The Jack T. Chick Museum of Fine Art has a list of parodies. They haven't updated the list recently so I will list some more recent parodies as well as some older ones not listed (many of which are in our museum's collection). I started working on this list last summer and it's far from exhaustive. I will include new parodies. If you know of a parody, email me at troydavis77@gmail.com
The parodies are listed in approximate chronological order
The story begins with an upright (and uptight) lad Tommy who is approached by his three friends who implore him to visit a head shop. Once they're there, Tommy is appalled at the black-light posters, underground comix, tarot cards, and love beads. His friends and the store owner think he's not "where it is." Tommy leaves and notices that the police are raiding the store. He begins to plead for his friends with the cops and discovered they are angels who are tasked with throwing the shop owner and Tommy's chums into The Lake of Fire. Tommy is congratulated for seeing the light about the evils of head shops.
In E-Man #7 (Oct. 1983), in the story "God Told Me To," a sign reading "Subscribe Now! Jack Chick Comics" appears at a fundamentalist rally.
Fantagraphics Publishing has published some of the best Chick tract parodies. The most notable of these parodies is "Devil Doll" by Daniel Clowes which appeared in Eightball #1 (Oct. 1989).
"All Consuming Guilt" by Jim Shaw 1991. Page 113 of The New Comics Anthology (edited by Bob Callahan). A munchie-seeking stoner is in over his head buying snack treats at a late-night liquor store. Hilarious spoof.
In 1992, LA alt-rock band POPDeFect created "The Album" to promote their album "Punchdrunk." Read it here. @IndieEphemera provided the link.
Portland-based label Imp Records created the parody tract that shares a name with a famous (and infamous) Chick tract: "Somebody Loves Me." According to the website IndieEphemera, the date of the tract is circa 1994. IndieEphemera's Tumblr page shows some of the tracts.
"The Curse of Bakamono" by Jessica Rose Hopper. 1995. This 12-page parody tract comes with the hardcore band Bakamono's 45 rpm of "Gypsy" and Ms. Pac Man." The record cover, anime art, is one of my favorites. The tract is mostly stream-of-consciousness pap promoting the band. More on this artifact here.
"Saturnalia" is an anonymous online comic book from the 90s that urges people to be tolerant of religious minorities, namely Pagans. It can be read here.
In the 1990s, the indie record label Break-Up! Records of Columbus, Ohio released "Break-Up! Records!" and "Break Up?" détournements of the Chick tract "A Demon's Nightmare" and "Somebody Goofed" (the dialogue is changed to promote the record company and rock music, not conversion to Jeebus). More about them here.
"Tiki" is a classic parody that hilariously takes on demonic Tiki culture.
Read it here.
"Chicks With Dicks?" 2000 by Johnny Ryan, creator of Angry Youth Comix, Prison Pit, and comics for Vice magazine. The book contains 65 "détourned" Chick tract covers. Some of the cleaner (& funnier) spoofs are on this tweet.
"Dr. Robert Ramous" (actually roleplaying game designer Justin Achilli) did "Demonic Deviltry," an apparent spoof of the Chick Tract "Dark Dungeons." Thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can read it online.
Another Fantagraphics comic that parodies Chick appears in Raisin Pie #2 (2002). Rick Altergott's characters Doofus and Scotty find the Chickesque comic tracts "Blessed Be" and "Jihad!" under a popcorn bag at a Salty Sack popcorn dispensing machine.
"Support Indie Comics, You Dope!" (2004) by Tod C. Parkhill for Young American Comics. With Chick-esque fervor, this 16-page comic exhorts the reader to buy indie comics.
"The Collector" written by Kurt Kuersteiner with art by Harry S. Robins is chapter 13 of Kuersteiner's 2004 book The Unofficial Guide to The Art of Jack T. Chick: Chick Tracts, Crusader Comics, and Battle Cry Newspapers. The museum has a separate entry for this 24-page tract.
"Jack T. Chick, This Was Your Life" by C.J.T. (Chris Towles). Page 37 of the Sept./Oct. 2004 issue of TheDoorMagazine (The Wittenburg Door) (Issue # 195). Jack isn't as popular as he thinks he is by The Big Guy in this parody of "This Was Your Life" published 12 years before The Chickster's actual exit from Earthly Life.
"Jack C. Trick" did "Chemical Salvation," an extremely well-done and entertaining 2006 comic about Albert Hofmann's 1943 discovery of LSD and how it led to the psychedelic movement. Read it here.
