PASS THE LOOT<i> by Bill Amend (Andrews & McMeel: $7.95) </i>

Bill Amend is a promising young comic strip artist, and this second collection of “Fox Trot” shows him beginning to realize his potential. Amend caricatures the daily misadventures of Roger and Andrea Fox and their children, Peter, Paige and Jason, without resorting to the cliches of the family strip. The kids fight constantly, as real brothers and sisters do, but Amend also reveals their underlying affection for each other. Quincy, Jason’s pet iguana, doesn’t think in cute little symbols; he’s just a lizard. The most original character in the strip is Denise, Peter’s girlfriend, who happens to be blind. Independent, resourceful and unapologetic, she’s a rare example of a handicapped cartoon character who isn’t a smarmy role model. The weakest aspect of “Fox Trot” is the drawing: Everyone in the strip looks too much alike. Sharp-eyed readers will enjoy the in-jokes Amend likes to hide in Roger’s newspaper, including the headline, “Springsteen to tour with cartoonist.”