The Pitch ⇑ ⇓
Years before Chick would begin his religious crusade, he, with the help of the currently unknown “Bill Clayton,” created an unpopular, single-panel daily newspaper comic titled Times Have Changed? which ran from 1953 to 1955. Before our massive undertaking here at the Boolean Union, there were so few sources that one could hardly make a substantial argument for its existence. By our count, only four or so daily strips existed online. There are now three-hundred-and-sixty-six different strips, presented in the best order-of-release that we can offer, under the circumstances of how lost the media truly is and our method of procurement spanning several different newspapers. It’s estimated that a dozen or so strips might still be lost.
Times Have Changed? itself is a simple enough comic, with a simple enough formula, practically explained in the title. Chick and Clayton present a cartoonish depiction of the Stone Age, portraying them not as grunting, violent animals, but rather quite similar to us, to ponder the question of if times have really changed. There are occasional moments of something akin to genius, as a war veteran himself, Chick’s best work comes in the form of commenting upon the futility of armed conflict, but over an estimated third of these comics are entirely dedicated to jokes pertaining to "Cavemen would use rocks as paper, how novel and mostly dumb." and "Cavemen would use dinosaurs as cars, how novel and mostly dumb." and "Cavemen would use caves as houses, how novel and mostly dumb." and "Cavemen would use fire for light, how novel and mostly dumb." It’s not exactly difficult to grasp.
Some of the older readers might note how similar this concept seems to The Flintstones (1960-1966), which did not go unnoticed by Chick himself. While they were close enough for Chick to complain, the works must not have seemed similar enough to sue over, as neither Chick nor Chick Publications ever attempted a lawsuit. It is still of interest to note, however, that “Times Have Changed?” ran primarily in California, and predates The Flintstones by a mere seven years.
Family Dynamic ⇑ ⇓
Glugford is the bread-winner of the family, usually portrayed as thrifty and unintelligent. He’s an employee of “Acme Club Co.,” but the specifics of his job are never revealed.
Irmug is Glugford’s wife, and a typical stay-at-home mom, often portrayed as nagging and an annoyance. Like many such characters, her unnamed mother, Glugford’s mother-in-law, is occasionally introduced as a gag about how tedious extended family can be.
Together, they look after Gutnik, the older brother, and Gollick, the younger brother. They’re mostly interchangeable, bratty children, that do little more than pull on the tail of their unnamed pet dinosaur or pull on the tail of their unnamed, caged pterodactyl.
Gretna is also a daughter of Glugford and Irmug, as directly stated in #069, though she and her unnamed husband show up so infrequently that anyone less-interested in this strip might have passed them by entirely. (Trivia: There is only one event throughout the course of this strip that seems to actively contradict another, #101 and #142 both cover Gretna being proposed to in entirely different ways!)
Setting ⇑ ⇓
The exact setting of Times Have Changed is not stated directly, but in #262, a map shows that they are located near north-west Africa. The community they live in is infrequently referred to as “Altimira,” an homage to the Cave of Altamira. Interestingly enough, in #242 it’s implied that the family actually lives just outside city limits, so perhaps they live in “East Gulch,” as mentioned in #039, but we might never know for sure.
Being set in Africa, it does certainly beg a question as to why every character is Caucasian, but, based on #263, in which the family attends a stone-age equivalent of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), I don’t think that we really want to know.
In #277, Glugford holds a newspaper reading “Crime Sweeps Area,” then proceeds to ask is his wife if she thinks that the comic that his son is reading is “poisoning his mind.” While it’s a jump to say that comics lead to crime, Chick himself is, in fact, writing a comic and going to spend the rest of his life writing comics, and this was written in the age of “fear of juvenile delinquency” and all, crime certainly is afoot in Atlamira. In #064, #067, and #162, Glugford is mugged by various criminals. In #228, police officers are shown discussing a forgery, while in both #247 and #259, Glugford’s home is the subject of interest in, what we can only assume, are home invasions. In #269, Gretna is, for unknown reasons, literally chained to a railway by a crazed lunatic! The crime is so bad that, as shown in #042, people of celebrity bring armed motorcades when entering their town. All of this amounts to Atlamira being portrayed as a relatively bad place to live.
(Trivia, for anyone too young to get it; #247’s punchline and caricatures are a reference to Dragnet (1951–1958), which was on the air when this comic was released.)
Chick on Dinosaurs ⇑ ⇓
The established universe of Times Have Changed? doesn’t tend to strike as particularly well-crafted in terms of “worldbuilding” and “structure,” especially considering some of the above elements, such as “hardly having a name for their hometown” and whatnot, but, as mentioned with some of the “old reliable” gags, dinosaurs are this universe’s equivalent to cars. However, as you might have noticed, the family dynamic includes a pet dinosaur. This is because of a weird “law” within the universe’s logic; big dinosaurs are used as tools and machinery to be treated as equipment, while small dinosaurs are kept as pets and companions to be treated with respect. Comic #299 is a prime example of how it doesn’t seem to matter how larger beasts are treated, but there are some rare moments where larger dinosaurs are also treated as pets, such as #182 and #298. This leads to some strange moments, such as #012 and #078, the latter of which might be an allusion to the Judgement of Solomon, perhaps? Comic #118 certainly stretches the concept as far as it can allow, however, to the point of incomprehensibility and fear.
