Customer Reviews

The Unofficial Guide to the Art of Jack T. Chick: Chick Tracts, Crusader Comics, & Battle Cry Newspapers (Schiffer Books)

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If you are even the least bit interested in the religious tracts of Jack T. Chick, then this is the book for you. Lots of full color illustrations show you every publication from JTC, as well as parodies, knock-offs, early JTC work and lots of biographical and review data as well. If you are a student of Comic Book literature, then this book needs to be in your library. Yes, it's a price guide too, but it seems like all books of this sort have to be, just to get published today. In my opinion that's the least interesting part of the book...This is a great history and assessment of the supposedly most widely read author in the world...Do what you can and get your mitts on this great document...You'll be glad you did, and maybe you'll even avoid going to Hell!

This is one book I picked up just to see where it was coming from. Chick Tracts are famous for evoking an ANGRY reaction in folks, and even those who enjoy them tend to hold them out at arm's length and condemn their content, insisting they are chucking "at" them rather than "with" them. But this author bypasses judging Chick's views and just goes straight to the humor of it all. And believe me, there's a lot to laugh at here. In fact, it has a disclaimer/warning in the front advising the more politically correct among us to skip it altogether.
The result is a fun romp through the demon-filled world of one of America's biggest conspiracy theorists: Jack Chick, a cartoonist who is said to be the most published author alive (though I wonder how one proves such a thing. Couldn't he just lie about how many he's printed? Then again, I guess that would send him down the grease pole to the lake of fire.)
I was surprised how much info was dug up on this otherwise obscure artist, but instead of spoiling the mystery of it all, it really made Chick's story all the more incredible. I mean, here's a guy who practically made a career out of pissing people off, yet the more his enemies tighten their grip on him, the more he slips through their fingers. It's nothing short of amazing.
My only gripe is that by including a price guide, it's going to be a lot harder for those of us who have put off finishing our collections to afford to do so. I even found several titles I never even heard of.
If you don't "get" check, you shouldn't get this book. But most find his tracts a guilty pleasure. They know they aren't supposed to like them because he's so uncool, but then again, part of being a rebel is rebelling against what soceity tells you shouldn't do... and that includes enjoying Chick tracts! So if you really want to explore one of America's wildest publishing phenomenons, check out Chick. He's one of a kind.

I write down anything about Jack Chick with some trepedation because as a Christian I have never been quite sure how to take him. The most christian lady I ever knew described these booklets as "satanic", other Christians have described them as "a bit extreme at times", and still others have described them as "the right message, but brutal". No one has ever completely agreed with them, whether they are Christians or not. Non-Christians are usually amused or repulsed or even infuriated by them.

Yes, it is true - they show everything in black-and-white terms. Unbelievers are usually loud-mouthed brutes, guffawing, cursing, and snarling their way through life. Believers are angelic and innocent-faced. I suspect he is an ex-Catholic (I have known ex-Catholics as angry, or angrier at the Church as he is) since he seems to feel that every evil in the western world was committed by the Catholic Church, and that the King James Bible is the only valid translation apart from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek. he has a lot of opinions, some a little far-out, but some of them are brutally close to the Truth. But they are also very blunt, and sometimes bluntness is not a bad thing, especially in a world that is often too nuanced, too politically correct, and too concerned about giving offense. The Christian message is too important and too precious to not be delivered directly.

I first read some of these books in college, decades ago, back when I didn't even know what it meant to even be a Christian. No, these books did not lead to my conversion, but they did present some things I had never heard before, and they made me think about things which had never before crossed my mind.

Some of these books are a little crackpot, no doubt. They are a lot more about hellfire and brimstone than what many Christians are comfortable with, and yet in spite of the finger-pointing, I do not really see hatred in them. Any hatred Chick projects is towards Satan, and towards various institutions that he feels have lost their way, or those which never had it in the first place. I don't think he hates individual people at all, but he doesn't hesitate to show that people living apart from God are sinners.

Part of me is turned off by these books, yet another part of me enjoys them. You cannot dismiss or ignore them, and that may be their greatest strength. You cannot be unaffected by them.

And now you can collect them.

Even if you don't agree with Chick's religious outlook (or his way of promoting it) this is an excellent sourcebook for the study of his tracts, booklets which it seems we have all seen at one time or another. These tracts take on Mormons, Catholics, homosexuals, Muslims, liberals, Satanists... you name it! This books provides "reviews" of the tracts, some example illustrations, talks about variations in various booklets, some of which have been in print for 40 years. Whether your a fan of Chick's views or are just interested in this medium this is an excellent book.

This *book* is much better than the internet sites that cover some of the same material. This is a work of devotion and love.

For those who collect Chick Tracts and ancillary Chick art works this reference is indispensable.

Cover price is rather dear, however the value is in the exhaustive reference material. I thought I was a Chick completist, but found many holes in my collection and a few items I had never heard of.

For those who like collecting the works of this raving crackpot Kurt Kuersteiner's "The Unofficial Guide to the Art of Jack T. Chick: Chick Tracts, Crusader Comics, And Battle Cry Newspapers" is the Overstreet Guide of the genre.

