Saturday, November 16, 2019

Weird Tract Number 81: "The Last Generation" by Chick Publications (1972 version)

Troy Davis writes:

last generation jack chick 1972
When it comes to demented religious tracts, I just want to hug the original 1972 version of "The Last Generation" written by Jack Chick and drawn by Fred Carter. As author Bob Fowler noted in his thorough and groundbreaking book on Chick tracts The World of Chick (Last Gasp 2015), 1972 was a seminal year for Chick Publications; for one thing, Chick hired Fred Carter whose more realistic art style complemented Chick's cartoony art. The Last Generation is the best of the Chick tracts that came out in '72 (The over-the-top and campy "The Gay Blade" is a distant second).

The Last Generation is set in a dystopian one-world government that rules just prior to The Rapture.  It's the story of a Christian family's struggle in this Christ-hating society whose schools have successfully indoctrinated their child Bobby, who is now a Hitler Youth-type (at the end of the tract, Chick reassures us  Bobby later received his comeuppance in the Lake of Fire).

The original version is more demented than the revised versions (read the current version here) that Chick retrofitted in the '90s to reflect the anti-Catholic ideology he started promoting in the late '70s. The more recent versions of "The Last Generation" have a green cover color (as opposed to the original's teal color). The Museum's entry on Peace Sign tracts has a panel in which psychopathic one-world government agents torture the family's grandfather and after failing to get him to reject Jeebus, they discuss using his corpse, Shades of Soylent Green, for food! (the panel was also used in the entry on Chick Publication in the 1988 book High Weirdness By Mail by The Subgenius people).  The 1972 version has other mentions of cannibalism. The Jack T. Chick Museum of Art discusses both versions here. Also, this blog has the entire 1972 version with hilarious analysis.

Ascots in 1970s Futuristic Comics:
1970s ascots comics
In The Last Generation (which takes place sometime in the near future), the anchorman is shown wearing an ascot while giving his news report. Another example of a '70s comic book that employs the ascot motif for a future world is DC Comics' Superman 300 (1976) whose story takes place in the year 2001. Clark Kent and the other adults are shown wearing the questionable neckwear. Also, the previously mentioned dystopian film Soylent Green (1973) is set in the future Manhattan of 2022 where ascots replaced neckties. One final note: L Ron Hubbard sports an ascot in my satirical comic book "Cock-Tale: A Modern Tijuana Bible" which you can read here.

Quick Note: Check out some of the rare Jack Chick-related items in the museum's collection on the introduction page.
tijuana bible tom cruise xenu cimic book

NOTES ON JACK CHICK: In my introductory post, I listed just a few of the many rare and valuable objects from The Museum's extensive Chick-related collection . . . The role of Ralph Rushtoi in the publishing careers of both Jack Chick and another comics-based tract writer Vic Lockman. . . I discuss the role of Bill Bright's prolific tract The Four Spiritual Laws in leading to a format change in Chick tracts that was a key reason why they have become much more popular since the late 1960s . . . My thoughts on Jack Chick's spreading of the peace symbol/broken cross mythology . . .  Jack Chick's retro-futuristic car in the scarce 48-page version of "The Beast" . . . Chick tract parody "Constitutional Rites" . . .Jack Chick's cold war tract "Ivan The Terrible" . . . Article on Chick by fellow Catholic-baiting Bob Jones University magazine . . .Catholic-bashing tract by Chick's protege Alberto Rivera . . . Knock-off of a Chick tract by James Lloyd:"Left Behind" . . . Chick tract parody "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare for the Rapture!" . . . The extremely rare 1970 Chick tract "Operation Somebody Cares" . . .The rare Chick Publications comic book "Jonah" by Chick and Fred Carter . . . The museum's prized cultural artifact, original art by Jack Chick . . . Artifacts from the museum's collections:all of Jack Chick's high school yearbooks (which include the first published cartoon by Chick) . . . "Closet Witches" by Jack T. Chick (audio-cassette interview with Dr. Rebecca Brown and "Elaine").

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

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