''Slylock Fox'' is a daily comic strip created by Bob Weber Jr. and published by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. Bob Weber Jr. is the son of Bob Weber Sr., creator of the comic strip '' Moose & Molly''. As the comic's name implies, the target audience is young children. According to the official website, ''Slylock Fox'' appears in nearly 400 newspapers with a combined readership of over 30 million.

Overview

''Slylock Fox'' regularly features a logic puzzle presented in a single panel. Slylock, an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

detective, is constantly matching wits against a variety of criminals, including Count Weirdly, Shady Shrew and Slick Smitty. The strip does not normally use dialogue; instead, text accompanying the illustration informs the reader of a problem Slylock must solve. These often include escaping from a

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

, locating stolen goods, or determining who committed a crime through visual clues or logical inconsistencies. The puzzle solution is printed upside down. Slylock is assisted by sidekick Max Mouse. Max wears pink shorts and a matching

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been wo ...

. He functions as Slylock's foil, being distracted at the crime scene or coming to a false conclusion, only to be corrected by Slylock. A varied cast of witnesses, victims,

policemen A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and

criminals In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

fill in the rest of Slylock's world. These characters' names usually contain either some form of

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

, a type of animal, a profession, or a personality trait. This allows Weber to quickly establish a scene and set up a mystery using very little space. Some notable examples include Deputy

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a fo ...

, Roxy

Rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit s ...

, and Shady Shrew. Most of these characters are seen once and/or never again. Slylock's name is likely an homage to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Like Sherlock, Slylock is traditionally depicted with a

magnifying glass A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to creat ...

and a blue

deerstalker A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear ...

hat; also, he wears a blue suit and

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

. The Slylock Fox logic puzzles appear only in Sunday and Monday strips. The Tuesday to Saturday strips consist of

spot the difference Spot the difference is a type of puzzle where players must find a set number of differences between two otherwise similar images, whether they are illustrations or photographs that have been altered with photo manipulation. Spot the difference ...

puzzles, trivia challenges, how-to-draw tutorials, and other activities. The Sunday edition features both Slylock and the activities. Slylock Fox had an iPhone game called "Slylock Fox Spot the Differences". The iPhone app provides children of all ages the ability to test their observation skills with fifty of Bob Weber Jr.'s favorite spot the differences puzzles.

Media

The now-defunct ''Slylock Fox'' website featured many additional Slylock mysteries that have never been printed, in addition to other activities. The site was voted an "Educational Best Bet" by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

and received an award for "Best of the Net" from About.com in April 1999. The site currently redirects to the official page for Weber's other comic strip, '' Oh, Brother!''. Slylock Fox and Cassandra Cat guest starred in a week of '' My Cage'' comic strips in October 2007. Stephan Pastis made a parody of ''Slylock Fox'' in his comic strip ''

Pearls Before Swine A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

'' on January 13, 2008; Weber reciprocated by having Rat and Pig, the two main characters from ''Pearls'', appear in ''Slylock'' on February 3, 2008. Pastis repeated with another parody on April 24, 2016. A Slylock Fox mystery puzzle reprint book titled ''Go Fun Slylock Fox Mystery Puzzles'' and a Spot Six Differences reprint book titled ''Go Fun Spot Six Differences'' have been released by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Main characters

In addition to a large cast of one-time characters, the strip has a handful of heroes and villains.

Protagonists

*Slylock Fox, a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads t ...

who relies on logic and observation. He normally appears quite stoic. *Max Mouse, Slylock's sidekick. He occasionally finds clues that Slylock misses, but is usually less focused. *Chief Mutt and Deputy Duck, the local police, a

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a fo ...

. *Tiffany Fox and Melody Mouse, two friendly bystanders and occasional victims. They sometimes act as romantic interests for Slylock and Max. *Sir Hound *Granny Squirrel *Rachel Rabbit *Princess Pussycat

Antagonists

*Slick Smitty, one of the few humans, a perpetually smug con-artist and recurring villain. *Cassandra Cat, a jewel thief who gets by on her charm and beauty. Slylock seems to be the only one who is not fazed. *Count Weirdly, an eccentric scientist who lives in a castle full of creepy creatures and monsters. His crimes range from dangerously insane to simple cons. *Shady Shrew, a lower class citizen in a run-down house who constantly steals and lies. *Reeky Rat, a conniving, stealing, lying mullet-headed rat that lives in a trailer down by the river. *Harry Ape, a big gorilla that has a habit of robbing banks. His short, white-haired mama ape often offers false alibis for her felonious offspring. *Koppy Kat, a painting forger known for always leaving some sort of error in the paintings. *Big Brad Wolf, a lowlife single father to his son, Little Brad Wolf. *Rodney Rat *Buford Bull *Bertha Bear *Wanda Weasel *Lady Lynx *Wanda Witch

Collections

Reprints of the different activities featured in ''Slylock Fox'' are distributed through Slylock Fox' official store. * ''Find the Six Differences #1'' * ''Find the Six Differences #2'' * ''Find the Six Differences #3'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s How To Draw Cartoons'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s Slylock Fox Mystery Puzzles'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s True or False'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s Trivia'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s Other Puzzles'' * ''Bob Weber Jr.'s Tagged Puzzles'' * ''Find the Six Difference #4'' * A Slylock Fox mystery puzzle reprint book titled ''Go Fun Slylock Fox Mystery Puzzles'' and a Spot Six Differences reprint book titled ''Go Fun Spot Six Differences'' have been released by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Film adaptation

In September 2022, it was reported that King Features will be adapt ''Slylock Fox'' into an animated feature film. Evan Daugherty will write and produce and CJ Kettler will executive produce.

References

External links

The official Slylock Facebook PageOh, Brother! Bob Weber Jr.'s other comic strip
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slylock Fox and Comics for Kids American comic strips 1987 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1987 Sherlock Holmes pastiches Ducks in literature Dogs in literature Comics about mice and rats Comics about animals Comics about foxes