In 2006, Christian punk group The Knights of the New Crusade used a Chick tract parody for both the front and back of the album cover for their release "A Challenge to the Cowards of Christendom."
Ishkur détourned the inflammatory Chick tract "The Little Bride" to create "The Trance Cracker," a bitter denunciation of how The Cult of the DJ was ruining rave culture in the aughts. In this tract, Chick tract character Li'l Susy pwns pretentious DJ Tiesto's lame ass. Read it here.
Noted artist Howard Hallis created "Who Will Be Eaten First?" an online Chick tract parody that incorporates H.P. Lovecraft's creation, cosmic entity Chtulhu for comic effect. Read the tract and discussion here.
Another Lovecraftian-themed parody is a 2000 work by Steve Ellis and Fred Van Lente, "Why We're Here." Warning: this is one downbeat story.
In 2006, the website "Your Mom's Basement created "Galactus is Coming!" a satire of characters from the Marvel Universe written by Jesse Farrell and drawn by Ed Conley. Check it out here.
HalfMooner created "The Forksaken," a 2007 online détournement of "The Sissy?" that hilariously obsesses with food. Read it here.
An anonymous author employs Beavis to show how Jesus falls short when it comes to contemporary ethical norms in "What Would Jesus Do?" here.
A very clever anonymous person détourned gay-bashing panels from several Chick tracts and created a flamboyant tribute to The Village People's classic song "YMCA" titled "I Said, Young Man." This makes me want to watch Can't Stop the Music. Read it here.
The Church of the Subgenius détourned the Chick tract "The Last Generation" and created the 2008 tract "The Last Subgenius Generation" here.
In 2009, postmodern writer Peter Rollins worked on a Chick tract parody "The Rapture." It isn't known if he completed it. The preliminary transcript for the tract is here.
On the Skeptic Friends message board in 2009, a poster named HalfMooner wrote about his work on a parody titled "Chick & Chits" in which Jack Chick appears (HalfMooner used Jimmy Akins' drawing of Chick). I couldn't find a completed version on the Internet.
For the cover of his 2009 comedy album "My Weakness Is Strong," Patton Oswalt employed the artistic creativity of artist/writer Ivan Brunetti to utilize the Chick Tract motif.
Tom Pappalardo mimics elements of Chick tracts in his strip (2011) titled "The Legend of the Ancient Magician" here.
Hector Casanova made the compelling "The Artist's Statement" (2010) on how art can change lives and society for the better. Read it here.
"More From The Vile File" (2012) The cover of this 2012 book of transgressive humor by comedian Dwight York has a cover in the same format as a Chick tract.
Ben T. Steckler created several amusing spoofs including 1) "Take Your Licks!" is a hilarious take on the classic Tootsie Pop commercial "How Many Licks"; 2) "Fresh Hot Pizza!" deals with blasphemy, theology, and proper tipping of the pizza delivery guy; 3) "Bee See!" uses a parody of Johnny Hart's B.C. to satirize dogma; and 4) a guy learns from a serpent that "Your Dick's Too Short To F**k With God"
"Who Wiggles The Meat Fork?" is a 2013 48-page booklet by "The Church of Beefus." The church describes the book as "Tijuana Bible Tracts." The cover uses the Chick tract front-cover layout. The cartoons embrace a pop surrealistic vibe that has its allies and foes (disclosure: I'm no fan).
The people at Godless Comics created several freethinking parodies that are available online (here) and in print (as the result of a 2013 Kickstarter campaign). Titles include Creation?, Are You Scared of Hell?, Sky Cake!, Thank God?, Wanna Bet?, and No Thinking Allowed?
"It's Candy Time" by James Moore and Joel Jackson. Fun little tract that discusses the perils of receiving the stuff at Trick-or-Treat time. Great Halloween fun! Read parts of it here.
The inimitable Betty Bowers created this circa 2014 tract "Flatter Jesus or He'll Torture You in Hell!" Read it on Patheos' blog Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath here.
In 2014, people who purchased the Blue Ray box set of Season 1 of Rick and Morty received a cool parody titled "The Good Morty." The comic was written by show co-creator Justin Roiland and Ryan Ridley with art by Erica Hayes. The comic and thoughtful analysis by Martin Schneider are here.
In 2014, The True Bible Church (#truebiblechurch) started a Kickstarter campaign (click here for the Kickstarter video) to print its three tracts: 1) "The Truth of the Epic Battle between Science and God"; 2) "The Real Reasons Revealed Why The Bible Is Literally True"; and "Jesus Failed." Each of the comic tracts has a skeptical and freethinking orientation.
