FoxTrot

2025-04-29T19:50:21Z

2601:18F:803:C260:BC46:F8E7:4937:D8D1:

{{Short description|American comic strip created by Bill Amend}}
{{other uses|Foxtrot (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox Comic strip
|title=FoxTrot
|image=
|caption=
|creator=[[Bill Amend]]
|status=Sundays-only; daily until December 30, 2006
|syndicate=[[Universal Press Syndicate]]/[[Universal Uclick]]/[[Andrews McMeel Syndication]]
|publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC|Andrews McMeel Publishing]]
|genre=Humor, Family, Pop Culture
|first={{start date and age|1988|4|10}}
|website=https://www.foxtrot.com
}}
'''''FoxTrot''''' is an American [[comic strip]] written and illustrated by [[Bill Amend]]. The strip launched on April 10, 1988, and it originally ran seven days a week. From December 31, 2006 onwards, ''FoxTrot'' has only appeared on Sundays.<ref name="ending daily" />

The strip revolves around the daily lives of the Fox family, composed of parents Andrea (Andy) and Roger and their children, Peter, Paige, and Jason. It covers a wide range of subject matter, including spoofs of pop culture [[fads]], [[nerd culture]], complex math, and popular consumer products.

== Publication history ==
Cartoonist [[Bill Amend]] states that after he submitted strips for three years, in 1987 [[Universal Press Syndicate]] (UPS) offered him a contract.<ref>{{cite web|title=About The Strip – About Me|author=Amend, Bill |publisher=Bill Amend |url=http://www.foxtrot.com/about/ |work=foxtrot.com |access-date=2010-07-22}}</ref>
''FoxTrot'' was first syndicated by UPS on April 10, 1988.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1755/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919070317/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1755/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 19, 2012|title='FoxTrot' comic strip premieres today|last=Arvae|first=Lynn|date=April 11, 1988|work=[[Deseret News]]|access-date=2009-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=April 10, 1988|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB3377BE6B02E3E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Hunting fox in suburbia: New comic strip premieres|work=[[The Miami Herald]]|pages=1G|access-date=2009-12-21}}</ref>

On December 5, 2006, Universal Press Syndicate issued a [[press release]] stating that Amend's strip, ''FoxTrot'', would turn into a Sunday-only strip and the comic confirming it was on December 25, 2006, just 20 days later. Amend stated that he wanted to continue doing the strip, but at a less hurried pace.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214210634/http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-12-14|title=FoxTrot to Cease Dailies|work=amuniversal.com|publisher=[[Universal Press Syndicate]]}}</ref> This news was followed by a week-long arc of the characters discussing a "cartoonist" semi-retiring to Sundays only, and what methods he would use to phase out the daily strips. The last daily strip was shown on December 30, 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214210634/http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-12-14|title=Universal Uclick|work=amuniversal.com|access-date=2014-08-26}}</ref> At the end of its run as a daily comic, ''FoxTrot'' was carried by more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide.<ref name="ending daily">{{cite press release| url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210065602/http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/newsrelease/?view=468| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 10, 2008| publisher=[[Universal Press Syndicate]]| date=December 5, 2006 |title=FoxTrot to Cease Dailies |access-date=2006-12-05}}</ref> Since moving to one comic every week, Amend has said that it's harder to remain topical because Sunday's deadline is 30 days ahead of publication, compared with just 10-day deadlines the rest of the week.<ref name= booth>Booth, John (April 14, 2010). "[https://www.wired.com/2010/04/interview-with-foxtrots-bill-amend/ Interview with FoxTrot's Bill Amend]". ''Wired''.</ref> Amend and fellow cartoonist [[Stephan Pastis]] joked that Amend switched to a Sundays-only schedule "so he could spend 18 hours a day playing [[World of Warcraft]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2017/03/19|title=Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for March 19, 2017 {{!}} GoComics.com|last=Pastis|first=Stephan|date=2017-03-19|website=GoComics|language=en|access-date=2021-01-25}}</ref>

