Tract Project

There are two things to absolutely love about Jack Chick tracts. The artwork is always good, and even when it's obviously been rushed out the door on the way to the printer to become part of the millions strong opus of Chick works worldwide, it always retains a unique Chick touch to it. He's been creating these tracts for years, so you get to see how his artwork has progressed over time and it's genuinely interesting to see. Some tracts are almost lithographic in their detail, while others look scribbled at 3am.
The same goes for the stories. Some of them are simple, many bizarre and a handful completely incomprehensible in whatever of the scores of languages it happens to have been printed in. The characters are always bold stereotypes of good or evil, hand-wringing puppet masters and doey-eyed orphans in ghastly life situations.
Chick tracts may have been around from the 70s, but he's got a site and it's well done too. You can check it out here.
Years ago I stumbled across the site and started reading a tract or two. I was hooked, and have been so ever since. That's actually part of the stated purpose of the tracts, so it's no surprise. They are designed to grab someones attention, be brief enough to be read completely in a few moments, and then given away at the first opportunity. People who subscribe to Chick are encouraged to leave them along with tips at a restaurant, in libraries, public buildings and even (ahem) public facilities. Bathrooms.
While not condoning the last method of distribution, it looks like Chick is a founding father of guerrilla art. He makes something and then ambushes the public with it. Yeah, I look up to the guy.
Chick tract parodies have been around almost as long as the original tracts themselves. Usually with more racy plots and fair to good artwork.
That's another gem about these tracts, they leave themselves open to parody and imitation so well. All the artist needs to do is create a few panels of artwork, staple it in a little booklet with the distinctive black-box cover and the project is done.
I want to make one.
I want to have fun with the storylines of the original tracts. Usually they are blunt little homilies which end up with one or two people being dropped into Hell. Occasionally a main character gets into Heaven, but only by the grace of God.
My tract will start out simply, but the story will meander strangely and then end abruptly.
Yeah, it's a vanity project.