In a world in which vicious Catholic-bashing is given a yawn and a pass, and also viewed as no threat to decent American values, the preservation of Chick's hate is a necessary documentation of the two last forgivable public prejudices of our PC world (anti-Catholic bigotry is only as forgivable as anti-poor Scots-Irish Southern white bigotry, not even Muslims get as vicious a treatment. In mainstream sources).

Kurt Kuersteiner did an excellent job of putting this book together and he does a great job of analyzing Jack Chick, even though he doesn't go into depth about whether or not Jack Chick is right or wrong in his theological wars, (as I have done in my own work of Chick). Kuersteiner aimed to look specifically at the artwork and the story telling that have come out of Chick's publications in order to discuss Jack Chick more as a cultural phenomenon, which Kuersteiner did with great success. Kurt also adds his own humor and sarcasm throughout the work which in most cases I found to be spot on.

A quick aesthetic note: The artwork in Kuersteiner's book is also quite professional. Kurt was able to reproduce Chick Publications and keep their original feeling, while at the same time meld it together with his own written text. I thought the layout was quite good as well. It was a top notch job.

I originally bought this book and interviewed Kurt when I was writing my own book refuting some of Jack Chick's wilder claims and slanders which he produced based on the false testimony the the religious fraudster Alberto Rivera. (My book is called Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: The Truth about the Vatican and the Birth of Islam). Kurt Kuersteiner is one hell of a knowledgeable source of information about Jack Chick and his book is definitely the ultimate in depth resource spanning the entire career of Jack Chick and his Chick Publications. Keep it up Kurt! Haw! Haw! Haw!

THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE ART OF JACK T. CHICK, CHICK TRACTS, CRUSADER COMICS AND BATTLE CRY NEWSPAPERS, Published by SHIFFER BOOKS, is full of the art --and religious philosphy of Jack T. Chick. For those few who have not been exposed to Mr. Chick's works, they can be summed up as follows: 1) VERY good and VERY realistic art, in comic book style 2) A good story teller 3) VERY strong Protestant Christian beliefs.

There are many who wish that Mr. Chick had stuck to art -- he draws very well, and also tells stories showing a vivid imagination, with stories one wants to read to their conclusions, (at least, I do.) There are many, I suppose, who wish that Mr. Chick had stuck to writing books on subjects other than religion, and illustrating his own works, or those of others. Because Mr. Chick's religious convictions are VERY strong. VERY Protestant. He takes NO prisoners, and does not for a moment let go of ultra-rightest Protestant thought. This may lead many of his readers to....em...protest. However, everyone is entitled to their opinions -- including religious ones, and Mr. Chick's way of prumulgating his views -- through books and illustrations, is certainly better, (and more plesant to experience), than radio and TV haranguing, or, (as in centuries past), burning and hanging, (which, I realize, nicely rhymes with "haranging" -- though it wasn't planned that way.)

This book -- and any of Mr. Chick's works -- are NOT for the impressionable, whether they are children or adults. The ultra-strong philosophy of Mr. Chick, plus his extra-realistic illustrations, and involving stories -- do make a lasting impression. If you are of a strong Protestant faith, and WANT to pass this on to your children, I would still advise caution here. Unless, that is, your vision of your Protestantism is as uncompromising and total as is Mr. Chick's. For those of other faiths -- and even moderately moderate Protestants -- I would advise caution, as well. Interesting to see another viewpoint, but -- as the co-incidentally-occuring "Day of Rapture", (which was, as I write these words, just yesterday), didn't take that many people away, (if any at all), sometimes even the strongest of convictions, done with the utmost faith and sincerity, still do NOT always come to pass!

For lovers of realistic art, for art students who want to learn to draw, for those curious about what ultra-Protestantism is all about, (yet who are also steadfast enough in their own faiths not to be "taken in" by involving, well-written stories -- unless they really DO want to convert, and have decided to do so BEFORE reading anything written by Mr. Chick) -- this book can be highly recommended.
For -- and very, very strangely, indeed -- books by Mr. Chick, just like books purported to be written about Black Magic and by, or for the Devil, (which, of course, is the Enemy Mr. Chick tirelessly warns and works against), this book, and others by the same author, can truly change one's viewpoint. If, that is, one reads and studies them them long enough, and is not prepared, beforehand, to be have a healthy amount of skepticism in one's mind before opening them.

What little i knew as a kid about catholicism and the druids came from Chick comics. My only regret is that he never did one comic or tract about my church. I enjoy good camp and would consider it a badge of honor if he did. Haw haw haw!!!

Chick is one of the best comic artists out there. The color printing and line detail was better quality than most other comics, especially of that time. His work deserves an unoffical guide.

Aaaaiiiiieeeeeeee!!!

This book is a "godsend" to all those who enjoy the psychotic writings of that rascal Jack T. Chick. Looking for info on that elusive version of "Doom Town"? It's here. How about facts and story outlines on all those long out-of-print tracts? Check. This book is everything you could want, plus pictures out the wazoo! It also focuses on a long-overlooked aspect of Chick Tracts - the often startlingly awesome artwork.

By the way, as a very illuminating example of how Jack Chick infuriates people, all the negative reviews of this book currently posted on Amazon are NOT negative review of this book - they are negative reviews of Jack Chick! Haw Haw Haw!

I love this book, and hope that we can update it soon! I'm glad that I got to submit several reviews and write a chapter, but dang, I only wish I had a co-writing credit! YAAAAAAHHHHH! Haw haw haw!