"Welcome to HELL Sucker!" This 2015 12-page by Tim Fuller of HooHa comics is a promotional tract for Sham Comics. The comic uses recontextualized art from 19th-century artist Gustave Doré to show a poor wretch's experience in Hell. There are references to Lana Del Rey, Jerry Sandusky, AC/DC, Taco Bell, Pat Benetar, Jeffrey Dahmer, Freemasons, The Illuminati, the Koch brothers, the Rainbow Girls, and The Fraternal Order of the Water Buffalo. Funny stuff.
"Satan's Soap Suds" is a 12-page diatribe against The Cursed Corporation known as Proctor & Gamble of Cincinnati. Troy of the museum is from Ohio and he attended nearby Miami University, a big recruiting spot for P&G; he grew up amused by the false rumor/urban legend that the company is run by Satanists. This hilarious spoof by Rick Trembles ("R.T." on the cover). was used a part of a 2015 crowdfunding campaign for the book Satanic Panic: A Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe. The museum has a copy of the tract, thanks to author/artist Rick Trembles. and the museum also has a copy of the Satanic Panic, a diverse and thought-provoking anthology about a horrid phenomenon in a retrogressive decade.
During the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, artist Ethan Persoff did several Chick tract parodies, "Trump Tracts," that employed Subgenius images and parodies. Read them all here. Read the article by Cory Doctorow in Boing Boing.
In 2016, The Collinsport Historical Society, a top-notch blog celebrating the cult TV show Dark Shadows, did a post on how Chick demonized the show in the original 1972 version of the tract "Bewitched." The post included an amusing Chick tract parody cover with the show's protagonist Barnabas Collins. The post also addresses Chick's friend John Todd (AKA Lance Collins).
"Jack Chick, This Was Your Life" (2016) Founder of The Nib, Matt Bors, along with Matt Lubchansky and artist Mark Kaufman created this on-the-nose comeuppance for the accusatory cartoonist just a few days after his actual death. Read it here.
"ABORT! ABORT!" and "Constitutional Rites" by Satanic Bay Area.
Troy Davis began creating Chick tract parodies in 2012 to promote the film he wrote and co-produced, Ivy League Exorcist: The Bobby Jindal Story (watch it here). He started with "A Demon-Hunting Veep?" (read it here) which was distributed at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con and led to a meme about the supposed list of "Doorways to Demon Possession" based on a panel from the comic; read about the viral nature of the meme here).
Troy created several Chick tract parodies (here), including a series of them proclaiming Trump as The Antichrist. The most recent version (pre-election 2020) is titled "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare For The Rapture!" can be viewed here. Other spoofs include "Ivy League Exorcist"; the Spanish language "Donald Trump Es El Anticristo! Ay Caramba!"; & "An Exorcist For President in 2020: Trump's Nightmare"; All can be viewed here.
"Darkest Dungeons #1 and #2 by Dylan Horrocks for Hicksville Press of New Zealand. Like the standard Chick Tract, "Darkest Dungeons" #1 is 24 pages; it's a spoof of Chick Publications' "Dark Dungeons." Both issues are available on the website for Hicksville Press.
"How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up?" by artist and musician Andy Slater. This 12-page comic addresses how to be helpful to the visually impaired. Informative (e.g., don't grab the visually impaired person by the arm to give directions) and entertaining. I bought my copy from Quimby's Bookstore (which also once stocked "Donald Trump Is The Antichrist; Prepare For The Rapture!") and the price tag is still attached.
"Dark Days Indeed" Cached image. The image is of Lew Siffer from the Chick tract "Angels?" Nothing else is known.
Darkest Dice. This 20-page booklet gives the rules on Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing games in general. Great synthesis of writing, layout, and art. Thanks to the designer Rev. J Royale for the contribution to the museum's collection. Great stuff.
ParanoidAmerican.com is a comics outfit that specializes in comics about conspiracies, some of them real, some of them speculative. "MK-ULTRA" (2019) is a 24-page booklet that deals with various scary post-war scary activities by the CIA and other US intelligence agencies such as the spiriting away of Nazi scientists, mind control, and the attempts to weaponize LSD. Interesting reading. Buy a book at their website. My tract came with a couple cool postcards and a groovy sticker.
