A Giant Squid Walks into a Bar...

by Jim Toomey

Dive into the comical depths of Jim Toomey's beloved Shermans' Lagoon comic strip, where a funny and sarcastic ensemble of sea creatures including Sherman and Megan the sharks, Hawthorne the crab, Filmore the turtle, and their friends spend their days engaged in amusing adventures, conversation, and fun. It's like a comic strip version of Friends or Cheers, except under the sea.

Meet Sherman, the lovable but lazy great white shark who’s always on the lookout for his next meal or a comfy spot to nap. Alongside him is his sharp-witted wife Megan, who keeps him in check, and their friends, including Fillmore, the nerdy sea turtle, and Hawthorne, the scheming hermit crab. Each strip is a splash of fun, featuring everything from Sherman’s hilarious attempts at dieting to Fillmore’s nerdy inventions and Hawthorne’s latest get-rich-quick schemes. Jim Toomey's humor is clever and often pokes fun at human nature through the antics of these underwater characters. But Sherman’s Lagoon is not just about laughs; it also subtly raises awareness about marine conservation and the environment, making this comic strip both educational and fun.

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2025

About the author

Jim Toomey is an internationally published humor writer and syndicated cartoonist best known as the creator of the popular comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon, published daily in over 150 newspapers including The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. Jim has produced 28 Sherman’s Lagoon books, published by Andrews McMeel, and most recently a travel memoir, entitled Family Afloat, about his two years sailing the world’s oceans with his wife and family.

Sherman's Lagoon combines two of his lifelong interests: art and the sea. In addition to drawing his comic strip, Jim is active in ocean conservation and serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Jim has given talks at a variety of venues, including the Royal Society in London, Harvard University and twice at TED. The conservation message in his comic strip earned him the Environmental Hero Award in 2000, presented by NOAA “for using art and humor to conserve and protect our marine heritage.” Jim won the award again in 2010.

Jim holds degrees from Duke and Stanford. He currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and two children, where he tries to get his family back on a sailboat as frequently as possible but can rarely make it happen.

Reviews

[Boyce McClain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leave it to Sherman the shark and his aquatic buddies to parody a Western in The Thirtieth Sherman’s Lagoon Collection: A Giant Squid Walks Into A Bar... by writer and artist Jim Toomey and publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing.
This time around Sherman’s Lagoon takes on ancestry, Zen gardens, cosmetic surgery, the meaning of life, predators as friends, froggy tempers, science fair projects, walking fish, flea markets, going to court, hair bands, beach parties, a fortune teller, a flying saucer and other unexpected and off the wall things and events.

Of course when it comes to Sherman and his friends nothing seems as it appears and you can expect plenty of laughs, surprises and of course Sherman’s unique take on life and all of its quirkiness.

So, dive in, hold your breath, go deep and maybe, just maybe, you’ll meet up with Sherman. But remember, he’s a shark and a hungry one. Friends don’t eat friends-maybe.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 bk 173. Toomey has done it again - another collection of the antics of the Sherman's Lagoon characters. Sherman and his friends deliver laugh out loud looks at how society and communities both argue and support each other in times of crisis. A delightful read on a rainy day!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherman is always funny.