Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog

Yes, this pre-Flintstones single-panel feature was indeed created by that Jack T. Chick. Quite possibly one of the most widely distributed self-publishers, with fleets of believers getting his work into the hands of the general public in subway stations, rest stops, and public gathering places across the nation (and in over 100 languages overseas), Chick is largely known for his Christian evangelical mini-comics known as Chick Tracts. These pamphlets, nondiscriminatory in their discrimination, target theories of evolution, homosexuality, nearly all religious groups, feminism, and even Harry Potter.

But before becoming the prince of propaganda, Chick worked alongside writer P.S. Clayton on the feature Times Have Changed? which ran from November 16, 1953 through 1955. This earlier, softer form of cultural criticism revolved around the intertwined lives of humans and dinosaurs (perhaps some foreshadowing here of later themes), and how little our ways have changed over time.

P.S. Clayton and Jack T. Chick’s “Times Have Changed?”, from The San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

P.S. Clayton and Jack T. Chick’s “Times Have Changed?” From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

P.S. Clayton and Jack T. Chick’s “Times Have Changed?” From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

P.S. Clayton and Jack T. Chick’s “Times Have Changed?” From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Despite the over 700 million published copies of his evangelical tracts, Jack T. Chick himself has managed to remain reclusive, giving few to no interviews since the 1970s. If you know more about Chick’s other early work, please let us know!