A great
comic strip, but – let’s be honest – not a particularly innovative one in terms of plot or characterization. What sets it apart is its wit, charm, and attention to detail. The jokes go beyond simple themes like "What a bad cook mom is" or "Look how dad likes
golf". Andy doesn’t burn the
pot roast, she cooks with
tofu. Jason doesn’t just like math, actual
calculus appears in the strip instead of random numbers and squiggles. When Peter gets a girlfriend, she is a blind girl, and their courtship is handled with an astonishing amount of charm and sensitivity for a daily comic strip.
Bill Amend has a clean, uncluttered drawing style that I enjoy. Some critics attack it for being too simple, however. I have only one complain – sometimes it is difficult to tell some of the characters, such as Andy and Paige, apart.
The cast:
Andrea "Andy" Fox – a housewife with a love of high art and
vegetarian cooking, and she likes to inflict those things on her family.
Roger Fox – typical bumbling
computer illiterate father and mid-level executive
Peter Fox – typical teenager who is always wearing a
baseball cap with the letter "A" on it. He eats constantly and loves sports, but is very bad at them.
Paige Fox – typical fashion obsessed teenage girl
Jason Fox – pint sized computer genius, with a love of
all things geek and a loathing of his older sister
Quincy – Jason’s pet
iguana
Denise Russo – Peter’s blind girlfriend
Marcus Jones – Jason’s best friend and
partner in crime. He has a
hamster but is jealous of Jason’s iguana.