It’s also worth pointing out that Chick certainly does not care about dinosaurs from a visual standpoint. Both #082 and #189 are interesting examples of abnormally illustrated dinosaurs, but every stone-age creature is a triceratops, a stegosaurus, or a pterodactyl. Velociraptors are never shown, let alone an ankylosaurus. It's certainly not something he was concerned about... So why the sudden pliosaurus? Quite odd. However, his lack of interest in drawing dinosaurs certainly doesn’t stop him from occasionally dropping big names like "rhamphorhynchus" or "dimetrodon" whenever the moment calls for it.
From you, of all people... ⇑ ⇓
Comic #027 is somewhat ironic, coming from the Chick we all know and love, as this strip specifically calls attention to the fact that people will come up with simple-minded reasons to refuse progress... How… very, very interesting. For more irony, check out #047, where Chick smacks people who stand on street corners, ranting and raving about their personal beliefs. Oops!
A week-long special! Comics #031 through #038 is a very secular Christmas with Chick! We've got a Rudolph reference, a Night Before Christmas reference, two direct allusions to Santa, two consumerist-minded gift gags, a complaint about card-swapping culture, and... mistletoe infidelity! For shame, Chick!
Everyone knows that, due to his relationship with Alberto, Chick was a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but #052 and #112 are proof that he might also have more pedestrian taste in his tinfoil hatting! The former reveals that he holds some stock in the idea of wide-scale staged boxing, while the latter proves that he at least had aliens “on the mind.”
If you need something a little more on-brand from Chick, try out #176: "We're raising a generation of softies! They could never stand the hardships and deprivations we had to put up with!" That’s our boy.
Problematic Elements ⇑ ⇓
Comics #005 and #156 strike me as particularly "secular." The joke here is that, despite what "experts" may say about "the harms of physical violence on a growing boy" or whatever liberal garbage they're spouting nowadays, in 1953, this caveman is going to "whale the daylights out of" his kid for being a brat. It's important not to judge Chick too harshly for these works, as his later works are where we should be most critical, and remember these comics are truly "products of their time," as they are far too stereotypical and bland products of the era to consider them anything but... However, this does mean that Jack T. Chick has, definitely, made a joke about beating a child.
Comic #008 is another "of the time" joke that seems out of character for Chick; a caveman goes for a night out with his friends, and has to come up with a lie for his waiting cavewife, who is going to beat him when he comes home for being out so late. How very un-Chick.
A trope that Chick keeps in the back pocket, which is certainly against his later beliefs, but very of the times, is “Caveman Courtship,” where, in reference to Buster Keaton's Three Ages (1923) a caveman bonks his future mate on the head, and drags her back to his cave to make her his wife. Not exactly Chick’s bag. There are five times that this image is used; #002, #142, #147, #166, and #213. All five times are done as more of a visual shortcut, than commentary, with the exception of #166, which strikes a more uncomfortable nerve.
While #066 strikes me as somewhat feminist commentary, especially for the time, Chick later also writes #133, where he makes an easy “women can’t drive” joke, and #193, where he makes an easy “women don’t get sports” joke.
Comic #081 has Chick portray a woman as being an annoyance by illustrating her as traditionally masculine, while #117 and #128 do the opposite, presenting a traditionally feminine man to make a point about how they are annoying.
Both in premise and character design, #059 feels quite anti-Semitic.
Anti-War Rhetoric ⇑ ⇓
Chick never really gives off the vibe from his tracts, I’m sure even from his most adamant defenders, that he was all that caught up on the here and the now. In fact, #203 might reveal that Chick might agree with that sentiment! However, he did certainly have a bone to pick, even in his younger years, with one of the most pressing matters of his day… Government spending! Hot-button stuff right here! Comics #150 and #184 both prove that Chick cared, quite deeply, for what the government did with his tax dollars.
In all seriousness, however, Jack T. Chick was drafted into World War II and served for three years, during which he made many friends who were later killed in action. This, obviously, inspired a good deal of political commentary throughout his tracts, but he was also unafraid to make occasional statements years earlier in Times Have Changed?
Chick's commentary reminds me a lot of DC Comic's take on "The Flintstones" in 2016 to 2017, but that's for another time. Comics #074, #224, #244, #290, #292, #332, these are simple enough, but the real flavor comes from the “trilogy” of #073, #145, and #229. If you haven’t gathered from now, there are very few times that Times Have Changed? does much more than just show quick vignettes and gags of the family. On rare occasion, there will be a week, maybe two, of comics making jokes about the same subject; Chick was more than happy to make a week’s worth of secular Christmas comics, and there was a time or two that the family would be shopping for a new dinosaur or a new cave and all the jokes for a week would surround that topic. However, despite the gaps between the creation of these issues, I fully believe that these comics are meant to portray a singular narrative.
