I Found an Actual Chick Tract in the Oddest Place

My wife, son, and I drove to Upstate New York to visit my folks recently. On the long drive back to Saint Louis we were at a big gas station/truck stop in Illinois and Clarkson needed a fresh diaper. I went to open the changer and lodged within where fresh paper liners are supposed to be stored (almost no place actually stocks it) was a bona fide Chick Tract, put there by someone who I guess wanted to spread their idea of the gospel.

A, "Chick Tract," is the slang term for comics created by Jack T. Chick, who passed away some time ago, but while alive made very many mini-comics that espoused far-right evangelical takes on Christianity. He made comics discussing the dangers of Dungeons and Dragons, homosexuality, rock music, Catholicism, Evolution, and basically anything that he judged sinful and would keep people from getting to hang-out in Heaven with Jesus when they died. Since Chick's death the company behind the tracts (Chick Publications) has had other authors make strips, but the one I found, "Fatal Decision" is a, "Classic," by Chick himself. It features a guy named John who is bitten by an animal, refuses treatment from the doctor, and dies. The idea is we refuse, "treatment," from Jesus or something. It's a metaphor, kinda?

I'm just amazed that I found a Chick Tract lodged in a diaper-changer in the middle of a truck-stop in Illinois. It was the most random thing to stumble upon for sure. I guess I'll take one aspect of the comic to heart, and if I'm ever bit by a mysterious creature and the doctor has a cure for me I won't refuse it.

Steve Dillon and Jack T. Chick Died A Day Apart and That is Odd

"Preacher," on the left, an excerpt from a, "Chick Tract," on the right.
Both images involve religion and fire in vastly differing ways.

I was reading The Comics Journal and its obituary on comic-maker and proselytizer Jack T. Chick where I made a comment I wanted to share on my blog and expand upon:
"I’m not saying this to make any sort of point, but it is weird to think Steve Dillon–who illustrated many works but is best known by some for, “Preacher,” and Jack Chick died within a week of each other. One person worked on a book that was critical of religion and Christianity in particular and the other had so enmeshed within religion he dedicated his whole career to that focus. I don’t know if there is any epiphany to draw from this beyond that maybe God just wanted to bring them both up to comment on their unique art-styles? Either way, I hope Dillon and Chick ended up where they wanted to go."

After checking the dates I then added:
"Wait, it was within a DAY of each other? Wow, God has got to be making some weird, “Jam,” comic he needs an assortment of artists for."

It is weird, but true. Steve Dillon, an artist who had a drawing style that delightfully stood-out and which I can't say I ever saw replicated by anyone (at least not well), left this planet on October 22nd, 2016, with the circumstances around his passing still unknown. He illustrated countless comics but many know him for having been the artist on, "Preacher," which was the kind of book that gleefully would accept accusations of being sacrilegious. Meanwhile, Jack T. Chick passed away in his sleep on October 23rd, 2016, and dedicated his life to religion--for better or worse. Chick was the kind of, "Christian," who hated (and this isn't even everyone) gay people, Muslims, Catholics, people who played Dungeons and Dragons, people who like Halloween, and Jews--although he was a self-declared, "Zionist" in that he interpreted the Bible as stating Jews have to control Israel for Jesus Christ to come back at which point anyone who is Jewish will either accept Jesus as their savior or burn in Hell. He expressed these sentiments via small little comics often referred to as, "Chick Tracts."

Dillon could draw a great Punisher as well.

I think we can all agree that other than the fact both of them produced a lot of comics Steve Dillon and Jack T. Chick were very different men with beliefs that didn't differ so much as exist as polar opposites. I'm not the kind of person who would take these deaths as to, "Mean," something--we live and we die without ever knowing when the end is going to come and therefore should get the most from life we can--but it is just interesting how these two extremely different creators died within a day of each other. Personally, I was a huge fan of Dillon's and could admire Chick's dedication to his beliefs and putting them into the comic art-form even if I didn't agree with him in the slightest when it came to his views. They both leave behind a large body of work and an even larger number of fans who will no doubt miss them...although I'd be surprised if there is any one person who enjoyed them both equally considering how disparate of people Dillon and Chick were.

UPDATE: I said earlier today the cause of Dillon's death was unknown, it has now been confirmed he died of a burst appendix