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» September 18, 2025
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Originally published at SpaceBattles Forums. May 12th, 2011. Fairy Tales?. Tract #198. Art by Jack Chick - © 2007 Chick Publications

Originally published at SpaceBattles Forums
May 12th, 2011


 
Cover / Page 1

Fairy Tales? - Tract #198 (FTLE)
Art by Jack Chick - © 2007 Chick Publications


They were just fantasy games ... all in fun. But they influenced Harry to make the biggest mistake of his life.

CommentatorsCommentators

FreudianSlip

FreudianSlip

 
Page Index
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

o Introduction collapse_button

FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Now on to one of Jack's more recent tracts, from 2007. And if you thought he may have mellowed out over time, well... I think this one speaks for itself. So, let's begin:

 

o Cover / Page 1 collapse_button

Cover / Page 1
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip As you can see, our tract is called Fairy Tales
?

Uh, you might want to move your margins out a bit, Jack, or consider a smaller font. The cover drawing, is... hrnmmmmmm... interesting. I guess it has more to do with the story than Dark Dungeons' cover did, as both the tooth fairy and prison are depicted in this tract, but it's still pretty freaking bizarre.


 

o Page 2 collapse_button

Page 2
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip As I believe it, Jack Chick himself was the artist for this one, and he has undeniably improved since his old work. (It only took you 37 years, Jack, well done!) It's now a basic and somewhat inconsistent, but functional cartoonish style, which, while far from good, is leagues better than Somebody Loves Me.

So, we see a rather confused looking mob of protestors. I can't tell if they're counterprotesting each other, or they're just so mad they don't know what they're doing. Apparently, "Harry" is being executed, and some people show up to protest that... he should be executed? Eh, whatever. More striking is the fact that this Harry's parents would agree to an interview right before their own son's execution. Maybe they wanted to broadcast a plea that he be released?


 

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Page 3
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Well, it doesn't look like they're pleading for anything. So... what parents of a convicted murderer would agree to an interview right before their son's death? That seems more like "family time" to me. And why didn't this station get a more, um, photogenic field reporter? What is up with that nose?

 

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Page 4
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip So, his parents relate his story. I think. It could just be the narrator taking us back in time, the tract doesn't make this clear at all.

Some years ago, young Harry finds that he lost a tooth about the size of his thumb. That kid is seriously going to need braces. And it is apparently here that the rise of a monster begins. How sinister.


 

o Page 5 collapse_button

Page 5
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip This is where it starts to get sort of weird. This kid is really this excited over a quarter? And why is the second panel showing us what he's saying and thinking simultaneously? And lady, just tell him to put it under his pillow, I'm sure he can figure out the specifics for himself.

 

o Page 6 collapse_button

Page 6
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip It's a week from Christmas, and this kid has to be told about it? The hell? They start advertising like 2 months before the fact! This is starting to sound kind of like some sort of lame Christmas episode. Is Harry going to learn about the spirit of giving?

 

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Page 7
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Again, you don't get that this is standard operating procedure, kid? How is this all new to you? His parents seem a little unduly shaken over this turn of events, though. So the kid thinks Santa is real, he's only six, right? Not everyone's a skeptic at that age.

Wait a second. Is that a real elf next to Santa? He doesn't look like a midget. Maybe this hints at a twist ending.


 

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Page 8
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Okay, so the kid's taking things a bit seriously, but you're really considering telling him this on Christmas Day? Hell, he might just be saying that 'cause it's better to be safe than sorry. It's what I did.

 

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Page 9
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip 🤨

Okay, okay, so the kid's acting a little funny, but what child doesn't ask weird questions?

What I know for sure, though, is that the right panel there needs to become a motivator. Something about the context not helping.


 

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Page 10
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip "Yes, your son apparently went Super-Saiyan on two of his classmates."

And this is where the tract really starts plummeting all the way down to the lair of the mole people. I assure you that there is not enough What Is This I Don't Even on the entire internet to accurately sum up this panel, so I think I'll just point out that the need for braces is apparently hereditary.

I'd also like to question exactly why some of those taunts are just sort of hanging there in midair.


 

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Page 11
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip *Sigh* Okay Jack, what the hell are you trying to say here? Do you really think this is what happens when kids find out about Santa? Or is this kid just insane?

