I'm Flying, Jack...I Mean, Roger: A FoxTrot Collection

FoxTrot (B&W) #13

by Bill Amend

Everyone can relate to having a family member with an unusual hobby or habit. The Fox clan is no different. The youngest Fox is Jason, whose best friend is an iguana named Quincy. His sister, Paige, is a shopaholic. The oldest Fox sibling is Peter, whose stomach is a bottomless pit. But perhaps the most unusual of all is level-headed mom and official family mediator, Andy, who is working through her obsession with the movie Titanic. A slave to her emotions, she is brought to tears at a mere hint of the soundtrack and attends multiple movie screenings each day. This leaves well-meaning husband, Roger, struggling to live up to her new romantic expectations. All of this is par for the course in the hilarious but hectic Fox household.What makes the Fox clan so entertaining? They're just like us-only funnier-with no sappy sentimentality. Readers can't help but recognize a little bit of themselves in this family strip with its good-hearted, if not eccentric, characters. The Foxes deal with everything from sibling rivalry to marital disagreements over golfing habits to sharing time on the computer, always making us laugh in the process. FoxTrot has amassed a colossal audience of fans of all ages who eagerly turn to this hilarious strip each day, whether in newspapers or on the Web. New fans and loyal readers alike will enjoy "I'm Flying, Jack . . . I Mean, Roger", the latest FoxTrot collection. Together, the Fox family provides a witty window on the realities of home life today.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Fiction, Cartoon, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Bill Amend is an American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip FoxTrot.
Born as William J. C. Amend III, Amend attended high school in Burlingame, California where he was a cartoonist on his school newspaper. Amend is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He attended Amherst College, where he drew comics for the college paper. He majored in physics and graduated in 1984.
After a short time in the animation business, Amend decided to pursue a cartooning career and signed on with Universal Press Syndicate. FoxTrot first appeared on April 10, 1988.
Amend currently lives in the midwestern United States with his wife and two children, a boy and girl.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read 2018

I originally borrowed this from the local library, but recently bought a copy to have signed by the creator who will be at a local comic-con. Since I had it I decided to pick it up and re-read it. This time it's Andie the mother who is spending all of her time at the local movieplex re-watching Titanic for the 20th time. Usually, you expect that out of the youngest son Jason and his sci-fi/fantasy movie obsession. It's short, it's cute, and a great read when you want to escape for an hour or so. Bill Amend is one of my favorite Sunday comic creators, and I was saddened when he decided to stop doing the daily comics. I miss seeing a full storyline for Jason and his exploits.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

More crazy adventures; this time with some hilarious self-parody.

[Elliott Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty funny. Found this in a free library next to a park. Good find.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the pop culture topics that shows up in this collection is the success of Dilbert, which leaves Bill Amend in a desperate spiral trying to figure it out. Which is sad, since FoxTrot never did reach anywhere near that level of popularity. I still don’t know why (except Bill Watterson inadvertently poisoning the once-lucrative well of the newspaper comic strip with his principled stand against commercialism) (well, that and adult cartoons beginning to dominate the market). I don’t think anyone captured actual family dynamics the way Amend did, how they fluctuate from the everyday problems to the everyday obsessions that if anything have become more prevalent since he started pointing them out. The longer he did FoxTrot (daily, anyway; he stopped doing that two decades ago, alas), the better he got at it, and the more the culture reflected his sensibilities back at him (here he merely had the hint of new Star Wars to play with!). And the great thing is that he mocks all of it with such grace, in such a kind-hearted manner (which, as far as family drama goes, did need the sandpapering), you feel its absence all the more keenly in such a barbed age as we now find ourselves…

So that’s what was lost, allowing everyone else to dominate the narrative.

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were my son's favorite comics when he was little, so we have quite a few of these books, but not all of them. Thus, everytime I go to the used bookstore or library sales, I like to add to the collection. This one is our newest addition to the collection. Always fun to read and reminisce about the early days.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining as ever.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. I liked the last few pages when Jason really gets in the Halloween spirit.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be one of my favourite Foxtrot collections. There were a lot of ongoing storylines, like with Jason and his crush, and Andy watching Titanic. Great bedtime reading.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this cartoon collection, Andi decides all she wants to do is binge-watch Titanic (and this is before it's on DVD or streaming). She also spends a week (in cartoon terms) explaining to Roger why Dilbert is such a success. Jason tries to break into the software industry, while Paige just wants to finish her math final.

[Mita · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no other way of saying it except that FoxTrot is made of awesome. Amen!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun collection of Foxtrot strips. Includes the Titanic movie, Beanie Baby craze and Halloween laughs.

[Simon Kissam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read many times when young, again on 8-16-15