignore this crucial inside read on his "empire."
Posted by Estey on September 3, 2010 at 4:40 PM
Original Andrew 2
I remember reading a Chick comic about Tha Hummuhseshuals left by some insane Southern Baptist neighbors when I was around 13 years old. The comic went into fetish-worthy detail about all the tense, forbidden secks I'd be having as an adult with a different Tom-of-Finland-style muscle bear every night. Let's just say this comic was satisfying for years, the equivalent of telling a horny-as-hayell straight teen they're gonna grow up and pound a different Playmate every night. Of course the poor kid in the comic eventually died from AIDS after he'd landed on the fat cobra every lovingly detailed, muscle-bulging hawt guy in the city, but still! Hawt as all-get-out.
Posted by Original Andrew on September 3, 2010 at 5:27 PM
Tingleyfeeln 3
Bad Bob was my favorite. Everytime I see one of those wackos passing out those tracts, I ask them if they have it!
Posted by Tingleyfeeln on September 3, 2010 at 5:48 PM
4
My brother gave me a box of tracts for Christmas a few years ago (as a joke). I have them displayed in my living room....they are horrible and yet fascinating....
Posted by b1anne on September 4, 2010 at 9:49 AM
Stacy in Austin 5
That was a fascinating read.
Posted by Stacy in Austin on September 6, 2010 at 6:59 AM
what_now 6
Great find, thanks Paul!
Posted by what_now on September 9, 2010 at 10:38 AM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy