Jack Chick buys popular comic strips

ONTARIO, Calif. — Jack Chick, author of Christian tracts, made a surprise purchase of some of the world's best-loved comic strips and is spreading the gospel in typical Chick fashion through the Sunday funnies. Garfield, Ziggy, Blondie and a dozen other strips now belong to the Chick Publishing empire and are filled with hooded apparitions, angels and other menacing fare. Chick's strategy apparently is to combine classic Chick elements with strips' longstanding formulas. Darla Clark, a newspaper reader from Baton Rouge, says she was surprised to read Sunday's "Blondie" strip in which Dagwood stands before the Throne of God giving account for his laziness and gluttony. It's the first in a series called "Dagwood, This Was Your Life!" "I found it disturbing and disheartening," she says. "I thought maybe the cartoonist was having a personal crisis." Syndicates, bracing for negative reaction, are trying to make the best of it. "The comics still feature classic characters and are a great entertainment value," said a King Features spokesman, noting that readers of Zippy the Pinhead will especially appreciate the new Chick sensibility. Chick paid $40-50 million for each comic strip's rights. "Forty million is a lot of money," said Marvin creator Tom Armstrong when asked why he sold the rights to his popular strip. "Chick can carry on the Marvin legacy however he wants. I get early retirement." •