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Assets: Christian Comics Find Redemption for Up to $500
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jack T. Chick has been practically giving away his pocket-sized Christian comic books for 40 years, but some fans are willing to redeem certain titles for as much as $500.
These ubiquitous gospel tracts feature a dramatic story line that typically ends with an ultimatum: “The Bible says there’s only one way to heaven! Nobody else can save you. Trust Jesus today!” The covers, in black-and-white plus another color, have titles like “The Word Became Flesh,” “The True Path” and “Allah Had No Son.”
They turn up mysteriously in bathrooms, buses, airports and anyplace else where a lost soul might find redemption.
Chick’s Rancho Cucamonga, California, publishing company has printed more than 500 million of these pamphlets in more than 100 languages, making him the most widely read underground comic book writer and an American pop culture icon — so much so that the tracts are enshrined in Washington’s Smithsonian Institution.
Surprisingly, many collectors do not subscribe to the fire-and-brimstone philosophy contained in the booklets, which condemn the Vatican as a tool of Satan, portray Allah as a pre-Islamic moon-god and liken Freemasons to sorcerers. Even humanitarian missionaries who focus on doing good deeds instead of spreading God’s Word would be sent to hell, according to tracts like “Flight 144″ and “Reverend Wonderful.”
Many Chick collectors hate his guts but love his unintentional camp humor.
“A lot of people are ashamed of their fascination for Jack Chick,” said Kurt Kuersteiner, founder of the Chick Tract Club. “Even Catholics and gays collect it. It’s a guilty pleasure.”
The author of “The Unofficial Guide to The Art of Jack T. Chick” (Schiffer, http://www.schifferbooks.com/) published this month, Kuersteiner has a standing offer to pay $500 for the African-American version of Chick’s “A Demon’s Nightmare.” He said he only knows of one copy, printed in the early 1970s, that he saw during a visit to Chick Publications in 2001.
About 100 Chick tracts are in print, selling for 14 cents each — or less for bulk orders — from the publisher (http://www.chick.com).
The price makes these pamphlets appealing to collectors, who can get all 100 brand-new for about $14, unless they want each and every color or some other variation.
Because the tracts are small (3 inches by 5 inches), they are easy to store, and collectors can trade them by mailing them in a regular envelope.
Chick adds new titles about every two months.
Of the 75 or so discontinued titles, some have sold for more than $200, but most are still available for less than $25, Kuersteiner said. The going rate for “Poor Revolutionist” is about $150, he noted.
However, discontinued titles can suddenly be reprinted and flood the market, causing a sudden drop in prices. Hard-to-find tracts include “Don’t Read That Book” and “Secret of Prayer,” which Robert Fowler, author of “The World of Chick” (Last Gasp of San Francisco), said he picked up for loose change in a store in 1979.
Listings on eBay (http://www.ebay.com) this week started at 99 cents, and a collection of more than 90 current and discontinued titles reprinted in Australia sold for $23.50 on March 31. Kuersteiner said he would have paid four times that amount if they had been printed in the United States.
Titles that were translated and redrawn to appeal to specific cultural groups, including Chinese, Haitians and native Americans, are treasured by certain collectors.
Dan Raeburn, a graphic designer who wrote and published “The Imp No. 2,” the first book on Chick tracts, said he started his collection in college just for laughs and because he found the comics a fascinating form of folk art.
Aficionados consider Chick’s drawings primitive when compared with tracts drawn by his fellow artist, Fred Carter, a black minister whose comics are regarded as some of the best ever rendered.
“I don’t agree with anything Jack Chick says, but I respect his integrity,” Raeburn said. “If nothing else, Jack Chick’s comics provide for us a map in which the human mind can create meaning where no meaning previously existed, because he’s a conspiracy theorist and has spun the most bizarre, baroque theories to explain everything.”
Chick, a self-trained artist, began his sketches in the early 1960s. According to his official biography, he became convinced that God was leading him to use cartoon booklets to win multitudes to Christ — the same medium used to promote communism to the Chinese masses.
Failing to find a publisher, Chick borrowed $800 from the credit union and printed his tracts himself.
If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, he is an idol to artists who copy or parody his style.
Chick, who is about to turn 80, was not available for comment.
“Jack Chick has not given interviews for years,” said Karen Rockney, a customer service agent at Chick Publications. “They take him away from what he needs to do.”
Since the Chick collecting base is still in its infancy, it’s a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor, Kuersteiner said.
“Can you imagine what will happen to the values of his comics the moment he joins the ‘big guy’ upstairs?”‘ he said. “So don’t procrastinate!”
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