==Characters and story==
{{Main|List of FoxTrot characters}}
''FoxTrot'' takes place with the daily lives of the Foxes, a suburban family, composed of father Roger, mother Andrea (Andy), and their children: Peter (age 16), Paige (14), and Jason (10), who live together.<ref>{{cite web|last=Amend|first=Bill|url=http://www.foxtrot.com/about/|title=About FoxTrot|work=Original Comic Website|access-date=2013-08-03}}</ref> The Fox family lives in a [[suburb]]an setting. Amend has said he has never specified where the Foxes live, and he has shown them taking vacations to the [[desert]] and various [[amusement park]]s and [[campground]]s.

Amend majored in [[physics]] at [[Amherst College]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/foxtrot/bio.htm |title=Bill Amend – Creator Bio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109171447/http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/foxtrot/bio.htm |archive-date=January 9, 2011 |publisher=Universal Press Syndicate |work=amuniversal.com |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> and his knowledge on the subject is sometimes reflected in ''FoxTrot''{{'}}s frequent inclusion of complex [[mathematics|mathematical]] or physics formulae, usually written by Jason, whom Amend described as "largely an exaggerated representation of [his] own geeky nature."<ref name=booth/> Jason is also used to express Amend's knowledge of computer languages.<ref>{{cite book|last=Amend|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Amend|title=Death By Field Trip (p. 87)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4gMKOkILZcC&q=wikipedia |publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]|year=2001|location=Kansas City, Missouri|isbn=0-7407-1391-4|access-date=2014-08-26}}</ref>

Recurring characters include Jason's pet [[iguana]] Quincy; Jason's friend Marcus and his classmate Eileen Jacobson; Paige's friend Nicole and her classmate Morton Goldthwait; Peter's blind girlfriend, Denise, and his friend Steve; and other friends and classmates of the children and Roger's co-workers. Like many comic strips, ''FoxTrot'' employs a [[floating timeline]] "for specific reasons and to create specific dynamics between [Peter, Paige, and Jason]."<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.wired.com/2010/04/interview-with-foxtrots-bill-amend/| title=Interview With FoxTrot's Bill Amend| first=John| last=Booth| date=14 April 2010| magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]| url-status=live| archive-date=27 June 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627215853/https://www.wired.com/2010/04/interview-with-foxtrots-bill-amend/}}</ref>

==Books==
{{Main|List of FoxTrot books}}
The strips have been printed in 45 different books, all by [[Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC|Andrews McMeel Publishing]]. Of the 45 books, 31 are collections and 14 are anthologies. The anthologies are composed of the two or three previous collections and include Sunday strips in color.

===Merchandising===
During the late 1990s, the character of Jason Fox was licensed to [[Wolfram Research]] as a product mascot for its [[mathematica]] software package.<ref name="wolfram">{{cite press release |title='FoxTrot' Character Jason Fox to Promote Innovative Educational Calculus Software |publisher=[[Wolfram Research]] |url=http://company.wolfram.com/news/1998/foxtrot-character-jason-fox-to-promote-innovative-educational-calculus-software/ |date=June 8, 1998 |access-date=2015-02-03 |archive-date=February 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204001325/http://company.wolfram.com/news/1998/foxtrot-character-jason-fox-to-promote-innovative-educational-calculus-software/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*{{official website|http://www.foxtrot.com/}}
*[http://www.universaluclick.com/comics/strip/foxtrot ''FoxTrot''] syndication at [[Universal Uclick]]

*FoxTrot at [[GoComics]]
**[http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/ Comics]
**[http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrotclassics/ Classics]

{{UniversalPressSyndicate}}

[[Category:1988 comics debuts]]
[[Category:2006 comics endings]]
[[Category:American comic strips]]
[[Category:Comics about married people]]
[[Category:Slice of life comics]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in the United States]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 2000s]]
[[Category:GoComics]]

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