Also, while I'm sure you have probably heard the word "Terrorist" many times on that 8 inch black and white TV you've got with you in your basement, the comprehension may have escaped you. See if you have a dictionary with you somewhere under all of this:

😱

 

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Page 12
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip This really does become a hell of a lot funnier if you imagine him as having Gollum's voice.

What I'm confused about is whether this tract has a message at all. Is this the parent's fault for telling him fairy tales? Or is this kid just totally batshit? In most of his tracts, at least Chick's motives are transparent. This is just utter insanity.


 

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Page 13
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip "Yes son, we pretended to be God and Jesus, too, are you a retard or something?" I'd ask why they don't answer, but if my kid did this, I'd be pretty speechless too. Really, for a Chick Tract, everyone beside Harry is acting surprisingly normal and understandably. Not "normal" normal, but still. I guess that's what makes this tract even more surreal.

(Why is Harry's mom thinking "gulp"?)


 

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Page 14
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip "Remember to always tell the truth, or this could happen to YOUUUUUU!!!!"

"JUST a Fantasy Game." Pah! That's EXACTLY what they called Dungeons and Dragons, and we all know how many of us fell to witchcraft through it!

So, they send him to juvie.


 

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Page 15
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Uh, Jack, that's a courtroom, not Juvenile Hall. Don't tell us he's going somewhere and transition to an entirely different place.

Seriously though, what is up with this kid!? Nothing he does makes an iota of sense. His entire existence is one giant plot contrivance!


 

o Page 16 collapse_button

Page 16
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Ever notice how often Jack Chick puts emphasis on seemingly random words?

Furthermore, how is that a hard question? The guy's a chaplain, I think you can guess what he's going to say.


 

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Page 17
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Well, that proves it. I guess all us atheists better just pack it in.

But... wait a minute. He was something like 8 or 9 when he got sentenced. The narrator says it's been 2 years. Here he looks way older than 11 years old. You mean... the narrator lied to me!? ... HE LIED TO MEEEE!!!! YAAAAAAHHH!!! MURDER! KILL! YOU LYING BASTARD!!! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!! NEVER! AAAAAAAAAAGUGUAAHGARARAHRRR!!!

Please stand by...


 

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Page 18
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Well, why don't we take a look at Jack's lineup of evil people?

A Muslim, no surprise there.

A pagan, just like Jack said.

A Chinese communist, I guess.

A, um, Halloween witch. You know, the kind that ride broomsticks? Whatever, jack.

A person who I'm sure is an offensive caricature of something that escapes me at the moment, but who apparently doesn't like prayers.

And... a Jewish safari tour guide holding a chicken bone?

And if they're all going to hell, then why does he say that Jesus paid for their sins, anyway?


 

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Page 19
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Yep, never seen this panel before. Sure is great how Chick manages to keep his work so fresh. And even here, he still puts excessive and ill placed emphasis everywhere.

 

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Page 20
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip So yeah, I guess Chick decided to turn this into a standard "accept Jesus" tract, rendering the entire first half of it totally moot. If that's all it is, why the hell did you show us his childhood? But at least Jamal is saved, I know you were all on the edge of your seats over that.

 

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Page 21
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip WHAT? You're not even going to show the execution? You asshole! Well, Harry doesn't get saved, though the implication that Jack thinks someone who did all that could be with just a few words is a bit disturbing. And we get the Standard Faceless Judgement God so common to chick tracts sentencing him to hell. And we don't even get to see his reaction.

It's almost like Jack got halfway through and realized just how stupid this whole tract was, and tried to cover it up and marginalize his up-until-now central character. Though, that would be giving Jack some kind of credit. And I don't like giving him credit.


 

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Page 22
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip Well, now we get to the inevitable conversion. In Chicky land, it doesn't matter what you do in life, as long as at some point, you "accept Jesus". Another tract even features a serial killer who goes to heaven whilst a couple that does loads of charity work goes to hell, for this very reason.

It looks like she finally managed to get that load of jaggeddy white puke out of her throat though, so there's some good news. And as we all know, "Jesus loves you, so accept him or burn in agony for the rest of eternity!"


 

o Conclusion collapse_button

Page 23
 
FreudianSlipFreudianSlip THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN. EVEN THOUGH THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU JUST READ, I'LL SAY IT ANYWAY.

Sweet crispy crackly Jesus, this tract is a mess. What can you say? Jack Chick has put out some confusing shit, but I don't know if anything beats this for sheer random insanity.


 

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