In 2019, journalist Brendan Kiley of the Seattle Times did a story about a satirical group in the Emerald City calling itself Patriotic Christians for a Better America (PCBA) that created a Chick tract parody lampooning Donald Trump titled "I'm Rich!" I have not been able to find the group in order to obtain the tract (if anyone has the tract, email me at troydavis77@gmail.com). However, the Times included a few panels from the tract here.
For the upcoming 2021 Free Comic Book Day in August, acclaimed cartoonist Ed Piskor released a Red Room book with a cover by fellow Pittsburgh artist Jim Rugg that parodies Daniel Clowes' Eightball Number one including a Chick tract parody (Clowes' parody cover was "Devil Doll" and Rugg's meta-parody cover is titled "Poker Face"). More details here and here. We have the cover; we'll have to find out if "Poker Face" is a fleshed-out tract parody in August. UPDATE: The museum now has a copy; the cover is the only thing that parodies Clowes (and Chick); the insides contain the Red Room story.
"The Statement of Randolph Carter" (2021) is the newest Chick tract parody in the museum's collection. We have it courtesy of the author/artist Harry Moyer. It's a 28-page booklet that infuses a Lovecraftian theme in a Chickesque format. Fun stuff. Purchase a copy at Harry's website.
"Satanic Panic" (2021) is a delightful romp in which Baphometta, the schoolgirl version of Baphomet, applies demonic justice to some grade school bullies. Hilarious fun by Davidt Dunlop. You can buy it here along with a cool Baphometta doll (the museum has both; read about them here).
In "Holy Diver," Rachelle Meyer cleverly repurposes the Chick tract format to create a biographical story of her religious upbringing in Texas (it's the first of her "Texas Tracts" trilogy). Previews look interesting. The museum will order a copy here and so can you. Andy Oliver of Broken Frontier has read the tract and wrote a glowing review.
Ewen Cluney created a role-playing game "Saving Throw" which uses the Chick tract format and has some righteous Chickesque art by Jason Thompson. I've always been amused when the work of people inflaming moral panics is redirected at them such as when underground comix artists title their books with the name of anti-comics scold Fredrick Wertham. Similarly, Jack Chick, part of the 80s panic over Dungeons & Dragons (with his execrable tract "Dark Dungeons") is now having his style used by these demonic role-players. I'm not into RPG, but this looks fun. Order it here.
"Feminist Hellscape" is a 4-page flyer promoting the December 2021 debut of the YouTube talk show "Feminist Buzzkill Live" on the Abortion Access Front YouTube Channel. No comics, just words. Cover illustration is by Ariel Pellman.
Travis Bannister of Itstravco Publications () has a wry view of Zombie geekdom in this 24-page comic "Gary and the Zombies" (2021).
NOTES ON PARODIES, PATISCHES, COMPETITORS, AND KNOCK-OFFS: There are other comic books that are similar to or mimic Chick tracts but that don't fit into the category of Chick tract parody. The first typology is the serious religious Chick tract "knock-off," a serious attempt at theology by someone not affiliated with Chick Publications but who uses a similar format and layout. A good example of a knock-off is "Left Behind?" by James Lloyd of Christian Media of Jacksonville, Oregon. As I pointed out in the museum's post on the work, it's a serious attempt at making a theological argument, not an attempt at satire. Neither Lloyd nor Christian Media has publicly explained why they appropriated the layout and design of Chick tracts.
The second category deals with competing tract publishers that created comics tracts. The most notable was Life Messengers tracts which were religious mini-comic books similar in format to Chick tracts; however, these are considered to be religious tract created by a competing company that sold fundamentalist comic book literature, not as Chick tract parodies (LM operated until the 1980s, though other companies reprinted their tracts into the 21st century). The museum has a large collection of Life Messengers literature, including some rare variations such as a copy of the creationist tract, "Have You Been Brainwashed?" used by the Institute for Creation Research when it was located in Santee, California. The story of Life Messengers here.
Similarly, prolific comics artist Vic Lockman (1927-2017) created religious mini-comics, sometimes as auteur, sometimes as a hired artist for others. Lockman's tracts were often as deranged as Chick's work (Lockman, like the John Birch Society, was a proponent of laetrile to treat cancer). "Hippie, Come Home!" a 1968 work includes Lockman's hilarious attempts (he was in his forties) to mimic countercultural lingo: "How about a weed?" asks a hippie dirtbag to a clean-cut Ayran young man in a varsity sweater. Links to Vic Lockman tracts below.