Comic #073 starts us off; "Glugford, I predict that this terrible weapon will end all wars!" might be the hardest thing that Chick has ever written and, combined with the absurdity of the image of a triceratops with four spears being strapped to its head, might be one of the funniest. The idea that, for its time, an animal with four spears attached to it, would be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb in our time, is an interesting idea.
In its sequel, #145, Glugford, who is in-part responsible for the creation of this allegory for the future of weaponry, bears witness to its public unveiling. An onlooker wonders how the government could possibly find a reason to create such a weapon in peace-time. The most gut-wrenching image, however, comes in the finale.
In #229, a near-carbon copy of the weapon attached to the triceratops has been shrunk down for single-handed wielding. Onlookers gasp, drop their personal belongings, one even falls off their car-equivalent... as a police officer runs to take the weapon... from the hands of a child, who must not recognize the power of the device he holds. No one knows where he got it from, but the child, and his younger brother, have already used it to kill a relatively large animal, one that other comics have shown to be a pet. "Where I work," an onlooker gasps, "that same design is rated 'top-secret!'" How did this child obtain such a device? What does this say about the future of Chick's metaphor for America? It sickens the stomach to even consider…
Moments of True Comedy ⇑ ⇓
While I did say that #073 might be one of the funniest things Chick has ever written… I should also include #064. I near cried. #074 is a close second, however.
If those were too old-school for your taste, I think #067 is a little more… meme-y?
But if you need something REALLY surrealist, check out #080. Holy FUCK is there a lot going on in that image. Irmug is just SO shocked at her husband’s statement, and the Gutnik’s nose makes it… well, just impossible for him to do what is directly described, and his pet is just freaking the fuck out... AND THE FEET, JUST RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE PANEL? I was inconsolable.
However, for the more highbrow in the audience, for all the little “Um, Actually” Reddit fact-checkers, be amused by #098, where-in a group of cavemen children confuse their parents by playing a newfangled game of “Cowboys and Indians.”
And what about #190? Does Glugford not know where babies come from, despite being a father of three? Did he not believe in pterodactyls with big fucking balls on the end of their tails? Is the pterodactyl taking someone else’s baby, and he just didn’t think such a thing was possible? Who’s to say. If it’s the last one, however, that means that Chick predicted the death of Azaria Chamberlain in 1980.
Pop Culture Nonsense ⇑ ⇓
Comic #083 is talking about ridiculous fads, specifically in reference to the 1920s fad of pole sitting.
Comic #212, from a modern standpoint, doesn’t make much sense, more than likely because, even for the time, it wasn’t delivered well. When Glugford dances poorly with a female counterpart who is definitely not his wife, she asks if he’s ever heard of “Arthur Murlug.” This is a reference to Arthur Murray, who “was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name.”
Comic #275 is similar, the family goes to a restaurant “approved by Dunlug Hines,” which is a reference to “the pioneer of restaurant ratings,” Duncan Hines.
In #320 - Irmug asks Glugford if he's ever read "Emilug Post," a play on Emily Post, who was popular for writing about etiquette. Comic #279 has husband and wife attend "Hernandug's Hideaway," a play on the tango showtune Hernando's Hideaway (1954).
Comic #341 is, in all likelihood, a caricature of Danny Thomas, popular actor and comedian, and mainstay of The Danny Thomas Show, which was on the air from 1953 to 1964.
Fan Submissions ⇑ ⇓
- #147 - "Thanks to Dottie of Dayton, K.Y."
- #158 - "Thanks to Babs Haan of Chicago"
- #219 - "Thanks to Maggie of Compton, CA"
- #221 - "Thanks to Jim Keller, York Haven, PA"
- #227 - "Thanks to Jim B, Pardridge Chicago" (Kilroy)
- #228 - "Thanks to Don Perkins Los Nietos Calif."
- #240 - "Thanks to Don Perkins Los Nietos Calif."
- #260 - "Thanks to WM. Pardridge Chicago”
- #261 - "Thanks to Betsy Brandstetter 931 Enduel St. Arcadia, Calif."
- #285 - "Thanks to Ralph Tello, 2723 Lancaster Los Angeles Calif"
- #302 - "Thanks to Ralph Tello 2723 Lancaster Los Angeles"
- #305 - "Thanks to Rex Hall, Glendora, Calif."
- #333 - "Thanks to Henry A. Ramirez Jr, Hollywood Calif"
Comic Viewer ⇑ ⇓
Further Reading ⇑
- Comic Index: “Times Have Changed?”
(Boolean Union) - "Found in the Collection: Jack T. Chick’s “Times Have Changed?”"by Caitlin McGurk, May 16, 2013.
(Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog - Ohio State University) - "Obscurity of the Day: Times Have Changed?"by Alan Holtz, December 3, 2008.
(Stripper's Guide Blogspot) - You Don't Know Jack - The Authorized Biography of Christian Cartoonist Jack T. Chick (2021) by David W. Daniels.
(Chick Publications)