In "ABORT! ABORT!" a young female Satanist asks a bun-haired old lady if she wants to sign up to be a bone marrow donor, The biddy rebuffs her because she's on her way to picket Planned Parenthood over abortion. They have a spirited debate about bioethics, Satanism, and the law; the old woman converts to Satanism. Story: Brigid Breed. Art by Tabitha Slander. Editor: Daniel Walker.
In "Constitutional Rites," a sectarian state senator whose legislation led to the erection of a Ten Commandments sculpture on the statehouse lawn is confronted by one of his constituents. When the Bible-beating legislator finds out that she's a Satanist, he has a panic attack and runs out of the building and runs headfirst into the Ten Commandment monument. He wakes up in the apartment of the head of the local chapter of Satanists (who is there with the constituent). They explain that there was a long wait at the emergency room so they took him there. They inform the senator about his misconceptions about Satanism and the disabused fundy becomes a faithful Satanist! Story by Daniel Walker and art by Tabitha Slander.
In "Constitutional Rites," a sectarian state senator whose legislation led to the erection of a Ten Commandments sculpture on the statehouse lawn is confronted by one of his constituents. When the Bible-beating legislator finds out that she's a Satanist, he has a panic attack and runs out of the building and runs headfirst into the Ten Commandment monument. He wakes up in the apartment of the head of the local chapter of Satanists (who is there with the constituent). They explain that there was a long wait at the emergency room so they took him there. They inform the senator about his misconceptions about Satanism and the disabused fundy becomes a faithful Satanist! Story by Daniel Walker and art by Tabitha Slander.
"Darkest Dungeons #1 and #2 by Dylan Horrocks for Hicksville Press of New Zealand. Like the standard Chick Tract, "Darkest Dungeons" #1 is 24 pages; it's a spoof of Chick Publications' "Dark Dungeons." Both issues are available on the website for Hicksville Press.
Darkest Dice. This 20-page booklet gives the rules on Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing games in general. Great synthesis of writing, layout, and art. Thanks to the designer Rev. J Royale for the contribution to the museum's collection. Great stuff.
For the upcoming 2021 Free Comic Book Day in August, acclaimed cartoonist Ed Piskor released a Red Room book with a cover by fellow Pittsburgh artist Jim Rugg that parodies Daniel Clowes' Eightball Number one including a Chick tract parody (Clowes' parody cover was "Devil Doll" and Rugg's meta-parody cover is titled "Poker Face"). More details here and here. We have the cover; we'll have to find out if "Poker Face" is a fleshed-out tract parody in August. UPDATE: The museum now has a copy; the cover is the only thing that parodies Clowes (and Chick); the insides contain the Red Room story.
"The Statement of Randolph Carter" (2021) is the newest Chick tract parody in the museum's collection. We have it courtesy of the author/artist Harry Moyer. It's a 28-page booklet that infuses a Lovecraftian theme in a Chickesque format. Fun stuff. Purchase a copy at Harry's website.
The 2021 tract "Robonicles" is an offbeat and amusing look at American consumer culture, the corporate targeting of children, and the toy autonomous robots craze of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Ewen Cluney created a role-playing game "Saving Throw" which uses the Chick tract format and has some righteous Chickesque art by Jason Thompson. I've always been amused when the work of people inflaming moral panics is redirected at them such as when underground comix artists title their books with the name of anti-comics scold Fredrick Wertham. Similarly, Jack Chick, part of the 80s panic over Dungeons & Dragons (with his execrable tract "Dark Dungeons") is now having his style used by these demonic role-players. I'm not into RPG, but this looks fun. Order it here.
Travis Bannister of Itstravco Publications (
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 . . . The museum's collection of Jack Chick's high school yearbooks . . . An appreciation of the deranged nature of the original 1972 version of the Chick tract "The Last Generation" . . . Oversized 1964 version of Chick's "This Was Your Life"
NOTES ON VIC LOCKMAN: This article looks at the role of long-forgotten publisher Ralph Rusthoi on the tract-publishing of Lockman and Jack Chick . . . In the 1970s, Lockman and fundamentalist Walter Lang take on ancient astronaut theorist Erich Von Däniken in the tract "Was God an Astronaut?" . . . Lockman goes into Bircher mode with the tract "Who's Calling The Shots?" . . . Lockman and Walter Lang team up on an anti-evolution tract "Have You Been Brainwashed by Ape-Men?" . . . Lockman's 1968 tract "Hippie Come Home" is a rare and highly collectible classic; the museum has a copy. Discussion here.
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